The most valuable resource you have is your health. If you are not healthy, nothing else truly matters within your life. We are always bombarded with different diets and exercises. People are always giving us information on the things we need to do to maintain health, in one way or another. But, the truth of the matter is that simply treating yourself right will do so much for your health.

This can be taken in any number of ways. For example, you could be trying to diet and exercise. If you take the time to eat a balanced diet, you will eat properly. That doesn’t mean giving up carbs or not eating meat. It means eating the right foods at the right times, in the right amounts. To know what the basic food groups encompass and what the right food portions are, take a look at the website of the Food and Drug Administration. This governmental organization can help you with maintaining your health through eating right.

As for exercising, it is crucial to your overall well being. For those with desk jobs, getting out and walking around is needed. Get a good amount of exercise through things like riding a bike, taking a walk, going for a run, or going swimming. For more exercise, why not join a club or sports team? There are many ways in which you can get the exercise that you need in order to be healthy. It doesn’t have to be hard work, but should be fun and enjoyable so that you keep doing it time and time again.

Another aspect of being healthy is emotional health. It is essential to surround yourself with people who can provide for you a safe, friendly, and happy environment. By having good solid friendships and relationships that are built on trust, forgiveness and honesty, your mental health is stimulated and your emotional health is strong.

It is so important, that we will say it again here. Your health is the most important thing within your life. If you do not have it, you have nothing to count on. It takes a few simple steps to set up a good regimen of health. If you do have ailments, seeing a doctor is crucial. If you have emotional stresses, talking to a doctor about these can even help to relieve them. All in all, finding a balance on the activities you do and the foods you eat can help you to maintain your health. Sure, we can follow those diets and drink that special drink but if we do not build the foundation of our health, there is little room for a good strong, healthy life.

Donahue Elway
Health Directory

Tips on how to gain weight. In many years, there has been a lot of talking on how to lose weight – but what about all those skinny people around having a very hard time trying to put on a few pounds? In this article I will try to give you a little information on how you can do that!

Try to write down everything you eat for a whole day – don’t change your eating habits, eat as you usually do – just write it down! Do that for three days. In the morning of day four, look at what you have written down! You will see that you are pretty much eating the same amount of food each day, without really having noticed it – that’s what you have to change here on day four! An example: Lets say that you used to have a bowl of cornflakes with skimmed milk in the morning. All you have to do here, is to replace the skimmed milk with whole-milk! You still will be eating the same amount of food but in a different way – as whole-milk contains a lot more calories than skimmed milk! Another example: Lets say, at lunch time you used to eat a tuna sandwich and a bottle of water. Try this out: Put some salad oil in your tuna sandwich and drink a glass of orange juice instead of water! Again – you will still be eating the same amount of food, but again – just in another way! Get my point here?

The problem with people who are trying to put on weight, is the amount of food they have to consume – they simply cannot eat that much! The one and only way to overcome that problem, is to replace the food they are already eating with food with a much higher content of calories. But you can do even more than just changing your eating habits to improve your weight gain problems! Try to join a gym and lift some iron 2 – 3 times a week, this will build muscle mass and improve your body’s ability to digest the food you are eating, which will also help you a lot to put on weight! Remember to drink a big glass of orange juice and eat a banana right after exercise to help the muscle building process!

Another vital factor is sleep! Try to get at least eight hours of sleep every night – and if you can, eat a peanut butter sandwich just before going to bed!

Try all the above for at least two weeks, and at the end of week two, you will have put on at least five pounds of body weight – not just fat but also some quality muscle mass as a result of the weight lifting routine as well!

NOTE: Before becoming involved in any kind of a diet or exercise regimes, you have to seek the advice of a health care professional.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Health

Stress fractures usually start out as a minor discomfort in the foot or leg, that occurs near the end of a long run. Usually the pain goes away as soon as the athlete stops running. On the next day, the pain returns earlier in the run. If she notices that it hurts to touch just one spot on a bone and then stops running for a week, she can return to running quickly, but usually she ignores the pain and develops a full-blown stress fracture and hurts all the time. She now has to avoid the hard pounding of running, but can ride a bike or swim for exercise until the fracture heals in 6 to 12 weeks.

The most common sites for stress fractures are the bones in the front of the feet, and the long bone of the lower leg, but running can cause stress fractures anywhere, even in the pelvic bones.

Forty-five percent of competitive female runners develop stress fractures, small cracks on the surface of the bones in their legs and feet. The women most likely to suffer these injuries are those who restrict food and those who have irregular periods.

Restricting food can stop a woman from menstruating regularly, which can stop her body from producing the female hormone, estrogen. Lack of estrogen weakens bones. Exercise does not cause irregular periods, not eating enough food does. Women who stop menstruating when they exercise heavily will usually start to menstruate regularly when they eat more food. Some women who suffer stress fractures will not heal until they take estrogen or other bone strengthening medications such as etidronate.

I often prescribe bone strengthening medications such as Fosamax or Evista to people with stress fractures that do not heal in six months.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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Other common injuries – see my articles on * Elbow Pain: “Tennis Elbow” * A Pain in the Butt: Piriformis Syndrome * Heel Pain: Plantar Fasciitis * Ankle Pain: Achilles Tendinitis * Shin Splints * Shoulder Pain: Rotator Cuff Injuries