Am I Healthy?: The Ten Best Ways to Measure Your Health and Fitness

How does one measure health? It depends on who you ask. A physician may measure health in terms of lab values - cholesterol, blood sugar and so on. A personal trainer might tell you that your body fat percentage is the best indicator of good health. You might base it on what the scale tells you or how your clothes fit.
I'm a big believer in monitoring all of these things and then some. Seems like a big job, but really it only takes a few minutes to do each one, involves inexpensive equipment or can be a regular part of a visit to your physician. I call them "The Big Ten Health and Fitness Measures."

1. Weight
2. BMI (Body Mass Index)
3. Body composition
4. Measurements
5. Resting and target heart rates
6. Cardiorespiratory fitness
7. Energy level
8. Blood pressure
9. Glucose & cholesterol
10. Pain

Why keep track of all these things? First, because there isn't one single good way to define what makes a person healthy or fit. For instance, just because you are at a healthy weight, does not mean that you don't have high cholesterol. Also, it can be discouraging to use just one method. You may find yourself in a situation where even though you did not lose any weight in a given week, you may have lost inches.
Monitoring several indicators of health and fitness helps you to get a well-rounded picture of your entire self. We do not judge our children in just one subject at school right? And just because the child does poorly in math does not mean he won't excel at other subjects. And just because you have not lost any weight on the scale does not mean that your waist isn't getting smaller.
Secondly, we have all heard the adage, "a problem defined is 95% solved." Knowing your target ranges for health indicators like weight, body fat and BMI can help you to define what you need to work on. You avoid unnecessary changes and difficulties by having the correct information. For instance, someone with good cholesterol levels has no need for an ultra-low fat diet.

Third, it serves as a point of inspiration to see how far you have come. Since the changes you are making will be small and incremental, it may be discouraging at times not to see overt progress. However, by keeping track of a variety of fitness indicators, it is easier to see, in black and white, all of the progress you are making.


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Stomach Exercises

What Time of Day is Best For Stomach Exercises?


Is there really a good time of the day to do stomach exercises? Here is what you can do to get in a daily stomach workout.


No matter who you are, everyone wants a flatter stomach.
Regardless of whether it is a woman who just had a baby, or a man who desires to win somebody over. A slimmer stomach is everyone's desire.


While many people possess great motives to build their "six pack" abs not many individuals can find time or even commit to sticking with exercising to notice actual results, and in most cases quit.
In order to cure the problem there are many suggestions that may help a person looking to get a flatter belly but cannot find the time or even the energy to accomplish intense stomach workouts.
For the numerous individuals that wish to accomplish stomach exercises, you will find just as many people, most likely much more, that prefer to watch tv.

This can be a ideal time for stomach exercises to be performed.
When commercials come on, or every ten minutes if there aren't any commercials, try lying down on the floor and performing as many belly exercises as you possibly can throughout the break or in 2-3 minutes.


For those who have not really done stomach exercises in some time, it is advisable to begin gradually. Perhaps turn it into a game, and attempt to get as many repetitions in as possible each time.
By using this easy strategy, it can help your body in a number of various ways.
To begin with, there is no additional scheduling involved, for many people, watching television during some part of the day is normal, therefore, absolutely no additional time will be taken out of the day to accomplish a stomach workout.


Next, this tactic aids in that fact that the body should not really stay motionless for more then thirty minutes anyway. By getting up and performing stomach exercises every few minutes it truly increases the body metabolic rate.


Another great time for you to perform stomach exercises is the very first thing each morning.
After rolling out of bed, lie down on the floor and do as many repetitions as you possibly can within a set period of time, even if it is just a few minutes.


There is a great deal of proof to recommend that working out the very first thing each morning is more advantageous to an individual then attempting to workout at other times of the day.
While there are usually numerous reasons for this, one valid reason is that it gets the body's metabolism going for the rest of the day.


Because the majority of individuals are usually interested about the look of their stomach, it appears plausible to begin your day with a good set of stomach exercises.

If you feel daily exercise is excessive or if your stomach muscles are sore, rest them.
There are several reports which state that muscles require time in order to rest, therefore just exercise a specific group of muscles every other day, while additional reports state that stomach muscles are usually OK to exercise daily.


Pay attention to what your body tells you. Perhaps focus one day more intensely than the following day, but attempt to include a minimum of one set of stomach exercises every day.
Fortunately, the majority of stomach exercises can be achieved anywhere you want to with absolutely no equipment or gadgets.


Having a little diligence as well as some creativeness, there are many occasions during the day to sneak in stomach workouts.


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Coconut water benefits

Coconut water is the natural clear pure fluid obtained from the fruit of the coconut plant which is mainly grown in tropical climates but could be found is small quantities in the local market places and in corner shops. It is second to water but has its own natural contents of vitamins minerals and sugars. Its sweetness increases with maturity.


Coconut water benefits :


1) In the tropics coconut water is used as a natural drink to keep the body hydrated.


2) It is also used as replacement fluid, to replace electrolytes were there is diarrhoea and vomiting.


3) Coconut water is excellent in assisting with temperature regulation on very hot days.


4) It keeps certain body functions working well, ie good for flushing the kidneys and bladder.


5) Coconut water when picked and drank directly from the tree is 100% a natural drink.


Some may think that natural doesn't always come with huge health benefits but coconut water does if picked directly from its plant, juiced, which could be extracted without much ado and taken within the day. It's healthier than cold sweetened drinks, teas, coffees and is preservative free.
Do try and take advantage of this organic drink when you next visit your local market place, corner shop or the tropics.