| Are You Really Fit? |
| Measure your stamina with these DIY fitness tests. And, if you manage to do it all without feeling breathless, declare yourself perfectly fit! |
|
| Surgery To Correct A Pelvic Floor Problem |
| It was late last year when I finally decided I had to do something about my pelvic floor. I’d had a sensation of “something coming down” for years – in fact, thinking back, probably since the birth of my second child, nearly 20 years previously. |
|
| Rock Out Slim Down & Firm Up |
| Stand with feet together, knees slightly bent. Bend forward from hips, crossing arms overhead, hands in fists . Raise torso 45 degrees as you lift left heel and rotate shoulders to the left, extending right arm in front of you and left arm behind you . |
|
| Happy Ageing Secrets |
| By 2009 the average life expectancy for a man is Australia was 79.3 years, and for a woman it was 83.9 years. That’s a big difference compared to the late 19th century when men lived just past 47 and women until about 50. |
|
| Reduce Stress : Test Yourself (part 2) |
| The following quiz will help you to uncover the details of the stress in your life. From this quiz, you’ll develop your Personal Stress Profile. Now, don’t let this “test” stress you out. |
|
| Reduce Stress : Test Yourself (part 1) |
| Every person’s life is different and is filled with different kinds of stress triggers. Someone who has just been in a car accident will experience a completely different stress trigger than someone about to take a college entrance exam, but both may experience equal stress, depending on the severity of the accident and the perceived importance of the test. |
|
| Hot Flushes Are A NightMare… |
| God is a bloke. What else could explain all the biological ordeals women endure? It begins with menstruation, where we get taken hostage by our hormones once a month, then pregnancy and childbirth, where you stretch your birth canal the customary ten kilo metres. |
|
| 10 Minutes To Toned |
| Finding An Hour To Sweat It Out At The Gym Can Be Tricky—which is why we’re psyched about Jillian Michaels’ new program, Body Shred: It gets the job done in half the time! Debuting this month at Crunch clubs nationwide, the cardio-sculpting class includes body-weight and dumbbell moves. |
|
|
|
| Top 10 Food For Healthy Diet (Part 3) |
| The main omega-3 fat found in plants, alpha-Linolenic acid (ALA), is what's known as a short-chain omega-3, while those in fish, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are referred to as long-chain omega-3s. |
|
| Top 10 Food For Healthy Diet (Part 2) |
| There's good research linking peanut and peanut-butter consumption with a variety of health benefits, including a decrease in Type 2 diabetes risk, but you may be missing out, depending on the brand you buy. |
|
| Top 10 Food For Healthy Diet (Part 1) |
| Nuggets of nutritional knowledge or junk-food science? It turns out that many popular beliefs about what we put on our plates contain not even a kernel of truth. Here, we bust 10 of the top food myths. |
|
| Bend It Like Miranda (Part 2) |
| Sit to the side of the wall and swivel your legs up so you are against the wall. Keep your knees bent if that’s more comfortable, and let your legs roll out slightly. Place your hands down by your sides, on your belly or across your chest to connect with your heart. |
|
| Bend It Like Miranda (Part 1) |
| Stand with your feet together, toes forward, and knees slightly bent. Relax your arms at your sides, palms in. Lift your chest, roll your shoulders back and down. Look straight ahead and breathe deeply for a minute. Inhale and raise your arms out to the side (palms up) until overhead. |
|
| The Best Health Advice Ever (Part 2) |
| One thing I do to extremes, by most people’s standards, is exercise – but it’s my livelihood and my love, and I’ve completed two Iron mans and eight marathons. In my late 20s, I went on a learn-to-run course, built up to a 10K and was hooked. My first marathon, in 2003, took me four hours 44 minutes. |
|
| The Best Health Advice Ever (Part 1) |
| When people find out what I do, they expect me to have a perfect diet. In fact, I have chocolate most days and not one square of the organic, dark stuff – a fun-size bar of whatever I fancy. Small portions of treats are part of a healthy diet. Seeing them as naughty, stuffing them down in secret is a surefire route to disordered eating. |
|
| Tone Up All Over With… Dead Lifts |
| There are some great exercises that work your body from head to toe: think lunge and wood chop, clean and press and the infamous burpee. But, deadlifts keep it simple. They take seconds to complete and are great for fat burning and strength. |
|
| Yoga With A Kick Keep Calm And Slim Down (Part 2) |
| Bring your left knee to the floor, between your hands so the outer side of your left leg is on the mat. Bring your hips to the floor and stretch your right leg straight out behind you. Try to keep your hips square. |
|
| Yoga With A Kick Keep Calm And Slim Down (Part 1) |
| Mixing high-intensity boxing with calming yoga may not sound like a match made in workout heaven, but Kickasana, a blend of Thai boxing and vinyasa flow poses, is proof that opposites can attract and yield results. |
|
| The 15 - Minute Workout |
| Perform all moves in circuit A back to back, then have a 35-second rest. Repeat three more times, resting for 35 seconds after each circuit. Then perform circuit B back to back, take a 35-second rest and repeat, with rests, three more times. |
|
| The 10 - Minute Workout |
| Perform all moves in circuit A back to back, then have a 30-second rest and repeat twice more, resting for 30 seconds after each circuit. Then perform circuit B back to back, have a 30-second rest and repeat, with rests, twice. |
|
| The 5 - Minute Workout |
| Perform all three moves in circuit A back to back, then take a 20-second rest and repeat the circuit. Take another 20-second rest then perform circuit B’s moves back to back, have a 20-second rest and repeat. |
|
| Target All Areas! Clean, Lunge And Press |
| Begin standing with a kettlebell on the floor between your legs. Bend your hips and knees to take hold of the kettlebell with your right hand, pushing your hips back and looking straight ahead. |
|
| How To Build… The Perfect Circuit |
| Whether it’s your location, a busy schedule or your budget that’s keeping you away from the gym this month, there’s no reason it should stop you from staying in shape – even if you’ve only got five minutes to spare. |
|
| Hot New Trend! Get Honed And Toned (Part 3) |
| Tuck your tailbone slightly forward, keep your chest open and lifted, then lean over to your right for two counts before returning to the centre over two counts, engaging your core. Perform all the reps on one side before repeating on the other side. |
|
| Hot New Trend! Get Honed And Toned (Part 2) |
| Curl your toes under, engage your abs and lift your body off the floor. Tip forward onto the balls of your feet and keep your hips in line with your shoulders. Aim to flatten out your back and pull your core in. Hold, then roll forward and backward on the balls of your feet. |
|
| Hot New Trend! Get Honed And Toned (Part 1) |
| Fitness crazes come and go, but if you’re looking for a workout that really ramps up the results, the Nalini Method offers serious gains. Already a huge hit Stateside, this intense routine – incorporating free weights with yoga, Pilates work and moves on the ballet barre is poised to become one of the next big things in fitness. |
|
| 10 Ways To Maintain Your Weight |
| Being caught short with only a chocolate bar to fend off your hunger pangs can mean you really fall off the wagon. Got a busy week coming up? Prepare for it: stash some nuts or a healthy fruit bar in your handbag or your car for those unexpected snack attacks. |
|
| Boost Your Metabolism : Knowing Your Body (part 2) |
| When you embark on any health or fitness regime, it is important to ask your doctor for a total lipoprotein profile so that you are aware not only of your total cholesterol but of each component as well. |
|
| Boost Your Metabolism : Knowing Your Body (part 1) |
| Broadly defined, metabolism includes all of the physical and chemical changes that occur inside the cells of the body and that maintain life. All activity in the body occurs through the process of metabolism, in which cells break down chemicals and nutrients to generate energy and form new molecules such as proteins. |
|
| Tiramisu, Soufflé, Ice Cream, Chocolate (Part 2) |
| New research in the Archives Of Internal Medicine found that women who had one or two alcoholic drinks a day were 30 percent less likely to gain weight over a period of time than teetotalers. |
|
| Tiramisu, Soufflé, Ice Cream, Chocolate (Part 1) |
| Bacon and eggs for breakfast has become to represent a heart attack on a plate. But prepared correctly, that meals can be the smartest way to kick off your day. According to a study published in the International Journal Of Obesity, mice who eat a fat-rich meal at the end of the day. |
|
| I'm Addicted To Sleeping Pills (Part 2) |
| Insist your GP researches further help for you, and be honest about your pill dependency. “Cognitive behavioural therapy is effective at helping people come off medication, but it’s not always offered on the NHS. |
|
| I'm Addicted To Sleeping Pills (Part 1) |
| None of my doctors seemed to understand the devastating effect insomnia had on my life. Every request for a referral to a sleep specialist was rebuffed. I was told that sleep clinics were only for patients with ‘serious’ problems, such as sleep apnoea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. |
|
| Empowering Exercise |
| You probably think of certain exercise programmes – yoga, Pilates, t’ai chi – as more mindful than others. But in fact you can, and should, maintain a strong mental focus whenever you work out. Even a basic strength routine offers an opportunity to cultivate intuition, fearlessness and other positive inner qualities. |
|
| Diet Diary : ‘What I Ate Today’ |
| When I’m not training, I’ll have a slice of low-GI toast with Bovril and fat-free youghurt for breakfast. I snack on fruit or have a banana smoothie, which is great pre- or post-run. Lunch is tuna on two slices of low-GI toast. |
|
| Your 10 Min Total Body, Yoga Workout |
| You don’t need to join a class to learn this yoga sequence. Tune out and tone up in just 10 minutes with this effective warm-up, stretch and workout for all your muscles and joints. |
|
| Get Active, Get Smart |
| Exercise isn’t just brilliant for your body, it’s also magnificent for your mind. According to a study from the University of Georgia, just 20 minutes improves your ability to process information and your memory functions. |
|
| Antibiotics : Friend Or Foe? |
| Your doctor must examine your child properly, do all the possible checks for associated symptoms, and get a full understanding of their health before making a diagnosis and prescribing antibiotics. Professor Harry Seftel sheds light on what parents should know about antibiotics. |
|
|
|
| Say No To The Yo-Yo ! (Part 3) |
| I’ve been at a healthy weight for over five years now, and I love having a waist – there’s no way I’d swap it for chocolate fudge cake! I still eat traditional Guyanese food, but now I stop myself from taking such huge portions because I know what will happen if I do. |
|
| Say No To The Yo-Yo ! (Part 2) |
| With a weight problem tied up with an unhappy marriage, Lucy Stacey, 34, felt trapped and isolated. Getting healthy was the first step to slimming down and having a happier life. |
|
| Say No To The Yo-Yo ! (Part 1) |
| It’s the Holy Grail of dieters – not just losing weight, but staying slim. Our columnist Aggie MacKenzie has kept to her goal weight for years, so we asked her and three other successful dieters for their secrets… |
|
| Slim And Fit For Ever! (Part 2) |
| Practise this on an exercise bike, or adapt it to an ordinary road bike, if you’re not used to exercise or have an existing medical condition, always consult your doctor before attempting a new exercise programme. |
|
| Slim And Fit For Ever! (Part 1) |
| Forget everything you thought you knew about staying slim, fit and healthy. Experts are ripping up the diet and exercise rule book. And the good news is that the latest advice is easier and far more user-friendly than the old. Here’s what you need to know… |
|
| Can You Really Get Fit In Five Minutes? |
| Enough with the hour-long gym slogs! You only need five minutes of exercise to burn fat and get super-fit, according to the latest fitness trend. Just be prepared to sweat! |
|
| Different Types of Stress (part 2) |
| If you are still having problems sleeping, talk to your doctor about it. Studies show that two-thirds of Americans have never been asked by their doctors how well they sleep, but 80 percent have never brought up the subject with their doctors, either. Tell your doctor you are concerned about your sleep problems. He or she may have a simple solution. |
|
| Different Types of Stress (part 1) |
| If even just one of these characteristics describes you, perhaps you worry more than you have to. If most or all of these statements apply to you, worry is probably having a distinctly negative effect on you. |
|
|
|
| Why You Don't Need 8 Hours' Sleep |
| On a recent night out with friends, our conversation followed its usual pattern: we caught up on each other’s work moans over the starters, discussed our love lives while we chomped our mains, and reminisced about old times as we shared dessert. |
|
