TRAVEL BLOG

Celiac disease is a serious genetic autoimmune disorder, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation, where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine.  It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide.  Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications. If you have celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response in your small intestine. Over time, this reaction damages your small intestine's lining and prevents absorption of some nutrients (malabsorption). The intestinal damage often causes diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating and anemia, and can lead to serious complications, according to the Mayo Clinic. In children, malabsorption can affect growth and development, in addition to the symptoms seen in adults. There's no cure for celiac disease — but for most people, following a strict gluten-free diet can help manage symptoms and promote intestinal healing. Because people with celia...

Being healthy is many things but I feel the biggest player in life is how we respond to it. We all face daily situations in our personal lives and even the workplace. How we respond to these circumstances can create a healthier, happier, and stronger person. Being healthy includes more than the physical and nutritional. It also includes our emotional and spiritual health. If anything in our life is out of place, health is just not complete. When a problem arises, we can choose to mishandle the situation or solve it in a healthy way. Many times issues are out of our control. The truth is the only thing fixable or controllable is yourself. We're not responsible for the actions or behavior of others, but what we do have is the actions and behaviors of ourselves. Life can be made to feel complicated and depressing or carefree and happier simply by how we respond to situations. The same principle should be applied to how we take care of our body. Do we nourish it wel l , exercise it e...

I stopped counting calories years ago. I simply made my focus eating healthy quality food each day. One of my favorite nutrition motivations is “no one has ever gotten fat eating too much kale.” I don't feel the need to keep track of my calories when I eat primarily nutrient-dense foods. The food I eat keeps me strong , healthy and feeling good and that's what matters. When your food is healthy, it promotes healthiness and appropriate body weight.  I keep my refrigerator and pantry stocked with plenty of organic vegetables, fruits, yogurts, raw nuts, grains, and lean meats. I graze throughout the day eating small healthy meals every three hours. This keeps me satisfied and well-fueled for work and physical training.  Maintaining a healthy body is about living a quality life. This means being concerned about the quality of food consumed. There's a big difference choosing to eat a fast food meal compared to an organic chicken breast with mixed greens. Healthy food is nutrient...

Life is not meant to be easy peasy and all wrapped in a pretty bow all the time. The truth about life is it can suck and be filled with very difficult emotional and even physical hardships.  Emotional junk can weigh down our brains and bodies and cause us to retreat into a shell of self-defeat. When we're struggling with emotional upset from any life situation, it's important not to give up on you. During these times we tend to not take care of our health and fitness . We really can become our own worst enemy. Emotional upset can happen at any given time and we can choose to handle it in a healthy or unhealthy way. It really comes down to us being responsible for our own physical and emotional health. This also includes maintaining our fitness and happiness .  Emotional upset seeming to be the most painful occurs in close personal relationships with spouses, significant others, dearest friends, and family. It's also the most difficult to navigate feelings that...

Believing anything happens quickly is not realistic. Fitness is a process of small changes creating large results over time. No magic wand to instantly provide a chiseled physique or bikini body . We may want that, but not how it works. Quick fix thoughts only set us up for frustration and failure. Achieve fitness one day at a time. Biceps don't suddenly appear after your first day in the gym. What does occur when you apply fitness daily is progress. The muscle will show up but let it work, grow and build. It's like a fine wine or great simmering stew. The journey will be rewarding but patience is required. One of the worst things you could do is to jump into a fad diet or take unregulated fat burning supplements thinking this is the answer. Read the small print on any of these pseudo-fitness deals. " Best results when accompanied with a healthy diet and exercise program " is what you'll find. All that needs to happen is to follow the small print which is the...

Let's be honest about how reasons affect our overall health, fitness and daily lifestyle. Reasons are often used to avoid a workout or eat healthy meals, agreed? They are really the same as excuses that keep us from getting fit.   We want the fit and healthy body but come up with every reason in the book to avoid doing the work to achieve the goal. Why? What continues to get in the way of the thing we most want?   We almost have a rebellious attitude toward health and fitness . We convince ourselves we can achieve our goals even with unhealthy eating and exercise habits. A negative attitude, excuses, and rebel behavior is definitely not going to achieve a healthy body or mind. We really need to change our mind in order to change our body.  If getting fit were easy, everyone would be doing it. Health and fitness require effort and planning. Why is there such an issue with working for our goals? Everything in life worthy of anything takes work. Health is a gift and fit...

The popularity of getting various body parts pierced has been growing over the past few years, but the concept is as old as humanity itself going back to ancient times. Ever since mankind figured out that it could poke a hole through some physical part of the body, piercings have been seen as a statement of individuality and fashion. People from many different cultures have pierced their bodies for centuries. If you look in a history book, you will find that Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans decorated their bodies with piercings and tattoos. Many pierced their bodies to show their importance in a group, or because they thought it protected them from evil. Today, we know much more about the risks of body piercing. Body piercing is a serious decision. Before you decide to get a piercing, ask your parents, trusted adults, and friends what they think. More information is available at this site: http://youngwomenshealth.org/2013/08/07/body-piercing/ . In recent modern times the art of body pier...