5 Easy Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

Just thinking about shaping up, losing weight, or eating healthier makes many women exhausted. Changing habits is hard work, but sometimes we approach healthy lifestyle changes in the most difficult way possible. Instead of picking your biggest challenge, consider starting where you know you can be effective, where you can get some lasting bang for your buck and where you can start growing motivation and momentum.

Here are five relatively painless and struggle-free tips to help you create lasting healthy habits:

1.     Get some zzzzzs. Sleep affects just about everything we do and without enough sleep, we all tend to unravel. Inadequate sleep affects your cravings, your metabolism, your energy level, mood, activity, focus and motivation. If you aren’t regularly getting seven hours of sleep a night (or more) this is the first area to address. If you are exhausted and try to keep going, you aren’t likely to be effective and you’ll probably be drawn to mindless “zoning out” activities that are really just busy work. Go to sleep instead.

2.    Identify your trouble spots. Don’t just focus on what you want to do. Be smart and identify the things that have led you off track in the past. A positive attitude is great, but a proactive plan for how you will do it differently this time is even better.

3.    Grow tools for managing emotions and stress. Emotional eating (including stress eating) is one of the primary causes of overeating, weight gain, and weight regain. Without the strategies you need, stressful situations can trigger very unhealthy (and self-sabotaging) responses such as overeating, smoking, alcohol use, avoidance, or numbing out in front of the computer. Hard times are also the time when many women abandon or lose track of health, fitness, and wellness goals. Instead of only focusing on what you’ll eat or when you’ll work out, invest some energy in addressing any real issues that are the trigger for the habits you are trying to kick.

4.     Don’t lose yourself. One of the biggest reasons that busy women get off track is that they get distracted by other life demands.

• Designate a time to check in with yourself weekly. Evaluate how things are going. Use this time to schedule the additional time you’ll need throughout the week for exercise, stress relief, meal planning, etc.

• Post your goals somewhere where you will see them and be reminded of them regularly. Make sure you identify milestones along the way to your big goal and reward yourself for reaching them.

5.    Keep it positive. Don’t ignore your mindset. It has the power to impact your mood, your energy level, your choices and your progress. Focus on what you’ve done rather than what didn’t happen.

Acknowledge the accomplishments (change is difficult) and celebrate your achievements along the way. Adopt the mantra, “I’m doing my best” instead of “I have to get it perfect” and you’ll be much better prepared to keep going when the going gets tough, recognize your progress and your efforts, and take good care of yourself along the way.

http://www.empowher.com/wellness/content/5-easy-tips-healthy-lifestyle?page=0,1

Kale Banana Smoothie

A really informative, easy to follow guide to a beautiful smoothie!

Cycling Interval Training

http://slimminghelp4u.com/

Here is a great indoor instructional video to help with your fitness goals. Cycling Interval Training is known to increase your fitness far more effectively....

Exercises for Abs and the Top 5 Ab Exercise Mistakes

I hear people talk about abs all the time and sometimes giving people advice to everyone including myself. Some of them are good advice, that I keep in mind. There are things worth noting down and possibly passing down to others as well. But, there are times when people give out the wrong advice. The problem with giving wrong advice is that it actually hurts someones chances of showing off their six pack.

Imagine working hard at something. With a specific goal in mind. For example, I need a to have washboard abs before spring break or ripped abs before a wedding. The chance of not attaining ones goals is pretty hard to digest especially when someone has been working really hard at it. Here are the top 5 ab exercise mistakes that I’ve seen. Some of them are completely off the mark, while others are taken out of context.

1. Focusing on crunches ONLY – Getting to reveal your abs are much more than crunches. In fact there are ways to reveal a super six pack without any crunches. But just for argument sake, yes crunches are important. How many times should you do your crunches per week? I would suggest limiting your crunches to twice a week. Over working your abs will actually make them soft since the muscles do not have time to recover and build. Focus on total body exercises more.
2. Steady pace running – Running at a steady pace is great for endurance, marathon and overall cardio and lung conditioning. However, it is not a great routine for six pack abs. It could potentially have a negative effect on your pursuit for a perfect set of abs. Its not like you do not need cardio, you actually need the right variations of cardio exercises. The best cardio exercises are the interval training variations. You run/walk/climb stairs at around 85% of your capacity for 2 minutes and then slow down your pace for a minute. Repeat this set about 4 times. Yes, four times, that's it! No more boring 60 minute long runs. Continue this routine and watch the six pack grow.
3. Hydration – Drink water. An average of 2 liters a day is needed to keep the body in peak condition. Ensure that you stay hydrated during your exercises. Your abs will thank you when you keep them hydrated with water. Also, water helps in many ways by helping your mind realize that you’re full. It can also prevent overeating and gorging over a meal. So do yourself a favour and drink plenty of water.
4. Consuming alcohol – If you are working on your six pack abs, stay away from alcohol. Not one glass of wine, one beer, “light” or “lite”, it does not matter. Stay away. I know the “benefits” of red wine, the anti-oxidants etc. If you need anti oxidants, eat strawberries, pomegranate etc. Alcohol slows down metabolism and kick starts fat storage in your body. Its not going to make your task of getting a six pack any easier. If your’e on a 12 week program, stay away from alcohol for twelve weeks.
5. Over exercising – Too much of a good thing is bad. While it is great that you need exercises, it does have negative side effects when you over do it. The biggest concern is injury. If you overwork your muscle, you will injure it and not be able to attain your full potential. The solution? Rest. Make sure you rest your muscle between exercises. You cannot (it is not advisable rather) to exert your muscles two days in a row. Do yourself and your muscles a favour by working them one of two days a week. Muscle growth actually happens when you are not working out.

http://www.perfect10abs.com/top-5-ab-exercise-mistakes.html - Exercises for abs

How Many Calories Should I Eat?

How Many Calories Do I Need?

Nearly everyone has wondered how many calories they should eat. There are calorie calculators all over the internet. Sure, they’ll spit out a number for you, but is this number really correct? Should every 35 year old female that weighs 150 pounds eat the same amount of calories? No.

Your metabolism is as unique as your personality. Everyone metabolizes fat, carbohydrates, and protein in different ways. These calorie calculators are nice for getting a general idea for what your caloric intake should be, but they shouldn’t be the last word on the subject.

In order to calculate how many calories you should eat, you need a little bit of information first. What you don’t need is your height or age. What you do need is an understanding of how many calories you burn, and what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you trying to lose weight? How much do you want to lose? Maybe you’d like to gain weight. Set yourself a goal first, but set realistic, sustainable ones.

A swing of .5-1% body fat per week in either direction is the maximum you should aiming for. Anything more and the muscle to fat ratio on your body can take a change for the worse. You also have a higher chance of maintaining your weight loss or gain if you take it slow. I realize everyone wants what they want, and they want it now. However, .5% body fat a week for six months equates to a reduction of 13% body fat, which will completely transform your body. That’s a lot of weight considering it probably took you a lifetime to put the weight on in the first place.

 

How Many Calories Do I Burn?

You might be wondering how many calories you burn during a particular exercise. Instead, you should be trying to figure out how much you burn the rest of the day. Exercise only burns a small amount of calories compared to the number of calories your body burns the rest of the day. A typical person may burn 100 calories for every mile they run. Run 3 miles, and you’ve burned 300 calories. This is great, but the rest of the day, even while you are relaxing or sleeping, you are burning thousands of calories.

Your muscle is extremely metabolically active. It takes a lot of calories to maintain. This is why it is so important for you to build muscle if you want to efficiently burn fat. Your workouts are great to get a few hundred extra calories burned, and for creating a favorable metabolic environment for fat loss, but the real magic happens when you focus on your nutrition. Your diet is going to be your biggest game changer.

How Many Calories to Lose Weight?

OK, OK, you understand that now, but you still need to know how much you should eat to lose weight. The best way to determine your calorie intake is to follow these steps:

·         Set a goal of how much weight loss/gain you desire each week (.5-1% body fat per week at most).

·         Plan your exercise program. Make sure you have a combination of resistance training and cardio. I recommend high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for maximum muscle building and fat loss.

·         Get yourself a food journal, or use an app like LoseIt or MyFitnessPal so you can write down every single thing you eat. You should be writing down the calories for everything.

·         Eat 12 times your body weight in calories per day. Plan your diet out in advance so that you know you are eating this much every single day. Fill your calories with healthy meals.

·         Watch the scale. Is your weight going up or down? Give it at least 2 weeks to get an accurate measurement. Be patient!

·         If it’s going down, add 300 calories to your diet. Your goal is try and find how many calories you need to eat before you start to put on weight. Once you find this calorie amount, congratulations, you’ve just found that magic number that everyone is seeking – the calorie number that all future weight loss/gain formulas are based off of.

·         If after adding 300 calories your weight is still going down, add another 300 calories until your weight increases on a week to week basis. Do NOT be afraid of adding a pound or two in the beginning. Everyone wants to see the scale go in one direction only. This isn’t going to happen. The important thing is you find the calorie amount that is going to enable you to eat as many calories as possible and still lose weight. This will keep your fat loss progress going, and ensure that the weight you lose is fat instead of muscle. 

·         Once you find the calorie intake that causes you to add weight, start to subtract 500 calories per day for every pound you want to lose per week. If you want to lose 1 pound per week, then subtract 500 calories per day. If you want to lose 2 pounds, then subtract 1000 calories per day. Be careful though, as a 1000 calorie deficit can result in you eating too few calories.

·         If when you started eating 12 times your body weight in calories you immediately started gaining weight on a week to week basis (for at least 2 straight weeks), then you can go ahead and start cutting calories.

I realize some people just don’t have the patience to pull this off. Unfortunately, this is the only way to 100% (or close to it) accurately figure out how many calories you need. The second best way? Short of estimating with calorie calculators, I’d highly recommend you check out the BodyMedia FIT Armband. It can accurately determine your calorie burn to within a 10% margin of error.

One of the top reasons diets fail is because people eat too few calories. When you do this, you force your body to slow down its metabolism. This causes all kinds of hormonal changes that work against you and your fat loss goals.

Hormones such as testosterone, thyroid, and growth hormone are all negatively affected. Make sure that when you diet you are keeping your metabolism high, and you will be well on your way towards success, instead of deciding what diet you’re going to try next.

http://www.coachcalorie.com/how-many-calories/

Can Acupuncture Help Weight Loss?

Successful long term weight loss is incredibly difficult for most people to achieve. Many people have tried diets that may cause some weight loss and then they gain back the weight they lost plus some additional pounds.

This is why more and more, people are turning to acupuncture weight loss treatments to try to handle their weight problem once and for all.
Acupuncture is a practice that is more than 5,000 years old, significantly older than Western medicinal therapies and practices.

Acupuncture weight loss treatment involves what most people think of when they think about acupuncture, inserting hair-thin needles into particular spots on the skin that are believed to help the body function properly.

Acupuncture stimulates the body to release endorphins, the body's own "feel-good" pain-relieving chemicals. It may be that one way acupuncture weight loss treatments help control appetite is by releasing endorphins.

In the case of overweight patients, the acupuncture specialist will first ask a variety of questions and perform an examination. The purpose is to understand the main causes of the person's excess weight. Perhaps it is merely behavioral, or there could be a physiological reason as well.

Once the root causes of the problem are identified, the acupuncture specialist will then insert needles into different areas of the body in order to help improve the body's functioning in a way that will promote weight loss.
For example, an acupuncture specialist who is doing acupuncture weight loss treatment for a patient will probably use a multi-targeted approach. They may attempt to lower the body's weight by increasing the output of the pituitary gland.

They would also probably work on reducing cravings for certain foods or they would attempt to encourage a decrease in natural appetite. Certain needle placements are even thought to lower insulin levels or lipid levels in the blood.

A benefit of acupuncture weight loss treatment is that unlike certain medications, there are no harmful side effects and no chance for addiction. It is a perfectly natural means of boosting the patient's weight loss efforts.

Acupuncture weight loss treatments need to be repeated on a rather regular basis in order to maintain the effects. However, the acupuncture specialist will instruct the patient that the treatment on its own is not likely to be enough to result in long term, permanent weight loss.

Attention should also be paid to diet and exercise. The acupuncture specialist may provide the patient with certain guidelines as to what to avoid eating in order to promote the regular flow of energy throughout the body as well.
If you've been struggling with a stubborn weight problem, consider acupuncture weight loss treatment to give your weight loss efforts a boost.

http://www.naturalnews.com/019552_weight_acupuncture_loss.html

Well-being Top Tips

Everyone hates the common cold and during these cold winter months it’s important that we give our bodies a fighting chance to prevent it. Sniffling, sneezing, sore throat – none of it very pretty and that’s why we thought we’d share our top tips for keeping it at bay along with improving your well-being and boosting your immune system.

Get a massage

Perhaps it comes as a surprise but regular massage has been found to improve circulation whilst also helping to relax muscle tension. As well as enhancing the immune system Massage is well known for its stress relieving effects. A study published by Carnegie Mellon University found that the risk of catching a cold was connected to degrees of stress and found that stress lasting a minimum of one month (especially in those with chronic stress) were more prone to catching a cold then those of acute stress.

Don’t smoke, reduce alcohol consumption

Yes, I’m afraid so. This will no doubt be very unpopular with many but cigarettes and alcohol consumption can make you more prone to catching a cold, they also tend to last longer and are more intense. Exposure to smoke can also break down the immune system, drying your nasal passage.

Eat lots of fruit, veg and drink lots of water

You should be eating lots of fruit and vegetables in your diet anyway, oranges are especially important to fight off colds due to the amount of vitamin C. It might sound obvious but we often forget how good water is for us. It should prevent dryness from your nose and throat and generally help to flush out your system. Drink 8 cups of water throughout the day.

Get plenty of sleep!

Did you know that lack of sleep and sickness are connected? It’s been found that fewer than 7 hours sleep will make you three times more likely than those with 8 or more hours.

Are you ready to sweat?

In 1989 a German study discovered people who exposed themselves to steam in a sauna twice a week had fewer colds then those that didn’t. An alternative is to perform intensive exercise that makes you break a sweat for 20 minutes, 5 times a week or more. This will also reduce your chances of getting a cold but will also improve you fitness and well-being.

http://puremassage.com/treatments/well-being-top-tips/

Exercise Away Your Risk of Lower Back Pain with Exercises to Strengthen Lower Back

Steer clear of lower back pain with a regimen of easy and safe back exercises. Every minute of every day, a network of muscles in your body's core ceaselessly toils to shift stress and strain away from your lower spine — and in the process keep you free of lower back pain. So, doesn't it make sense to give those muscles an assist by making them stronger through back exercises?

A regular regimen of back exercises can help build muscles, making them better able to support your spine. Experts recommend back exercise sessions of 15 to 30 minutes a day, two to three times each week.

Start Back Exercises with a Good Stretch

Stretching improves flexibility in the muscles that support your back. That flexibility can be very important in preventing lower back pain when the spine is subjected to extreme stress.

Before you start any sort of back exercise program, remember to consult your family doctor — especially if you already have lower back pain issues. Remember to stretch slowly, breathe deeply, and pay attention to your muscles — a stretch should feel good, not painful.

Consider giving these stretches a try:

·         Pelvic Tilt. Lie on your back with your knees bent, your feet flat to the floor, and arms at your sides. Press the base of your spine into the floor for a few seconds, tilting your hips forward, then relax. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

·         Double Knee to Chest. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat to the floor. Cup your hands just under your knees. Using your arms for support, gently pull your knees to your chest. Hold for 5 seconds, then lower your legs to the floor. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

·         Side Stretch. From a standing position, stretch one arm over your head while bending your body to the opposite side. Keep your other hand on your waist. Perform this stretch in a flowing motion, without jerking or twisting your body. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 to 10 times for each side.

·         Back Arch. Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and your palms on your lower back. Bend backwards, exhaling and supporting your back with your hands. Keep your knees straight. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Routine Exercises to Strengthen Lower Back Support

One of the best exercises for reducing the chance of back pain focuses not on your back but on your front, says Nick Shamie, MD, associate professor of spine surgery at UCLA School of Medicine, director of spinal deformity surgery at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, and a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Abdominal crunches are very good for the lower back," Dr. Shamie says. "The abs provide invaluable support for your spine."

Shamie also recommends Pilates, a series of exercises that focus on strengthening the body's core muscle groups. "It's a very low-stress type of exercise," he says. "You're exercising individual muscles in the lower back or abdomen."

Other recommended back-strengthening exercises include:

·         Cat and Camel. Begin on your hands and knees, with your neck parallel to the floor. Arch your back upward, squeezing your abdominal muscles and your buttocks and letting your head drop slightly. Keep your arms straight and your weight evenly distributed between your arms and legs. Hold for 5 seconds, and then sag your back carefully toward the floor. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

·         Wall Squats. Stand with your back against a wall and your feet about a foot away from the wall. Tighten your abs and slowly bend your knees 45 degrees, sliding your back down the wall. Hold for 5 seconds, and then slowly return to an upright position. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

·         Straight Leg Raises. Lie on your back with one leg straight and one knee bent. Tighten your abs, and slowly lift the extended leg off the ground 6 to 12 inches. Hold for 5 seconds, then lower the leg slowly. Repeat 5 to 10 times for each leg.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/back-pain/lower-back-exercises.aspx - Exercises to strengthen back

How much weight do you really need to lose?

Maybe you've been working on getting back to the weight you were at in high school or on your wedding day. But do you really need to go that low? Or can you weigh more than your ideal weight and still be healthy?

If you're overweight, losing just 10% of your body weight is linked to many health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar, and reducing your risk for heart disease. This kind of weight loss is also easier to reach and keep for the long run.

Your Weight "Set Point"

Just as your body temperature is programmed to stay around 98.6 degrees, your body weight is naturally regulated to stay within a range of 10%-20%, says Thomas Wadden, PhD, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at University of Pennsylvania Medical School. This weight range is known as the "set point."

A complex set of hormones, chemicals, and hunger signals help your body keep your weight within this range, says dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD.

It is not just about your genes. Your eating and exercise habits can also help to determine your set point.

"Overeating swamps the internal regulatory system, and, as a result, the set point increases -- which is much easier to do than it is to lower it," Wadden says. The body adjusts to the higher weight and "resets" the set point to defend the new weight. 

It's still possible to set your range lower. "With changes in healthy eating and exercise behavior, you can lower your set point," says Blatner.

The 10% Solution to Weight Loss

Losing 10% of your body weight, and keeping it off for six months to a year, helps your body reset your set point, notes George Blackburn, MD, in his book, Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off.

When you lose large amounts of weight at once, you set up an internal struggle and hormones spike to make you hungrier as your body tries to defend its comfortable range, Wadden explains.

That's why experts recommend losing 10% by changing your eating and exercise habits, and then maintaining your new weight for a few months before trying to lose more. Your body will get the signal to lower its "set point," and you'll get used to new food choices, smaller portions, and regular exercise. 

Blatner says she has seen people who lose 10% of their weight "start to realize how a little weight loss impacts their health in very positive ways... They feel better, sleep better, have more energy or less joint pain, and some people are able to reduce medications."

How Much Should I Weigh?

Most people overestimate how much weight they can lose, which leads to frustration, says Blatner. To find your happy or healthy weight, Blatner suggests looking back on your weight history as an adult and identifying a weight you were able to maintain fairly easily.

Instead of focusing on the numbers on the scale, Blatner suggests setting goals for behavior. "Eat breakfast every day, go for daily walks, eat more fruits and vegetables," she says.  "When you set behavior goals, they are easier to accomplish and they make you feel good."  Stick with these behaviors for 3-6 months and they will become part of your life.

Based on your current weight, eat about 10 calories per pound of nutritious food (low in fat, rich in lean protein, high in fiber), get regular exercise, and assess your weight after a month or so.

"Your weight will settle out and typically you will lose 10%, then hit a plateau, which is a good time to maintain the weight loss," Wadden says.

As you get to a healthy weight, you can go up to 12 calories per pound.

Tips for Weight Loss Success

Here are some tips from Blatner for weight loss success:

Eat regular meals.  People who eat regular meals eat fewer calories than those who eat at random times.

Use a plate, sit down, and enjoy your meals. People who do this eat smaller portions than those who eat out of containers or on the run, according to Blatner.

Get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity each day.

How much and what you eat makes a big difference.  Enjoy normal portions of foods that are high in fiber (fruits, veggies, whole grains) and rich in lean or low fat protein is the secret to feeling full.

Think beyond the scale. Focus on the benefits of a healthier lifestyle rather than any particular number.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/ideal-weight-or-happy-weight

The Best Gym Exercise Equipment for Abs

• 

  by MAXFX from Fotolia.com

Gyms may equate, in most peoples' minds, with rippling pecs and bellows of effort as huge, sweaty men pound out dozens of pull-ups. But no amount of ripped lats and pecs will help you as much with basic everyday movements as having core stability. The best gym equipment for training your abs has been sitting right under your nose all along, right next to the bench press.

• Roman Chair/Ab Slings

Some trainers would be tempted to call the Roman chair and ab slings -- two different types of equipment that facilitate the same motion -- a hip flexor exercise, since you usually bring your knees or even your legs up to waist level as you hang in the chair. Lowering your knees or legs in the Roman chair version of this exercise, however, forces your lower abdominal muscles to work very hard to keep your back from arching. If using the ab slings (which attach to a pull-up bar or the upper bar in a squat rack), your lower abs must also work extra hard to keep your body from swinging on the downward motion of knee-ups or leg raises.

• Fitness Ball

These now-ubiquitous pieces of gym equipment go by a number of names, including gymnastic balls, stability balls, balance balls, Swiss balls, Pilates balls and so on. Regardless of the name, the basic concept remains the same: an inflated sphere of tough rubber that will roll in any and all directions, given half a chance. Balancing your body on this piece of equipment -- not to mention lifting weights on it -- challenges your abs and all your other core muscles, too, to keep your body steady.

For a gentle introduction to the fitness ball, try transitioning any sitting weight lifting exercises you've been doing -- like overhead triceps extensions or biceps curls -- from a weight bench on to the ball. Once you can do these exercises with good form while seated on the ball, lift one leg and keep it in the air as you do the exercises. Having only one leg to balance with will challenge your core even more. You can also do supine exercises, like a dumbbell chest press, with your back supported on the fitness ball as if it were a weight bench.

• Bosu Ball

The Bosu ball, also known as a Bosu trainer, isn't actually a full ball at all. Instead, it's a flexible plastic dome with a solid, hard plastic base. You can use the Bosu ball as a balance pad, oriented with the rounded, flexible plastic surface upward and the hard plastic base down, or as a wobble board, with the flexible dome pointing down so that the hard plastic surface wobbles unpredictably.

You can adapt any standing weight training exercises, such as shoulder presses, hammer curls and squats, to use on the Bosu trainer, much as you adapted the sitting exercises to use on the fitness ball. Doing so forces your core muscles to stabilize your body against the inherent instability in the Bosu ball.

• Mats

There's no substitute for getting down on the floor to do some ab work. Use the mats your gym provides to help pad your spine, shoulders, head and hips as you do crunches, alternating crunches, spine hollowing or a host of other familiar ab exercises that use your own body weight for resistance rather than ab exercise equipment. Sometimes the simplest tools really are the best.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/111932-gym-equipment-abs/ - Exercise Equipment for Abs

Interval Training Treadmill Workout

http://slimminghelp4u.com/

A real must see video if you are into treadmill workouts, interval training on the treadmill is one of the best so give it a try! .....





by Kelly Gonzalez

How Touching Your Ear Can Reduce Your Appetite, Stress, and Insomnia, Creating Total Body Health

Auriculotherapy — also known as “ear acupuncture” or “auricular acupuncture” — has been gaining popularity over the past 50 years as a non-invasive but effective natural treatment for physical and mental conditions.

The concept is that the outer portion of the human ear holds a map that links to the rest of the body.  Pressure is used on these various map points to alleviate chronic pain, cure insomnia, help you lose weight, increase your libido, and offer relief from emotional stress.

Can you truly relieve pain just by touching your ear? 

The answer was discovered in 1980, when a research study was done at UCLA Pain Management Center Department of Anesthesiology UCLA School of Medicine to determine if Auriculotherapy should be considered “real medicine”. 

Over 40 patients with chronic muscle pain were diagnosed by doctors who specialized in pain management using traditional treatment and standard medical procedure.  The participants of the study were then given a second diagnoses by an Auriculotherapy physician who was not informed of their medical history. 

His diagnoses matched those made with traditional medicine with more than 75% accuracy.  This convinced researchers that Auriculotherapy was valid medicine.  There truly is a “map” of the human body on the outer ear.

When pressure is applied to certain points on your outer ear that correspond with the pain you feel in your body, messages are sent to your brain and it floods your body with biochemical pain-killers you produce naturally. 

Auriculotherapy stops the pain.  Instantly.  Naturally.

So how does it work? 

Using Auriculotherapy to Reduce Your Appetite

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, with approximately 65% of citizens considered overweight according to the Surgeon General.  It is believed to be the root cause of many illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease, costing our healthcare system trillions of dollars every year. 

Applying pressure to a corresponding portion of your ear – called the Hunger Point – for 30-60 seconds can reduce your appetite and stimulate weight loss. This area of your ear controls appetite, accelerates the brain’s “full” response, and releases endorphins or “feel good” hormones into your system. 

Since the Hunger Point is on the outer perimeter of your ear, you can press it with one finger, or pinch it from either side with both fingers.

Since overeating is often linked to depression and mood swings, increasing positive hormones controls your appetite mentally as well as physically. 

Nutrition and exercise are still important but appetite and mood will make your efforts more productive, improving your chances for successful weight loss.

How to Use Auriculotherapy for Stress Relief

Stress has become “common” in the hectic modern world; occurring so regularly that it becomes a habit.  You begin to accept it, even expect it. 

You cannot afford to become complacent about stress in your day-to-day life.  Stress is a killer.  Research has proven it is one of the core causes of inflammation, heart disease, ineffective immune system, sleep disorders, and even cancer. 

Applying pressure for 30-60 seconds to the Shen Men or Wonder Point regulates stress hormones, relieves tension and pain, and allows for deeper, quality sleep.

It sounds like “woo woo” science, but your body is one of the most incredibly complex organisms on the planet and you already have the ability to heal yourself. 

Your body does it all the time.  When chronic illness and pain affect your immune system and hormone levels, this natural healing process is interrupted. 

What should happen naturally, again and again, needs help.  Auriculotherapy can function as the “reset” button your body needs to stimulate healing. 

Auriculotherapy is recognized and approved by both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).  It has proven to be a valid and effective at-home treatment for many illnesses.

With Auriculotherapy You Can Overcome:

=> Chronic pain in muscles and joints

=> Back and sciatica pain – including headaches, neck pain, and radiating pain to arms or legs

=> Allergy causes and symptoms

=> Weight loss – studies showed an average of 1-2 pounds lost per week just by applying acupressure on the Hunger Point of the outer ear.

=> Gastro-intestinal conditions and nausea

=> Relieve stress and anxiety

=> Insomnia – a study involving 46 cases of insomnia were treated with Auriculotherapy.  Of the 46 cases over 32 cases were cured and able to sleep more than 7 hours.

=> Boost your immune response against infection

=> And many, many more illnesses and health problems…

You can easily learn to treat yourself at home using your fingers or a narrow tipped object such as a matchstick.  Yes, this natural health remedy is that simple.

Don’t wait.  Every day you spend in pain or suffering from a condition that could be relieved with safe, natural Auriculotherapy is another day wasted.  There are no side effects.  There is no risk.  What do you have to lose? 

Want to know more?  Once you learn how to identify the reflex points on the outer ear and the simple technique for stimulating those points, you’ll be able to easily do-it-yourself. 

http://www.veganrecipes.com/blog/vegan/how-touching-your-ear-can-relieve-pain-release-stress-and-create-total-body-health/