Green Mountain at Fox Run (Vermont)
Getting the Support We Need

Do we sabotage our success by soliciting negative feedback?
Staying healthy isn't just about eating right or physical activity. It's also about openly enlisting the support we need to help with weight loss.

In other words, the classic question, "Does this outfit make me look fat?" isn't doing us any good. Instead, it feeds a negative cycle that often starts in our own minds. How do we combat this negative cycle?

"First, we need to become really clear about what we want," says Teri Hirss, health psychology therapist. Only then, when we've discovered what our needs are, can we communicate them to others.

What type of support works best?

A daily phone call with a close friend?
A long walk after a difficult day?
A romantic dinner with your sweetie at least once a month?

Knowing the type of support you'll need makes it easier to plan ahead for times when you'll feel overwhelmed or discouraged. Make a standing date for dinner or call a group of friends together. If they're not getting the hint, tell them directly what you need and why.

We can't expect others to know what we need when we aren't clear
ourselves.

When we slow down and think, we may start to see how often we sabotage ourselves by looking for external validation. When we become aware of these old patterns, we can reframe them into newer, healthier ways of getting our needs met.

What do we mean when we ask "Do I look fat?"

What kind of answer do we want? Will we believe the answer we're given?

In other words, does the answer make a difference in how we feel? Most of the time when we ask that question and we get a positive answer, it doesn't stop the negative thought from coming back. Concentrate instead on positive self talk and realize that someone else's opinion is not really going to make you feel better at that moment.

Build on positives.

Instead of thinking to yourself "this person never offers to help me," or, "why do I always have to make the plans?," take the initiative and lay the groundwork for yourself. You'll be happy you did. It's about taking responsibility for our own needs.

"We can't always count on receiving what we need from other people, but we can learn to consistently give ourselves what we need," says Hirss. "If we aren't able to validate ourselves, no amount of external validation will compensate."

www.fitwoman.com
(800)448-8106 (802) 228-8885
info@fitwoman.com

The Oaks at Ojai (California)
Laugh and Stay Fit
By Sheila Cluff

"By the time a child reaches nursery school, he or she will laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh an average of 17 times a day," as reported in "Science of Laughter" and Discovery Health. And if you're not getting your share, you could still be unfit at any age.

Laughter is good medicine. It's reduces stress, can help lower blood pressure and even protect the heart. Comedian Henny Youngman is quoted joking: "Doctor, I have a ringing in my ears!" to which the doctor says, "Don't answer it!" If we stretch our bodies, why not stretch our funny bones, too?

Are you aware that laughter can be a great workout? Remember something funny that recently happened and laugh out loud. Doing so you've just exercised your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles. More so, laughter has the ability to massage abdominal organs, tone intestinal functioning, and strengthen the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. A real "belly laugh" could be the right workout if you'd like to give your midsection some exercise and that laugh can help digestion and absorption functioning as well.

According to www.HelpGuide.org, it is estimated that hearty laughter can burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or the exercise bike. Now that's worth laughing about.

But what if you're already stressed, have too much responsibility or are coping with situations that are out of your control? Here are some tips:

*Start your morning with a joke. There are lots of joke books and websites that have clean, funny jokes that you can share with kids, family and friends. When telephoning or emailing her adult children, a colleague always tells the kids some jokes. "It's good clean humor and I have a feeling they look forward to hearing what nutty joke their mom will tell as much as what is new in my life." Once she began this, they've started to work hard to find jokes that mom will enjoy, too.

*Watch and learn to laugh from infants and young children. They revel in most ordinary things, from a splatter of a cherry tomato shirking out of a child's mouth to a dog racing around the garden.

*Studies indicate that the happiest marriages are when couples can laugh together. Each month and as soon as it arrives, a couple I know takes turns to read the jokes from Reader's Digest. Now, they've passed this tradition on to their adult kids, who are doing the same with their spouses. *Heard a joke you liked? Write it down and tell it to a friend. Writing it down will help you remember it.

*Take five minutes whenever you can and write down some things that will make you happy and give you a chance to have fun. They can be real or fanciful. While you might not be able to run on the beach or play in the river, but if you close your eyes and pretend, you can be there in your mind.

*Get outside and watch nature. Just a good dose of sunshine (with sunscreen on your skin) will make you feel more like smiling.

*Smile at someone and watch it come back.

*Select your new friends for their sunny personalities, especially if you tend to be more somber.

Scientists who study humor and laughter on the human body have found that it can help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, elevate mood, boost immune system, improve brain functioning, protect the heart, connect you to others, foster instant relaxation, and make you feel good.

www.oaksspa.com
(800)753-6257
info@oaksspa.com

Red Mountain Spa (Utah)
Healthy Skin And Anti-Aging
Myrna Beardshear, Director of Spa and Wellness

As the largest organ in the body, our skin can benefit from the same nutrition we get from foods that have a positive effect on our heart and other major organs. In fact, new research suggests that eating foods rich in protein and certain vitamins and minerals might provide valuable anti-aging effects.

Perhaps the simplest way to maintain a healthy, balanced diet and ensure the skin is getting optimal nutrition from the foods we eat is to follow the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Daily Food Guide, commonly referred to as the food pyramid. These include:

Choosing and eating at least three ounces of whole grain breads, cereals, rice, crackers or pasta.

Eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including more dark green and orange vegetables.

Consuming calcium-rich foods, such as fat-free or low-fat milk and other dairy products.

Opting for a variety of low-fat or lean meats, poultry and fish.

The most effective natural protector of the body against free radicals is nutrients called antioxidants. Antioxidants prevent free radical damage by completing the free radical with the missing electrons therefore neutralizing the free radical and making it harmless.

Some antioxidants are proteins made by the body, and many are delivered to us in the food we eat. The most important of these are vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium, zinc, and some amino acids.

The antioxidants in vitamins C and E can protect the skin from sun damage and help reduce damage in skin cells caused by harmful free radicals, which contribute to aging skin. Scientists have known for a long time that the B vitamin biotin is responsible for forming the basis of skin, hair and nail cells, and vitamin A-found in many fruits and vegetables-maintains and repairs skin tissue.

While they are readily available from our foods, our antioxidant defense systems are vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies and many health practitioners believe that supplements are needed to compensate.

As the skin is the largest organ and the organ furthest away from the blood circulation, not all nutrition and antioxidants reach the skin. This may in fact explain why the skin is our fastest aging organ. Thus, it becomes obvious to have the cleanest and highest quality of nutrients such as plant based antioxidants in your skin care products, to support your skin and to protect it from the negative effects of free radical exposure.

Your skin is your best friend. Feed it well and it will serve you with glowing beauty and health for a lifetime!

Acknowledgements:
Tufts University: Research on Antioxidants.
USDA Research on Berries and natural Antioxidants
Skin Inc

www.redmountainspa.com
(800)407-3002 (435)673-4905