The Right Pain Relief for Every Ache
Backache? Upset stomach? Before you hit the pharmacy or your medicine cabinet, discover which pain relievers are worth reaching for in this guide.
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs, Such as Ibuprofen, Naproxen Sodium and Aspirin
How they work: NSAIDs reduce inflammation associated with muscle and joint pain.
Know this: If you pop too many of these pills or have a sensitive stomach, you can experience side effects including nausea, dizziness and heartburn.
Posted 12/10/2012 6:00:00 PM By: : 8 comments 12,660 views
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The 5 Worst Things You’re Doing to Yourself
Editor's Note: We know the holidays can be a busy time and that stress is a leading cause of emotional eating and other habits that can negatively impact your efforts to be healthy and happy. That's why SparkPeople is thrilled to share with you this blog post from the team at meQuilibrium.com, a site whose mission very closely aligns with our own. meQuilibrium helps you dial down the negative effects of stress by coaching you to take control of your thoughts, emotions and lifestyle habits with a unique online program.
Together SparkPeople and meQuilibrium are committed to making you healthier and happier, one step at a time. At the end of this post, you'll learn how to get a FREE 6-week unlimited access to meQuilibrium, including a special 30-day introductory stress-relief program, as a gift exclusively for SparkPeople members! Don't miss this limited-time offer!
You’re not a masochist, and yet, this time of year, you could possibly pass for one. You take on more than you could possibly do and aspire to even more. You raise your standards, your expectations, and your stress levels—all in the name of good cheer and a happy holiday.
What? Does it have to be like this? We don’t think so. You can change your experience of the holidays—but you have to aware of what you’re doing first. Let’s start with five things you’re doing to yourself that are making things way harder than they have to be.
Posted 12/6/2012 6:00:00 AM By: : 24 comments 39,579 views
5 Easy Ways to Show Kids How to be Thankful
Gratitude can be a difficult thing to teach but a vital lesson for children to learn.
Psychologists have found that people who regularly say thank you and remember to be grateful for things in their life tend to be happier and more optimistic. They can't say there is definitely a cause-and-effect relationship between gratitude and happiness, but counting your blessings certainly doesn't hurt.
Teaching gratitude is something that should happen all year; however, the holiday season quickly can prove whether the lessons have been a success. The good cheer of the holidays can disappear in a whirl of greed and gluttony. That's true for all of us, young and old, but it's especially apparent when children, the prime gift recipients of the season, act ungratefully.
No one wants to have the kid refusing to thank Aunt Betty for the hand-made sweater – or even worse, declaring it ugly. Yes, we want children to be truly grateful in their hearts, but let's face it, we also want to avoid unpleasant scenes. Gratitude and politeness go hand-in-hand.
Here are easy some ways to teach and show gratitude all year, and especially at the holiday season.
Posted 12/5/2012 6:00:00 PM By: : 19 comments 23,169 views
Food Fight: Agave vs. Honey
This is going to be our toughest food fight yet! Two natural sweeteners pitted against each other – it’s a very difficult decision.
Agave
Most agave nectar is produced from the blue agave plant grown in desert regions like the hilly areas in Mexico. The syrup is extracted from the "honey water" found at core of the plant, filtered, heated and then processed to make it into thicker nectar you see at the store. This makes agave a good sweetener for vegans (who don't eat honey).
Agave nectar has a dark amber color, but has a more neutral flavor than honey. One tablespoon of the sweetener has about 60 calories compared to about 45 and 60 in the same amount of granulated sugar and honey, respectively. It’s 1 ½ times sweeter than sugar and so you can use less of it. Agave easily dissolves in cold liquids like smoothies and iced tea and can be used to replace granulated sugar in baked products (see instructions below). Many food manufacturers also use agave nectar in products like energy drinks and bars because of its light flavor and over-hyped
nutritional benefits.
Posted 12/5/2012 12:00:00 PM By: : 24 comments 22,615 views
You Asked: ''How Can I Exercise with a Sprained Ankle?
When recovering from a sprain, the first goal is to slowly regain a full range of movement. The first 24 hours are important for icing, rest and elevation to reduce the amount of inflammation. It's important to start rehabilitation exercises as soon as possible, depending on the severity of the sprain.
If you can’t do weight bearing exercises, try this: Rotate your ankle and point your toes in different directions, spelling the alphabet with your toes to improve range of motion. You can also use a towel or resistance band to provide a little resistance at the ankle to help build up strength again.
Once you feel comfortable with weight bearing exercises, try this one: Stand against a wall (with your side to the wall) with your sprained foot supported on one side by the wall. Put all weight on that one foot. Start with 5-10 seconds and work your way up to longer times. If you are able to walk on it, take out the hills and inclines if you can, until you don't feel any pain. Taking shorter walks--if you don't feel pain when walking-- is also a good idea.
Additionally, you could try a seated workout that will get your heart pumping without putting weight on your ankle at all. Be patient and listen to your body; you don't want to push yourself too hard and risk further injury.
Posted 12/5/2012 12:00:00 AM By: : 28 comments 84,068 views
10 Workout Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making
You do the rowing machine at the gym and walk outdoors when weather permits. So why does your back hurt and why don't your skinny jeans still fit? Poor form can up injury risks and common calorie-burning misconceptions can sabotage weight-loss results. Here, top experts share the biggest exercise mistakes women make and safer ways to get the most out of your favorite workouts.
Posted 12/3/2012 12:00:00 PM By: : 22 comments 34,134 views
5 Exercises for Stronger, More Flexible Feet
Over the past three decades, fitness shoe manufacturers have developed advanced technology to cushion and control motion in our feet and ankles. While this advanced support can feel great, it doesn't allow our joints and soft tissue to articulate normally. As a result, we've disconnected with our feet! Much of our losses in flexibility and mobility can be attributed to the fact that our feet have become stiff and weak. A healthy, aligned and balanced body begins in your feet—and then translates through your entire kinetic chain (ankle, knee, hip, lower back).
As a pioneer in foot fitness (Sole Training®) and barefoot training (The willPower Method®), I've been helping everyday clients and athletes strengthen, stretch and train from the feet on up for more than 10 years. If you're intrigued by barefoot running/training or thinking of trying minimalist shoes, you must start working on your feet first. And even if barefoot training isn't something you're considering, everyone can still benefit from building foot and ankle mobility and strength.
Are you tired of wearing uncomfortable orthotics or getting painful cortisone injections? Are you dealing with an old injury or plantar fasciitis? Are you finding that your balance skills are not what they used to be?
These five exercises will help you to strengthen and stretch all ten toes, and develop flexible strength from the ground up. Over time you will enjoy improved balance in daily activities and workouts, a stronger walking/running stride, increased circulation and mobility throughout the feet and ankles, and significant reductions of foot, leg and lower back pain and injuries. All it takes is five minutes a day!
Posted 11/30/2012 2:00:00 PM By: : 107 comments 570,677 views
Ask the Experts: Myth Busters!
Dietitians are always trying to dispel the obscene amount of nutrition myths floating out in the world. We asked nutrition experts around the country about their favorite (or rather, least favorite!) nutrition myths and how they set the record straight.
Posted 11/28/2012 6:00:00 PM By: : 19 comments 19,223 views
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How to Ace the Parent-Teacher Conference
It was November 2010, my son's first grade parent-teacher conference. I entered the room with my realist hat on and sat down in the tiny chair at the table with the teacher and my husband. I was ready to hear positive feedback about my son's academic performance and likely some less than positive feedback about his silliness in the classroom (that was his pre-Kindergarten teacher's word for his very excitable-but-hard-to-bring-back-down personality). I was prompt, aware, and ready to go.
What I was not prepared for was the teacher's opening line: "He is the impetus for all of the problems around him."
She did not appreciate his silliness nor his desire to help (albeit, untimely) those around him during work time. Ten seconds. Eleven words. Ten gallons of tears.
Luckily, I have become a more seasoned parent-teacher participant. Armed with more conference experience, anecdotal accounts from teachers, parents, and teacher educators, and published research on parent-teacher conferences, I can now offer some fresh perspective on the parent-teacher conference.
Posted 11/28/2012 12:00:00 PM By: : 17 comments 22,368 views
10 Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes
Fall in love with sweet potatoes again and again with these 10 deliciously healthy recipes.
Nutritional Goodness
One medium tuber contains 105 calories and 4 grams of fiber. These babies are bursting with antioxidant vitamins A and C, potassium and manganese. They also contain lycopene, another antioxidant that’s been shown to help fight certain types of cancer and heart disease.
Posted 11/21/2012 6:00:00 PM By: : 8 comments 50,956 views
Stop Waiting! 4 Ways to Live in the Moment
Editor's Note: SparkPeople is thrilled to share with you this blog post from the team at meQuilibrium.com, a site whose mission very closely aligns with our own. meQuilibrium helps you dial down the negative effects of stress by coaching you to take control of your thoughts, emotions and lifestyle habits with a unique online program. The company was founded by Jan Bruce, best known for founding the company body+soul/whole living and the magazine of the same name. Chris "SparkGuy" Downie and our team has known Jan for quite awhile, and together we're committed to making you healthier and happier, one step at a time. At the end of this post, you'll learn how to get a FREE 6-week unlimited access to meQuilibrium, including a special 30-day introductory boot camp, as a gift from SparkPeople!
How much of your life do you spend waiting? Not just waiting in line, but biding your time, waiting for the right moment, the right opportunity, the right person to come along? How much of our time is spent waiting for your life to get better, or for it to just show up?
Leo Babauta, author of The Effortless Life and founder of zenhabits.net, asks this question in a recent post called "How to Wait Less." He writes: What if we stopped waiting, stopped trying to make dreams and goals come true, stopped wishing and anticipating? What if that good life is already here, and the only way to live it is to stop looking forward and notice what we already have?
Of course, there’s something great about anticipation—we love having something to look forward to, even if we hate waiting for it to arrive. While the anticipation of something better propels us forward and keeps us optimistic, there’s a definite downside: It takes us out where we are right now. If we’re not careful, we start to believe that the present is something to be tolerated, rather than enjoyed.
As any Buddhist worth his salt will tell you, all we have is now. This is it! The future is a figment, and our past is unchangeable. So, the best chance we have is to work with what’s right in front of us.
Sure, things could get better later (and in this economy, it’s what everyone’s banking on). Where and how you direct your attention and focus determines what your life feels like now. And isn’t that just as important?
Here are some ways to get plugged in to the present (the future will take care of itself):
Posted 11/21/2012 2:00:00 PM By: : 11 comments 25,105 views
Shop Smarter and Save More on Black Friday
Turkey, pumpkin pie, football, family. Thanksgiving might include any of those things, but for many people, a vital part of the holiday weekend is the shopping. And while there are countless bargains to be found, not all promotions may be worthy of an early wake-up call or being jostled by crowds. We put Claudia Lombana, PayPal Shopping Specialist, to the test for her best Black Friday advice.
Posted 11/20/2012 6:00:00 AM By: : 15 comments 15,467 views
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14 Secrets for Turning Kids into Healthy Eaters
We know what it's like—you prepare a well-balanced, nutritious meal for your kids, only to have them turn up their noses at the veggies. Before you give up and head for the McDonald's drive-thru, consider this: With a little know-how—and patience—you can instill healthy habits in your children. We've talked to some of today's leading nutrition experts and learned real-life tricks for sneaking in good-for-you foods at home, at school—and yes, even at fast-food joints.
Posted 11/19/2012 6:00:00 AM By: : 8 comments 10,195 views
What a Serving Size Really Looks Like
Ever gulp down a container of juice, only to find out there were actually 2 1/2 servings in that 20-ounce bottle? Gobbled up a "personal" size bag of chips? What about that pint of ice cream in the freezer? That surely is one serving. Right?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone. Food companies and restaurants often try to trick us by making it really difficult to determine how many portions are in a package.
Most of us have experienced portion distortion, especially as we start our healthy living journey. Portion distortion is widespread, but thankfully it's something that's easy to overcome!
Today we're sharing an eye-opening graphic that will show you how much many of us are really eating--and how much we should be eating! We put our marketing intern, Betsy Emmert, on the case!
Posted 11/15/2012 2:00:00 PM By: : 139 comments 178,928 views
One Small Change: Avoid the Health Halo
Just as the first impressions of a person can influence our perception of them far into the future, research shows the same can be said for the foods we eat. Once a food or restaurant is deemed "healthy", we tend to let our guard down and forget about the facts of what we are truly eating – a proverbial junk-food wolf in a nutritious sheep's clothing.
This phenomenon for food has been dubbed the "health halo" effect.
Posted 11/14/2012 6:00:00 PM By: : 14 comments 15,612 views
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