Everyone knows the afternoon is going to bring with it the dreaded Wall. This is when you have hit your first energy peak and are now crashing into the Wall Of No Energy. The rest of your day seems to drag along endlessly. However, there are six easy ways to jumpstart your energy in the afternoon. You just have to be willing to get up and do something about the afternoon crash.

The following tips are the best ways to recharge your energy levels.

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo is shared by Alexander Steinhof

Tip #1 – Get up and Move

For those of you who work behind a desk or a cash register all day, it can be really easy to fall victim to the afternoon energy drain. Health and fitness experts recommend you get up and walk around your desk or the office. This will help to break the monotony of sitting and gets your circulation moving.

Tip #2 – Avoid High Sugar and Caffeine Drinks

Energy, coffee, tea and soft drinks are usually all loaded with sugar and caffeine. They may seem to help with your energy levels for the moment, but will lead you right into a big crash later. Your body does not actually have the energy, it is just being tricked by the substances you are putting in it.

Tip #3 – Choose Vitamin Drinks for Energy

For a true energy boost it is better to pick drinks that are providing your body with energy from vitamins instead of sugar and caffeine. Your body will digest and absorb the beneficial vitamin and convert it into lasting energy without the crash later.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo is shared by 1D110

Tip #4 – Don’t Skip Breakfast

One sure way to hit the Wall is by skipping breakfast. Eating a well-balanced breakfast will keep your body running throughout the day. However, your breakfast should not be a doughnut and a cola drink. You should include whole grains, protein, fruit and vegetables. For example, a breakfast consisting of a vegetable egg white omelet and a small bowl of oatmeal with fresh blueberries should keep you going until lunch.

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Tip #5 – Snack Healthy

Another way to jumpstart your afternoon energy level is by choosing the proper snacks. Candy and chips will not cut it. They are only empty carbs and are only a temporary fix. Pick healthy options that are loaded with nutrients such as nuts, honey sweetened granola and even low fat cheese.

Tip #6 – Get Your Energy Rest

Many people like to call it, “Getting your beauty rest.” However, sleeping seven to eight hours at night will help to keep your body energized all day. Also, if you have a place to sneak it in, a five to ten minute power nap can make a huge difference as well.

This article was written by the people at JustRopes.com, the online leader in climbing equipment, cords, and ropes.

How a 15 Minute Daily Walk Can Extend Your Life Expectancy If you are looking for an easy, drug-free way to extend your life expectancy while improving your overall health and wellness, a simple 15-minute daily walk can be your ticket to longevity. 

According to a recent report by researchers in Taiwan, study participants who walked about 15 minutes a day at a leisurely pace experienced a 14 percent reduction in their overall risk of mortality when compared to non-walkers. The study, published in the October 2011 issue of The Lancet  followed nearly half a million Taiwanese men and women between 1996 and 2008.


Researchers tracked the amount of self-reported exercise the participants engaged in, comparing exercise frequency and intensity with mortality rates, risk factors and life expectancy. Both men and women who reported walking for an average of 15 minutes daily enjoyed a life expectancy that was 3 years longer than study participants who did no exercise at all. 


The Swiss Stair Climbing Study


The life-extending benefit of low-intensity daily exercise was also shown by a Swiss study that asked participants to simply take the stairs rather than ride the elevator at work for a period of 12 weeks. During that time, study participants experienced a marked improvement in their overall fitness levels including reduced blood pressure levels, lowered body mass index readings and increased lung capacity. At the end of the 3 month study, participants had improved their overall fitness level to their point where their risk of a premature death was cut by 15 percent.


Other Benefits of Daily Exercise


While most doctors, physiologists and fitness professionals recommend at least 30-45 minutes of daily physical activity for optimal health and wellness, simply doing 15 minutes of low-impact, moderate exercise is clearly worthwhile. In addition to the extended life expectancy that the Taiwanese study attributed to short daily walks, low-volume, low-intensity activities like walking offers a host of physical and physiological benefits.


Exercise has been linked to a strong immune system, thanks to the increased circulation and white blood count that are the result of aerobic workouts. Daily exercise has also been proven to help reduce chronic stress, managing the way the body excretes stress hormones that can cause inflammation leading to cardiac disease, arthritis and weight retention. 


Finding Time For A 15 Minute Daily Walk 


For some people, taking a short walk after dinner has become a lifelong habit, while others head straight to the couch or their favorite lounge chair after a meal. While finding time to exercise can be challenging, with a little creative thinking, everyone can fit a 15 minute walk into their day. 


Look for opportunities to squeeze some moderate physical activity into your daily schedule. Simply parking at the furthest spot from a store entrance rather than jockeying for a spot next to the door will force you to take a few extra steps. Follow the example of the Swiss study by taking the stairs instead of riding the elevator, or walk to do short errands instead of driving. By adding just 15 minutes of exercise into your daily schedule you too can enjoy a longer, healthier life. 


About the Author: Warren Keith Nietes enjoys discovering and writing about new developments that greatly concern health and wellbeing, particularly those that are related to proper diet and exercise. During her free time, she helps in the blogging and administration activities of hostgator dedicated hosting site. Watch out for her next post for more new health discoveries.

When it comes to body posture and biking, cruiser bikes for women are ideal for the female form and shape. If you practice cruise biking and commuting your comfort is of utmost importance. The last think you would want is an uncomfortable ride, especially if you will be making use of your bike on a daily basis.

Even though cruiser bikes aren't designed for exercise, you will still be burning calories by making use of this form of transport. Any form of exercise, no matter how subtle is good for your body. But if you are doing an exercise wrong, it might be damaging as well. This article will take a look at the body posture benefits of cruise bikes.

Body Benefits

Apart from posture benefits, cycling has numerous other aspects which are great for your body. Riding a bike will definitely help you with your strength training, cardiovascular fitness, endurance as well as balance and stamina. Biking as an exercise can be a full body workout, even if done just 20 minutes a day along the beach side, you will feel more energized and in form.

Back Pain

It is said that cycling can also help you ease the discomfort of back pain. People with severe back pain tend to take up cycling to minimize and decrease the pain. A lot of the time back pain can be a direct result of long term 'bad' body posture. Without realizing it you might be slouching at your desk or not sitting on a chair that gives your back enough support.

When you are cycling you are strengthening the muscles around your spinal cord which will help your body posture. If you sit and walk up straight your body looks better and you might even feel more confident.

Take it slow

Cruise bikes are particularly ideal for those suffering from bad posture or back pain, because it teaches you to take it slow. The idea is not to put your body under more strain than it already is. You won't be racing or speeding on a cruise bike, but you will be introducing your body to that upright position. It might feel strange at first, but as you get used to it you will feel your body asking you to sit upright even when you aren't biking.

Handlebars

The fact that the handlebars are shaped rather differently than that of spinning and mountain bikes forces the rider to sit in an upright position. The handlebars are far apart and level will the bike, with your arms further apart, your back will be forced to form a straight line. This positioning on the bike will assure that the back is rather straight and that you won't be leaning forward for or downwards. Because the handlebars are the height of your torso, this will lead to sitting upright maintaining a good body posture.

Movement

A lot of people got back injuries from sudden jolts or too many movements when riding a tractor/bike or even hurt their bodies in a car accident. Cruise bikes enable your body to move gently and in motion. There are no sudden jerks shakes on a regular basis, the cruising is thus good for the movement in your body. When recovering from an injury, this movement can be very important and beneficial for your posture.

Even it out

Cruiser bikes encourage you to sit up straight and thus evenly spread your body's weight where as a mountain bike can cause strain to the other parts of your body. If you have a mountain bike you will be positioned slightly forward causing strain on your arms, neck and joints. In order to maintain good posture you will have to do extra strength training in those parts of the body. Because the cruiser is designed for sitting upright, you won't be adding extra strain to your other body parts.

Even though cruiser bikes are very beneficial for body posture, it is still important to talk to a professional, and have them check the structure and settings on your bike before riding. If you do have back problems it would be advised to talk to your doctor before you start biking as a form of exercise. At the end of the day it's about looking after your body and the environment- and cruiser bikes help you to do both in one ride.

Article written by Anneke Steenkamp, a guest author for Cruiserbikes. Cruiserbikes is the best supplier for quality cheap beach cruisers!

The benefits of meditation have proved to be successful for so many people. Let’s take a look at the ways meditation can help your mind and body.

Concentration

Meditation positively benefits the mind by allowing us to concentrate and focus better. This has the same effect of a magnifying glass. It helps to bring problems closer and make them more profound allowing for clarity to help resolve them. With consistent meditation, you begin to learn how to control your mind from being interrupted by the motions and sounds going on around you if you are trying to focus on a project or task. You learn to shut out those motions and sounds, keeping your focus right where it needs to be.

Awareness

Meditation will allow the body and mind to be more aware of every moment of your life. You begin to focus more on what is happening and why, versus living your life as if you were a robot. Every day, minute, and second will seem longer and will feel more fulfilling.

Tolerance

Meditation allows you to raise your own tolerance levels. Things that you didn’t think you could handle or that you were not so tolerant of before will seem easier and more tolerable. Your level of patience will be much higher and your body and mind feel a sense of calmness and happiness.

Intelligence

Your intelligence increases as you meditate. When you begin meditating, the neural connections are formed in the mind and allow you to think better and more clearly.

Creativity and Spontaneity

When we think, we usually think about the future or the past. What that does is covers up our natural ability to think creatively and spontaneously. If we learn through meditation how to make our mind silent, we see that the potential to create comes back to us. Quieting the mind allows us to feel inspired and meditation can do just that.

Some of the greatest thinkers in the world and famous scientists made the most significant discoveries when they took the time to absorb themselves into nothing but their work. They exclude everything else but their focus on work and were able to come out with many masterful thoughts. Meditation can do that to us as well, helping us to unlock our own potentials.

Body Benefits

There are many benefits to the body as well through meditation. It has been proven that there is a reduced level of blood lactate when meditating which is what causes many feelings of depression and anxiousness. Blood pressure has been known to lower itself during and after meditation. Human growth hormones are increased which help maintain youthfulness and longevity of life. The hormones in our body that make us happier and feel better, serotonin and melatonin, are increased through the process of meditation.

Meditation is easy to do and once you get into a routine it won’t seem to be a bother to your schedule. So many people spend hours at the gym helping their bodies so why not try meditation for that as well? Keeping our mind in good working condition and feeling relaxed is just as important as keeping our bodies in shape.

Yolanda Tyler writes about health and fitness. She also recommends using health insurance for great rates for every budget.

When a person tends to look at celebrities, he or she would admire them for their abilities to portray roles which are daring and provocative on the big screen. 

However, there are a good number of people who would often wonder how in the world they look so youthful even after all these years. One would be surprised to do a bit of research on them and discover that they’re actually older than they look.


 It’s no surprise to see so many people wondering what their secrets to staying so young-looking are. Many of them, as one would assume, have gone under the knife and had plastic surgery done on their faces.


Then again, there are others who have aged rather gracefully. Aside from that, they seem to be in the best shapes of their lives, often sporting rock hard chiselled bodies which can make even the most die-hard fans of this generation green with envy. There’s no doubt that keeping celebrity skin in pristine condition is something that can be quite time consuming. One would even assume that these prominent figures utilize quite expensive treatments. However, people would be surprised that their methods would even be comprised of everyday ingredients. Below are some of the key elements to these celebrities staying so young in appearance.

• Sunscreen is important. There are a lot of celebrities that often stay out of the sun as much as possible. However, if they do decide to go out and about, they would apply Sun Protection Formulas (SPF) on their skin. This is considered to be one of the biggest secrets to having such glowing skin. Even when exposed to harsh weather conditions, they still continue to make quite an impression on others. If a person wishes to implement the same methods of acquiring such gorgeous looking skin as these famous people, it would sure help to have a healthy dose of sunscreen applied on his or her skin.

• Another thing that celebrities make use of in order to stay as youthful as possible is retinoid creams. Despite what one may have heard regarding facial scrubs, peels, injections and antioxidants, retinoid creams prove to be the most effective in shedding several years off a person’s face. Most celebrities would actually get prescription retinoids such as Retin-A and Renova. However, as popular as these creams are, they can be quite expensive as well. Therefore, if any common person wishes to avail of something that’s more along their budget, Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle lotions would be ideal. These formulas also contain SPF, which can definitely aid in looking great even under exposure of the sun.

These two methods are what most celebrities utilize for looking a lot younger than their actual age. Therefore, if a person wishes to look like a Hollywood star, these are two important methods which he or she can use. They aren’t expensive as Botox injections or even putting on profuse amounts of makeup. On top of that, they can make a person look naturally young, often putting their friends in wonder as to what their secret really is.


Getting the best wrinkle cream is one of the secrets of celebrities to maintain their youthful glowing skin. Click on the link to know more about it.

There could be several ways to get a fit and strong body and one great way of doing such is through a fitness boot camp. This process is a trending activity to several fitness enthusiasts all around the globe. More and more people prefer fitness boot camps over gym sessions and exercises. What could be so interesting in these fitness boot camps that make more and more people patronize it as the days goes by?


What it is


A fitness boot camp is a kind of physical training program done by a group. These boot camps are designed to make optimum use of every minute of your work out. What this does is that pushes you to have a systematic power-packed work out session to provide optimum effect to your body. This might be very taxing at first but as you realize the great benefits it gives your physique, all the pain, might just be worth it. These fitness boot camps sessions usually last for an hour several times a week depending on the schedule. You will be undergoing a set of exercises that is proven to improve and develop your physical features and of course your fitness.


How it started


If you look on the history of boot camps, it is usually referred to as a military program. There are groups of soldiers undergoing very hard core physical activities to strengthen and develop their body. As the time pass by the concept of these boot camps are developed by fitness experts into a regular program that can be done by any ordinary individual. The modern fitness boot camp concept is virtually similar with the military boot camp, the only difference is that this fitness program is designed to cater to ordinary people that are looking for a great set of fitness exercise.


Benefits


Fitness boot camps provide so many benefits to individuals. Aside from its physical benefits you will also enjoy its social, emotional, and mental effects. Socially, you can meet more friends in the venue as this is a group session. You will also as well gain the discipline that you need to make your body healthy and fit. Finally, these fitness boot camps are also good stress relievers so it keeps you emotionally healthy.   


When you look to join fitness boot camp make sure that you are not too keen to flex and move those muscles. Trainers and instructors in these boot camps could be harsh in facilitating the exercises. This is only to ensure that everybody get the best benefits out of the exercises. Prepare yourself for a challenging workout that will surely put a weight on your muscles. The longer you stay in fitness boot camps the easier it is for you. Just the fact that these fitness boot camps give so many benefits to the body makes every ounce of your sweat worth it.


Everyone can join including men and women as long as you are capable of heavy exercises. You will have a walk though with the program before you start so that you will know what to expect. If you are not too sure with the program you can always have several choices. Have a healthy workout! 


Fitness editorial by WeightLossCamp.co.uk. Visit us now for a wide range of fitness and weight loss camp programmes.

If you take a look at the beauty products on your sink and in your shower, do you even recognize any of the ingredients? Most of our beauty products are made of tons of artificial ingredients and chemicals. Since “going green” and using natural products is so popular now, it’s time to make some changes in your beauty routine, too.

Organic and all-natural beauty lines are expensive, though. If you truly want to use natural products, it’s time to take a look in your kitchen. Lots of eco-friendly beauty lines contain food ingredients, and you can go straight to the source. Here are some things to try.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal works as an awesome natural face scrub, and it will exfoliate your skin beautifully. Just whip up some instant oatmeal with water, and don’t over-cook it because you want the oats to be a little coarse. You can add a few drops of honey, and spread it all over your face (it should be a paste-like consistency). Leave for 15 minutes and rinse. Your skin will be softer, smoother, and more hydrated.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is a versatile natural beauty product. You can use it as a face wash, or put it on cotton balls and use it as a makeup remover. It’s also a great conditioning treatment for your hair. Just work olive oil into your hair, wrap with a towel, and shampoo about 20 minutes later. Your hair will be soft and shiny. You can also use a tiny (very tiny!) bit on your hair every day before going out. It will help smooth flyaways, improve the looks of split ends, and add shine.

Lemon Juice

Dip your fingers in lemon juice, and any stains from nail polish or every day nail abuse like washing dishes will be gone. Your nails will be left looking shiny and bright. You can also use lemon juice as a conditioner in the shower. After your normal shampooing, rinse your hair with a cup of lemon juice for healthier, more manageable hair.

Salt and Sugar

You can use salt and sugar to exfoliate your hands and feet. Mix it with olive oil or a little honey, and rub into your skin; it will be left smooth and moisturized. Just don’t use it on your face because it’s a little too harsh for skin that sensitive.

Cucumbers

What they say is true – cucumber slices on the eyes is a wonderful beauty treatment. Cut thick slices of cucumber and place over your eyes for about fifteen minutes (perhaps along with an oatmeal facial). Cucumbers reduce redness and puffiness in your eyes.

Honey

Honey is another great beauty product that can be used in many different ways. It works well to condition your hair. Just apply some after shampooing and rinse (it won’t be sticky). You can also use honey in many other natural beauty treatments, such as by adding it to an oatmeal facial, an olive oil conditioning treatment, or an exfoliating scrub.
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Georgia Williams is a fashion expert and writer who often blogs about everything from style tips to getting great deals on cosmetic brushes.
Photo Credit: bour3