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.

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.)