1. Shake your Body!

Every day find new ways to move your body. Use the stairs rather than an escalator or elevator. Walk your dog (or a neighbours’ dog if you don’t have one!) , chase your kids, play ball with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it’s a stress buster. Think ‘move’ in small increments of time. It doesn’t have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute cardiovascular class or body pump or kickboxing. Move more and feel better!

2. Cut the Fat

Don’t eat the obvious fat in your diet such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats. Eat dairy products like cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts and even then in their low fat verions. Most are available in lower fat versions.

3. Reduce Stress

Stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e., go back to number one above!, exercise is a great stress reducer, Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible.

4. Stop Smoking

All the experts agree on this one. Ever since 1960 when it was announced that smoking was harmful to your health, people have been reducing their use of tobacco products. Just recently, we’ve seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Warn your children of the false romance or ‘tough guy’ image of smokers. Find ways to quit smoking hypnosis, support groups and even prescription medicine such as Zyban is available to help you..

5. Reduce your exposure to Pollution

Not everyone can live in a smog-free environment, but we can all avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning where air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It’s a good pollution deterrent. If you ride a bicycle in traffic, where a small pollution mask over your mouth and nose.

6. Clunk Click every Trip

Statistics show that the wearing of seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes.

7. Don’t Drink too Much Alcohol

Whilst it is true that a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more alcohol than that, or binge drinking on a night out, can cause other serious health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer.

8. Floss Your Teeth

Harvard Medical School studied longevity and found one of the most important contributing factors was daily flossing! Flossing and brushing your teeth daily can make your Real Age as much as 6.4 years younger. These studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it’s because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don’t?

9. Maintain a Positive Mental Outlook

There’s a definitive connection between living well and healthily and having a cheerful outlook on life. Yes, keep on smiling and laughing!

10. Pick Your Parents Well !

The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. You can’t pick your parents, but just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn’t mean you can’t counteract the genetic pool handed you. So follow the first 9 tips above.

Waking up early to get breakfast is hard enough, especially one without bright packaging screaming with sugar.

“Think fruits or bagels,” said 15-year-old Shayla Foster, who said she avoids sugary cereals and Pop-Tarts.

Shayla used to avoid breakfast entirely, so simply eating breakfast was a goal she developed at BodyWorks, a federally funded program trying to help preteen and teenage girls and their families create healthier lifestyles.

Dr. Monica Richter, a pediatrician at Valley Children’s Clinic in Renton and a BodyWorks trainer, just finished leading her first 10-week session. Although already in a position to caution young adults about the dangers of obesity, Richter said that a program such as BodyWorks is necessary to catalyze a healthy lifestyle change.

Dr. Wanda Jones, the deputy assistant secretary for the federal Office on Women’s Health, said the office — part of the Department of Health and Human Services — started working on the program about six years ago, before “the obesity epidemic had grabbed the headlines.” Still in its pilot phase, it has been under way less than a year.

“Parents need to be role models for eating habits and exercise,” Richter said, noting that high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes are riding the coattails of obesity.

According to the Office on Women’s Health, many girls skip breakfast, have non-nutritious lunches and do not eat dinner with their families. The office, which routinely funds health-related programs, is formatting a class for boys that will debut before the end of the year.

Richter wants to reach girls before they fall into the overweight category.

Several of the free, once-a-week sessions are designed for parents only, while others include daughters. Each class has a different focus but leaves time for members to share their goals and tips about healthy living.

“My goal was that we would learn to eat better as a family,” said Lorraine Koepsell, a mother and a nurse at Valley Children’s Clinic Pediatrics who is a trainer and went through the class with her daughter. “I’m not saying that we don’t go to fast food once in a while, but now we have kids go to the grocery store with us. If they’re included in the planning, they’re more likely to eat it.”

Each BodyWorks participant receives a kit containing a video on healthy shopping and cooking strategies, a recipe book, food and fitness journals and a weekly meal planner, among other healthy planning goodies. Information is included about serving size: for vegetables it’s a half-cup. Trivia about nutrition (How much sugar is in a can of cola? Nine teaspoons) peppers the reading pamphlets.

“We initially produced almost 2,000 of these tool kits, and they are virtually all gone in less than a year’s time,” Jones said.

“I like the program because it focuses on living healthier, which focuses on eating healthier and being active,” said Alethia Rodriguez, a weight management consultant at Healthy Habits Healthy You. “It’s not for someone ‘overweight or obese.’ ”

A new trainer who plans to teach a BodyWorks class on Mercer Island, she channeled her newfound knowledge about healthy eating into helping others eat more nutritious food and exercise regularly.

Each BodyWorks program includes about nine people.

“In a group program you feed off of a lot of ideas,” Rodriguez said. “For the parents to hear how other busy and single parents are doing it, it gives them a level of support and encouragement.”

Dr. Donna Johnson, associate director of the University of Washington’s Center for Public Health Nutrition and a registered dietitian, commended the program for encouraging journaling and a positive group environment, but she doubts that BodyWorks is committed to helping parents find time to create healthier lifestyles.

“Pretty much every parent in America is feeling stressed,” she said. “It’s not that they don’t want to provide these wonderful foods and recipes. When you get caught up being a parent, sometimes you resort to unhealthy choices.”

About 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million are obese and 9 million are severely obese, according to 2000 data from the American Obesity Association.

“We’ve got such a rapid increase in childhood obesity, if we add that to the traditional weight gain that we gain in our 40s, 50s and 60s, 75 percent of us will have diabetes,” Johnson said.

Compared with other Western societies, the U.S. is gaining weight faster, Johnson said.

“Everybody is going up, but places like Denmark where people don’t drive their cars (as often), their slope is much less steep than ours,” she said.

BodyWorks participants examine how their appetites correspond with their moods. The program helped Shayla’s mother, Corrine Foster, replace her soda addiction with water.

“We did some role-playing with why are we eating,” Foster said. “Are we stressed eaters or upset eaters? You learn more about yourself.”

The mother and daughter team have started to use BodyWorks tactics.

“We started a family planning chart so we could plan our meals and activities so the family would not be just sedentary in front of the TV,” Corrine said, referring to the family walks and Frisbee games they enjoy.

The duo also learned how to belly dance, played the video game “Dance Dance Revolution” and practiced Scottish dancing during intermissions of the weekly 90-minute sessions, a time in which group members demonstrated ways they could all exercise together.

“I really push with kids that they should start living and eating healthier, because one, it will help them make those choices early on, and two, it will be easier later on,” Rodriguez said.

Depression does not Cure by Itself! Attend To It

Depression in women occurs twice as often than in men and can appear at any stage of life. Women from all socio-economic, racial, and educational backgrounds may be affected. As researchers gather more data concerning women and depression and come to better understand its role in their lives, the root causes seems to be an interplay of genetic factors, hormonal fluctuations, and life events.

What are the Symptoms of Depression?

Women who are experiencing depression don’t just feel sad, they feel miserable. Most report extreme fatigue and a total absence of energy. The smallest tasks seem impossibly daunting. Anxiety attacks are common with depression and women as is reclusive, anti-social behavior.

Women in depression have trouble concentrating and feel they are failures and a burden to others. These feelings in turn lead to a sense of guilt and an inability to see a future. The depressed person may exhibit anger or irritability, often expressing a sense that life is unfair and passing them by. Insomnia is a common symptom and physical aches and pains for no apparent reason are also common.

What are some of the Causes and Risk Factors for Depression in Women?

Certain events in a woman’s life put her at special risk for depression including puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, substance abuse, relationship disruptions, and trauma. The presence of depression puts these women at further risk for suicide and death from illnesses caused by poor self-care and reduced attention to medical regimens.

Recent research indicates that major depressive episodes cluster in families. If you have a parent or sibling who has battled the disorder, you too are at increased risk. With the onset of puberty, the normal monthly cycle, pregnancy, and menopause a women experiences hormonal surges and disruptions that effect neuromodulators like serotonin. Depression and anxiety can result.

More than 80 percent of documented cases of depression in women are preceded by some adverse event ranging from childhood sexual abuse to spousal abuse. Early trauma, which is often suppressed for long periods of time, can actually have a more pronounced depressive effect than more recent events.

Statistics of depression in women have also revealed that women are more prone to ruminative thinking, a mental pattern which repetitively and passively focuses on symptoms, causes, and consequences. With relationships more central to a woman’s sense of self than a male’s, the combination of this emphasis and the ruminative thought pattern often leads to extended periods of depression focused on interpersonal relationships.

Don’t Antidepressants have Side Effects?

Approximately 30 to 35 percent of individuals who take antidepressants are not helped by the medications. Although the drug companies assert that SSRIs like Prozac are not addictive, anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. Many women report significant weight gain while taking SSRIs and Prozac has been found to actually cause suicidal behavior in some individuals.

You should never take an SSRI without fully understanding its range of potential side effects and potential interactions. If you are taking an SSRI do not go “cold turkey” off the drug. Gradually discontinue the use of the medication under the supervision of a doctor to avoid withdrawal symptoms, a sudden onset of depression, and even nerve damage. (There are also numerous natural and alternative remedies for depression that do not carry the same risk factors and side effects.)