Depression is a hard thing to shake. But there is a natural treatment for depression that is not only free, but provides many other health benefits besides.

This treatment is regular exercise.

Yup.

You know that exercise helps you to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy heart. You may also be aware that it helps to raise your HDL and lower your LDL. But were you aware of the mental health benefits of exercise?

How exercise can prevent/diminish depression

1. Exercise boost the levels of “feel good” hormones – seratonin, dopamine, norepinephrine – in the brain and body.
2. In studies exercise has alleviated the symptoms of depression as effectively as an anti-depressant drug.
3. Exercise improves learning. When your brain is growing, your mind is more alive, and you are more interested in life.
4. When you exercise, you both feel and look better, which boosts your self-esteem, which reduces feelings of depression.
5. Exercising intensely – such as running as fast as you can for thirty seconds in the middle of a walk – brings on feelings of euphoria.

“But wait! There’s more.”

Like with any health condition, there is no silver bullet that will automatically cure depression. Especially if your depression is severe, you need to do several other things along with getting regular exercise.

• Eliminate processed foods from your diet. They contain chemicals that can adversely affect brain function. They also lack the nutrients your brain needs for optimum function.
• Take a whole-foods based supplement that is high in B-vitamins. The B-vitamin complex is powerful in improving both mood and brain function.
• Eat more raw foods. A diet high in cooked foods depletes your body from the energy vital to your sense of well-being. Raw foods also contain more nutrients.
• Force yourself to socialize. Even if all you do is have lunch with one friend once a week, that sense of connection and community will do wonders for your self-esteem and help you to have a more positive perspective on life.
• Fight off depression with essential oils. Whether rubbed into your scalp or taken internally, several essential oils such as chamomile, lavender and rosemary can turn a bad mood within minutes.

Your natural treatment for depression is just a pair of tennis shoes and a sidewalk away! Combined with the other treatments listed above, the mental health benefits of exercise will do miracles in your mind.

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Learn the principles of living in optimum health.

Looking for natural, chemical-free treatments and cures that work? Try undiluted, unadulterated essential oils.

There is no better supplement than Masaji. Find out how it changed my life here.

You’re improving your health; ready to get really free? Check out my other blog, freetoliveyourdreams.com.

Weight loss is a perennially hot topic, but never as much as during this time of year. As this post goes live, it is a week into the New Year, the time when resolve and determination to lose weight is at its peak.

For about three weeks. Maybe. Then the trips to the gym start getting old, you get tired of having a continually growling stomach, and you start to wonder whether losing weight is all that important.

Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. I don’t know how overweight you are, nor how healthy you are otherwise. But if you want to be able lose a few pounds, I have some tips that will help you stick to your New Year’s Resolution. Why? You won’t feel like you are sacrificing time, money and taste.

1. Avoid starches and refined sugar at least four days per week.

Starches include grains and any products made with grains, as well as yams and potatoes. Raw honey and raw agave nectar are acceptable sweeteners, if consumed in moderation. Stevia, a super-sweet herb, may be used as liberally as you want–although not everyone appreciates its flavor.

2. Eat to satisfaction.

Translation: neither starve nor stuff yourself.

3. Eat healthy, low-glycemic snacks.

Low-glycemic fruit (basically anything that isn’t a tropical or dried fruit) with nuts and/or sunflower seeds is easy to prepare, tasty and satisfying. You might also try celery and carrot sticks with tahini or almond butter, or an ounce or two of raw cheese (this article explains why I recommend steering clear of all pasteurized dairy, organic or not).

4. Do the right kind of exercise, at the right time.

To burn fat and boost your metabolism for up to 48 hours, exercise before eating in the morning. Do strength training at least three days per week, as this can significantly increase your metabolism over doing aerobic exercises. No gym membership or expensive equipment necessary–a few dumbbells of varying weight is all you need.

These tips will quickly get you on the road to weight loss. For a comprehensive resource that helps you not only to lose weight, but also dramatically decrease your vulnerability to illness and disease, please visit this page.

According to a recent Times article, the supposed health benefits of exercise have been blown out of proportion. The best way to lose weight is to sit around and pick your nose, as nose-picking will burn some calories but not enough to make you hungry.

Okay, that’s not really what it said. But it came close. The article quotes an exercise researcher at LSU, Eric Ravussin, as saying that “exercise is useless” for weight loss. Why? The answer should be obvious. When you exercise, you burn more calories, and therefore get hungry, and therefore gorge on pizza and potato chips and ice cream right after your workout.

Horse feces.

I don’t know about you, but I am less hungry immediately after exercising. And in the summer, I have to make myself eat more, because I am outside more often and get more exercise and–would you believe (Mr. Ravussin wouldn’t)–I begin to LOSE WEIGHT!

Many studies have repeatedly shown that exercise is essential for good health for many reasons. These reasons include:

• Exercise burns fat.
• It increases muscle mass.
• It decreases one’s appetite–at least short-term.
• It reduces one’s risk of developing chronic/degenerative disease.
• It increases longevity.

I have known (at least) two men who gained weight to the point of obesity at one point in their respective lives. Both of them returned to a healthy weight by doing two things:

1. Reducing caloric intake, and
2. Wait…can you guess?…(oh, Mr. R, you just won’t approve of this)…EXERCISING!

The one man took up country-western dancing; the other, running and weight-lifting. Both continue to exercise regularly, and neither one has ever regained the weight they lost.

I briefly interviewed one of those men regarding exercise and appetite. Our conversation went something like this:

CRUNCHY COACH: When you were in the process of losing weight, did you find your appetite increased after exercising?

MAN: Immediately after exercising, no, it actually decreased.

CRUNCHY COACH: What happened to your appetite overall?

MAN: Overall, it may have increased, especially on days when I did a lot more exercising.

CRUNCHY COACH: But you still lost weight.

MAN: That’s because eventually you figure out the caloric intake you need and spread it out through the day.

CRUNCHY COACH: And generally people who exercise regularly are more careful about what they eat, right? When somebody decides to improve their health they’re not going to eat fast food all day long.

MAN: That, and commitment. You have to be committed to losing weight.

CRUNCHY COACH: So, what do you think of this Eric Ravussin guy?

MAN: He needs to be committed.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Exercise is a vital part of weight loss, a necessary habit for anyone seeking optimum health.

Have you struggled with weight loss and wish you could find a proven way to burn fat, gain muscle, and drastically improve the way you look? I recommended that you read Jon Benson’s story in his e-book, Fit Over 40. He is a living testimony of how a bit of discipline and a few minutes of working out every day can do for your body.

And should you ever run into Mr. Ravussin, you might think of suggesting that book to him as well.

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Learn the principles of living in optimum health.

Looking for natural, chemical-free treatments and cures that work? Try undiluted, unadulterated essential oils.

There is no better supplement than Masaji. Find out how it changed my life here.

You’re improving your health; ready to get really free? Check out my other blog, freetoliveyourdreams.com.

Last Thursday, I began a two-part series on how to stay fit when the autumn winds begin to blow and you decide to put your outdoor fitness routine on the shelf for a few months. However, your body needs exercise, no matter what season it is. In part one, I mentioned three of the more well-known traditional indoor fitness ideas: using a treadmill, rebounding, and jump roping.

Today, I want to introduce you three additional indoor fitness ideas that can add some spice to your workout routine.

1. The WorkOutPass. Were you aware that you could download fitness routines from the Internet, then play and follow them from your computer? The WorkOutPass, for one single price, allows you to access 43 (and growing) websites that provide various online workouts. Want to burn more fat? They’ve got a workout for you. Tighten your abs? That, too. Want workouts especially designed for baseball players, wrestlers, and pregnant women? Got it, got it, got it.

For just pennies a day, you can choose from a variety of workouts to do in the comfort of your home. The WorkOutPass is cheaper and more convenient than a gym.

2.Yoga DVDs. When the weather turns cold, our bodies naturally want to slow down and take life a little easier. What better way to continue on in your fitness routine in a more relaxed way than yoga?

If you’ve never tried yoga before, but always been intrigued by the poses, it’s a great way to tone muscle, improve flexibility, and reduce stress. You can find DVDs that target particular body parts, like this one, as well as prenatal yoga DVDs and yoga for beginners DVDs.

3. Dance! Turn on your favorite tunes and get your body moving to the beat! Or, if you prefer, you can find a wide variety of dance workouts on DVD. From hip-hop to belly dancing, DVD dance routines provide a lot of fun and a great cardiovascular workout. You can even get couples dance instruction DVDs. Can you think of a more romantic way to begin or end the day with your spouse, and get your heartbeat moving and those calories burning?

Actually, yes, we can. Moving right along…

Now you have no excuse to ditch your fitness routine just because the weather turns cold. Whether you want to run on a treadmill, download a specialized workout online, or dance around your living room, you now have a good idea of how to stay fit when the cold weather hits.

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Learn the principles of living in optimum health.

Looking for natural, chemical-free treatments and cures that work? Try undiluted, unadulterated essential oils.

There is no better supplement than Masaji. Find out how it changed my life here.

You’re improving your health; ready to get really free? Check out my other blog, freetoliveyourdreams.com.

Autumn will soon be upon us, and staying fit when the pre-winter chill descends will become a challenge for many people, for several reasons.

• The days are shorter, making outdoor workouts tricky for people who have day jobs.
• Many people dread walking or running in colder temperatures–and exercising in extreme cold can actually be dangerous to your health (I used to get bouts of pleurisy in the winter when I lived in my home state of Minnesota and exerted myself too much while outdoors).
• It’s just easier to snuggle under a blanket on the couch and read or watch T.V. as a frosty wind blows outside.

However, staying fit during the colder seasons is not only doable and important to your health, but can also be fun. And since your winter fitness routine may consist of exercises that use more of certain muscle groups than your outdoor routines, the commitment to maintain physical fitness during cold weather could enhance your overall strength and flexibility.

Indoor exercise equipment and fitness ideas abound. Today I will mention three of the most popular and heart-healthy ways to staying fit in cold weather. Next Thursday, in part two, I will bring up some other indoor fitness ideas that can help keep your fitness routine fresh and exciting.

Indoor fitness idea number one: the treadmill

Not an incredibly ingenius idea, but if you are a dedicated walker/runner/jogger and have a place for one in your house, this may be the perfect fit for you. (Well, even if you don’t have a place for one in your house, you can now buy treadmills that fold up). Until a few years ago, my husband had a state-of-the-art treadmill that had a bunch of different speeds, as many degrees of incline (to really burn off the calories), and would even figure out how many “miles” you’d gone and calories you’d spent.

Of course, you can save money and be greener by sticking with an “old-fashioned” non-electric treadmill.

Indoor fitness idea number two: the rebounder

Why rebound? Rebounding is a much gentler exercise than any aerobic exercise that’s done on a surface, as it doesn’t impact the various leg joints. Like all aerobic exercises, it strengthens your heart, improves circulation, and–due to its gentle rhythmic bounce–is a great stress reducer. Better yet–if you’re a weight-watcher–it can burn more calories than jogging.

Another great benefit to using a rebounder is that it cleanses the lymphatic system, which is the body’s waste system. The up and down movement helps to push the built-up toxins out of the lymph nodes and get flushed out of the body.

Indoor fitness idea number three: jump roping

You want to really give your heart a work out? Try jump roping for two minutes! (If you’ve been outside in the freezing cold jump roping will also warm you up in a hurry.) The only required equipment for this exercise is a jump rope, a mat on which to jump, and a decent pair of athletic shoes.

Jump roping not only gives you a great cardiovascular workout, but it also helps improve coordination and bone health.

See, you can stay in shape when the cold weather starts to hit! Be sure to check back next Thursday for even more great indoor fitness ideas.

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Learn the principles of living in optimum health.

Looking for natural, chemical-free treatments and cures that work? Try undiluted, unadulterated essential oils.

There is no better supplement than Masaji. Find out how it changed my life here.

You’re improving your health; ready to get really free? Check out my other blog, freetoliveyourdreams.com.