If you sit at a desk most of the day, you run the risk of not getting enough exercise. Many people will try to change that lifestyle by making a New Year’s resolution to get more exercise. If this describes you, you will be more successful if you use free online tools and routines for extra encouragement. It won’t be easy remaining committed those first few weeks, but for some of us, getting fit can be a matter of life or death. Unfortunately, many will call it quits before February arrives on their New Year’s “get fit” resolutions.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Many of us already know the dangers of our daily seated lifestyle. Almost four years ago, the World Health Organization determined that the lack of physical activity was a major underlying cause of death, disease and disability worldwide. A seated lifestyle contributes to many of the illnesses we struggle with today, including hypertension, diabetes, colon cancer, obesity, anxiety, and depression. So the information is not new, but many will still begin a fitness routine only to cancel it after a few weeks.

If you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution to better your health, I’d encourage you to stick to it – after all, your life may depend on it. Here are six tips on how to succeed:

1. Recognize and appreciate the magnitude of what you are doing – you are changing your lifestyle. This isn’t going to happen overnight, and should not be taken lightly. At the same time, it is very achievable. If you reflect over your life, you have faced other challenges that seemed too large to handle. From school graduations and relationships to walking away from jobs and getting a new one, you have succeeded, changing your life along the way. None of those things happened in one day. They took time and commitment. This is no different. What you’re doing will change your life. This is big!

2. Record Your Current Lifestyle – There’s a reason why many people don’t exercise regularly. Getting fit is hard work. However, it’s worth it, so take your time. Take the first few days to take stock of where you are right now. Look at yourself in a mirror; weigh yourself; take measurements; and buy an outfit you’d like to wear one day. All these items and information will become valuable when you’re sore, sweaty, tired and seeking excuses to postpone your fitness routine. Fitness is ultimately a personal decision, so remember why YOU decided to get fit. This will keep you focused.

3. Set multiple, short term goals – The biggest error most people make when beginning a new exercise routine is thinking that it will be easy. It will not be easy. That’s why you should set many short term goals. For example, if you’re trying to stretch in an aerobics class, and others are stretching further than you, don’t try to match them. You will have more than enough competition taking on your own body – don’t take on the entire gym. Stretch as far as you can go this time, and go further the next time. Now, you’ve set two goals: Stretch farther and try again. Exercising has to be done one repetition, one stretch, one routine at a time. That daily effort will equal success.

4. Take good advice – When you begin, everyone will have great advice for you, from types of equipment to use to best time of the day to work out. Ultimately, you will need to find your own rhythm and pace, and learn to push yourself when you’re slowing down. A trainer or pre-scripted routine can help keep you on pace. Sometimes, a partner with similar goals can also help push you towards your goals. Make sure to also consult a physician prior to beginning your fitness routine.

5. Mind your body – A fitness lifestyle change isn’t just about lifting weights and running. Like a car, your body needs the fuel to operate at its best. Maintaining a diet of balanced nutritional foods will not only assist you in your fitness routines, but it will also give you additional energy to heal from your workouts. And, you should get plenty of rest. Nothing will reinvigorate your body like a good night’s sleep.

6. Move when you can – Getting fit requires a total commitment, one that you are capable of making. There are oftentimes hidden opportunities to move, so learn to spot them and take advantage. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator; use a bathroom on the other side of your building, or on another floor; visit a mall and enter on the side opposite the stores you wish to visit; if you drive, park (safely) but farther away from intended destinations. There’s even a series of free online daily exercise routines you can complete while sitting at your desk. If you have a moment and it is both safe and will not bother other people, take that opportunity to move for your health and well being.

Finally, add this article to your list of reasons why you’ve decided to commit yourself to getting fit. When you reflect back, I’d be honored to be apart of your celebration.

Odogwu Linton, Esq. is a former Fortune 500 corporate lawyer, published author and fitness center supervisor. He is currently President of Linton Publishing, LLC. For free the free daily video online seated exercise routines, visit

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Tags: anxiety, diet, obesity, sleep, world health organization

In the movie Super Size Me, the star eats at a major fast-food chain for about 30 consecutive days. Within that brief time frame, he picks up over 24.5 pounds and is advised by his doctor to end the documentary immediately or risk his life. He experienced liver damage, sexual dysfunction, and mood swings. It took him 14 months to lose the weight. It is frightening to imagine there are millions of human beings consuming diets that are largely the functional equivalent of what the star of Super Size Me ate during the movie.

The Centers for Disease Control recently ranked obesity second only to smoking as the leading cause of preventable death. The growth in obesity can be tied to the upward trend in the consumption of high-fat foods, sugary foods, candies, and soft drinks. More than 10% of the worlds children are overweight with this figure rising to over 30% in many industrialized countries. For every $1 spent by the World Health Organization (WHO), the food industry spends $500 on promoting processed foods.

The food industry is approaching one trillion dollars in the U.S. With a world advertising budget of over $40 billion dollars, this figure is larger than the gross domestic product of over 70 percent of the world’s countries. Children are the most susceptible to this pervasive flow of imagery designed to influence them. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports increases in chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes amongst the global population. The organization further notes a “probable” or “convincing” link between many of these diseases and the patterns of food consumed.

The WHO cites the negative effects of the following three points: 1) the adverse effects of high intake of energy (calorie) dense, low-nutrient foods; the adverse effects of high-intake of sugar-sweetened beverages; and 3) the adverse effect of heavy marketing of energy-dense foods and fast-food outlets.

These “non-communicable” diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are considered to be communicated through cultural transmission from parents to children, from corporations to consumers, and from developed to less developed countries. The organization is calling for policies that will protect the world’s children from developing dietary habits that may result in disease and premature death.

There is a greater awareness of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and diet-related cancers than ever before. A greater adoption of the “western” style diet high in fats, sugars, and salt threatens to undermine the health gains of the past century. With mature and developed markets around the world becoming saturated, multinationals are looking to less developed markets such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa as ripe opportunities to sell their products.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization the shift from subsistence farming to importation of foods from the industrialized world has led to a shift from diets dominated by grains and vegetables to ones dominated by high fat and sugar in developing countries. Japan presents a case-study for a progressive approach to dealing responsibly with the nutritional needs of school children.

In Japan, school children are prohibited from purchasing food or beverage while traveling either to or from school. The School Lunch Law sets nutritional standards for school lunches. Each school follows a well-balanced, low-fat (fat is limited to 25 to 30% of total calories), low-salt lunch of rice or bread and soup, 2 to 3 side dishes, milk, and desert. Families are provided with a menu each month providing caloric and nutritional breakdown.

Around the world there are aggressive community-based efforts to combat the enormous marketing pressures of multinational food corporations. For example, the Save Harry program has sent almost 30,000 letters to the author of the Harry Potter series attempting to persuade her to abandon her advertising agreement with Coca Cola.

Fight the Obesity Epidemic was established in New Zealand to address the growing challenge there. In New York City, school menus feature low-fat and low-salt menus, and sugary drinks have been replaced by fruit juice and water. The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, has forced changes in the entire U.K. public school lunch system.

There are efforts to make better choices for our children around the world, but there must be a sustained counter to an industry that is approaching a trillion dollars in annual revenue. It is a huge task, but what’s in the balance is our children’s long-term health prospects. It is worth the fight in my opinion. The star of Super Size Me stopped his experiment, but for millions of poor children this choice simply does not exist.

Michael Imani, Ph.D. is a diet expert who works with clients to find solutions for weight and life issues. He is the author of The Diet Code: 4 Steps to Permanent Weight Loss. michaelimanicoaching.com michaelimanicoaching.com

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Tags: diet, Heart, obesity, smoking, weight Loss, world health organization

Still need another reason to raise your body’s natural defense system? The drug that governments have stock piled as the first line of defense against the Avian flu has been linked to “abnormal behavior” like suicide.

Tamiflu has recently been linked to abnormal behavior. The flu drug’s maker warns of such potential problems as suicide. Just as recent as Monday, November 13, 2006, the maker of the antiviral medication Tamiflu issued a new warning for the flu drug saying patients must be closely monitored for potential psychiatric problems, including delirium and suicide. Isn’t that frieken scary?

And our governments are stockpiling this stuff. For what, a massive suicide pandemic? Hoffman-La Roche Inc. had been discussing the matter with the Food and Drug Administration, which has been reviewing 103 cases in which patients reported bizarre behavior, usually within a day of taking Tamiflu. What’s terrifying is that most cases involved children under 17 and occurred in Japan. The cases include three people who fell to their deaths after taking the drug, including a 14-year-old boy who climbed atop the railing of his family’s condominium, an FDA memo says.

The memo also cites the case of an 8-year-old in Japan who took one dose of Tamiflu and, about an hour and a half later, tried to run out the front door of his home. The child would not answer to his name and was growling, according to the memo, which was prepared in advance of an FDA pediatric advisory committee meeting Thursday.

Dr. Debra Birnkrant, director of the FDA’s division of antiviral products, said it was not yet known if the abnormal behavior was caused by the drug or the flu, which can cause fever and delirium. But she added, “Since there were a number of cases over the last year that we looked at, we thought it would be the prudent thing to make the public aware.” No kidding!

Another drug for seasonal flu, amantadine, has been associated with similar neurological side effects, mostly in the elderly, Birnkrant said. Hoffman-La Roche said in a statement that reports of psychiatric side effects from Tamiflu were rare. “While any relative contribution of Tamiflu to these events is unknown, Roche is committed to working closely with the FDA to ensure that the product label accurately reflects the reports,” it said.

The FDA’s memo says 24.5 million Tamiflu prescriptions were filled in Japan from 2001 to 2005. In the U.S., 6.5 million prescriptions were filled in the same period. Tamiflu is one of four treatments for seasonal flu in the U.S. It is usually taken to prevent or lessen the severity of the virus. Many governments, including that of the U.S., have stockpiled the drug to combat a possible outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Although that mainly infects birds, there have been 153 human deaths worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

But of course, you already know this. So why is it, that after writting a previous article where is was admitted that Tamiflu would probably not even work, and now these unbelievable side effects, would you even think twice about keeping your immune system at an all time high?

Jon G. Michel is a successful webmaster and publisher of cancer-help-treatment.com cancer-help-treatment.com Strong believer in taking responsibility for your health, there is only one complementary immunotec.com/mblais natural immune system booster approved by the FDA…and not available in drug stores or any shelf, anywhere. Find out why! Learn more on cancer-help-treatment.com alternative cancer treatments and much more.

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Tags: world health organization

The World Health Organization defines the concept of health as a powerful, interconnected relation between three main elements: physical, mental and emotional. Due to the stressful and hurried life many people are forced to live, the concept of physical fitness developed a lot in the past few years and brought positive changes for the modern man.

Everybody knows that staying fit is a big part of being healthy. Today, people seek to take informed decisions about their body shape and the Internet is surely one of the best resources available. Besides valuable information about physical exercises and proper nutrition, online one can find a suitable personal trainer.

A personal trainer is essential for anyone who desires to stay in shape and even lose extra weight. He/she is trained to plan an exercise program, specific for every client, point out possible medical risks and also advise against certain types of activities. With the help of the Internet, people have the possibility to find true professionals and learn the proper way to be healthy.

The biggest advantage brought by a personal trainer is the elaborate plan of action. The first step is represented by a careful evaluation, having the precise purpose to pinpoint the exact problems and set up definite goals. For this, certain details are required and some of the most important are: age, sex, height and weight. After checking all that, the body mass index is calculated and also the body’s percent of body fat. All these are important, allowing the personal trainer to work out custom training sessions for every muscle group in particular and also for the whole body in general.

The online world cannot only help interested Internet users to find a fitness trainer but also to learn useful info about physical training. It is important to understand that only healthy people are recommended to engage in such activities. Still, there are specific exercises for people with chronic illnesses, being actually suggested for the improving of the body’s immune system.

When it comes to finding a qualified fitness trainer, there are plenty of choices online but it is for the best to choose the one that takes time to respect your needs and wishes. These persons can also provide valuable advice about postural exercises, preliminary exercises before training sessions and also coordinate the basic elements of fitness. These refer mainly to equilibrium, cardiovascular capacity, flexibleness and muscular strength.

There are many reasons why anyone should want to work out with a fitness trainer. People feel more confident if they receive professional help and obtain better, not to mention prompter results. It is a good thing that one can use the Internet to look for a fitness trainer, as many people just do not have the time to waste shopping around.

A complete training program schemed by a fitness trainer starts with a typical warm-up, followed by what is known as combined functional exercises and sometimes by adjuvant, detached exercises. Functional training is the main element of any session, being often intermixed with postural exercises as many people complain of posture problems due to the long program at a desk.

More and more people have taken the decision to browse the Internet in search of a personal trainer, realising the need to stay in shape and function at full capacity. They choose to go through specifically designed exercising programs, being fully conscious that living a healthier, more active life can only bring great advantages, starting with feeling better and happier.

If you want to keep fit then you should visit our website and find an experienced findapersonaltrainer.com.au personal trainer. Learn all the secrets of training and live a long, happy and healthy life. Use us and discover a findapersonaltrainer.com.au fitness trainer that will make you feel invincible!

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Tags: exercises, world health organization