Drink Lots of Water

Water is so essential to our human bodies.  Fortunately a lot of people have already said it for me:

Our bodies are made of mostly water:


Therefore it plays many roles in our body:



If that were not enough….


Some added benefits…waterben


The old myth once was that we need drink 8 8 once glasses of water everyday:watermyth


Science is showing that is great if you are about 160 pounds. But that could be too much water for a kid and not enough for someone who is much larger. The new adage is to divide your weight in half in pounds then multiply by .8  then the number will be in ounces.



So maybe an easier number to remember is 40% of your body weight. Here is a nice cheat sheet:



By drinking water you can literally sip stress away, while improving health 


Wednesday Fast Food Links

                      Fast Food Links:

Here are this weeks’ links:
1. Dangers of Too Much Sodium by Medical Daily

2. Eating at Fast-food Restaurants More than Twice Per Week is Associated with More Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance in Otherwise Healthy Young Adults by National Institutes of Health

3. Fast food increases risk of diabetes, heart disease in Singapore by University of Minnesota

4. Fast Food Twice a Week Linked to Obesity & Diabetes by Mercola

5. My fast food diet- I do not eat fast food regularly. At most, when I can afford it I will have s Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich and maybe I will get half-priced sushi (also once a week). Here is a recent article on my ideal Chinese restaurant. Chinese food can be healthy. It is my Achilles’s heal. I love Chinese food.


Are you in touch with your emotions?

Did you know that just maintaining a sad face drags you down? Your mind and body both are negatively by the a frown. The idea of “fake it until you make it” is more than cliche. Science backs it.

First, let’s examine the benefits of smiling. Did you know that smiling lowers your heart rate? Also
Neurotransmitters called endorphins are released when you smile. These make us feel happy.

A smile also makes one more attractive, easy going, and empathetic. In fact, a study in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that smiling actually makes you more attractive to those you smile at. A study found that smiling can make you more comfortable in situations you would otherwise feel awkward in.


Studies have found that people are more willing to engage socially with others who are smiling. A smile and all the positive emotions associated with it are contagious. University of Pittsburgh study concluded that people who smiled were considered “more trustworthy” than people with non-smiling facial expressions.

Laughing too has a ton of scientific benefits. Levels of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine tend to decrease during bouts of laughter. Laughter is used to reduce stress, relieve pain and boost immunological responses by doctors and therapists.  Laughter has been shown to lower or balance blood pressure and increase vascular blood flow. Laughing 100 times is equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on the stationary bicycle. Similar to smiling, laughing also increases endrophines in the body and also makes a person more pleasant to be around.

 Laughter is relaxing to our bodies and muscles. In one study, students who watched a funny video in their classroom responded with lower levels of aggression in tense situations.
Here is another interesting point. When you are stressed do you clench your right hand or left hand? Assuming you  are right handed, you probably clench your right hand. This is normal, new there is stress, the body gets more tense. A long clench on the right hand or many through-out the day, though could suggest too much stress.If you notice that you do this. Try something else: Try your left hand when you are stressed out. Some athletes may improve their performance under pressure simply by squeezing a ball or clenching their left hand before competition to activate certain parts of the brain, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. Dogs do this too with their tails. When dogs are anxious they wag their tag from right to left, but when they are happy they wag their tail from  left to right! 
I leave you with one activity for you. Try this experiment, place a weight on a string and then hold your hand steady while holding the string and letting the weight drop. See how long you can hold it still and steady. Next, think about moving the string clockwise but do not do it, only think about it. Slowly the weight will move clockwise. Now, think about it moving in a counter-clockwise direction but do not actually initiate your muscles…slowly the weight will change directions!
This is an amazing proof that our mind and emotions do really strongly effect the rest of our body, if the science was not enough for you!

Depression Wednesday Link List

Wednesday Link List

Here are this weeks’ links:

1. CBT During Dialysis May Combat Depression by PsychCentral

2. Depression and recovery summed up nicely in a picture by Danny Baker

3. How to Transform Depression Into Awe by The Change Blog

4. Exercise May Allay Anxiety, Depression by the MedPage

5. Down in the Dumps? How to Become a More Positive Person by Dumb Little Man


Wednesday Link List

Here are this weeks’ links:


2. How cutting sugar and carbs reverses aging by Wellness Achiever





Overcoming Roadblocks to Self-Care

There are several common roadblocks to self care:
-For some people time is their biggest road block.
-For others self-esteem or value is hindering.


There are three parts of happiness:
Suggestions for Creating Good:
