Changing How You Eat

As you may know, not fueling up with the right nutrients can affect how well your body performs and your overall fitness benefits.  Even though healthy eating is important, there are myths that hinder your performance if you listen to them. Below, you'll find some myth busters on healthy eating. 1.  Working out on an empty stomach. If you hear a rumbling noise in your stomach, the rumbling is trying to tell you something.  Without listening to them, you are forcing your body to run without any fuel.  Before you exercise or do any physical activity, always eat a light snack such as an apple. 2.  Relying on energy bars and drinks. Although they are fine every once in a while, they don't deliver the antioxidants you need to prevent cancer.  Fruits and vegetables are your best bets, as they are loaded in vitamins, minerals, fluid, and fiber. 3.  Skipping breakfast. Skipping breakfast is never a good idea, as breakfast starts the day.  Your body needs fuel as soon as possible, and without it, you'll be hungry throughout the day. 4.  Low carb diets. Your body needs carbohydrates for your muscles and the storing of energy.  5.  Eating what you want. Eating healthy and exercising doesn't give you an all access pass to eat anything you want.  Everyone needs the same nutrients whether they exercise or not, as well as fruits and vegetables. 6.  Not enough calories Although losing weight involves calories, losing it too quickly is never safe.  What you should do, is aim for 1 - 2 pounds a week.  Always make sure that you are getting enough calories to keep your body operating smoothly.  If you start dropping weight too fast, eat a bit more food. 7.  Skip soda and alcohol. Water, milk, and juice is the best to drink for active people.  You should drink often, and not require on thirst to be an indicator.  By the time you get thirsty, your body is already running a bit too low. Changing how you eat is always a great step towards healthy eating and it will affect how your body performs.  The healthier you eat, the better you'll feel.  No matter how old you may be, healthy eating is something you should strive for.  Once you give it a chance, you'll see in no time at all just how much it can change your life - for the better both mentally and physically. Also, don't forget a good exercise regimen. Christina L Norris

Maui Beaches

The island of Maui is home to some of the most amazing beaches.  Some beaches offer swimming all year round, while others are best for surfing or snorkeling during certain times of the year.  Depending on where you choose to stay, there are always some famous beaches nearby. West Maui beaches If you drive along the west coast of Maui from Lahaina to Kapalua, you'll see many breathtaking beaches along the coast.    Kaanapali Beach will offer you over three miles of white sand with a variety of watersports, including surfing, sailboating, and even catamaran rides. On the north end of the beach is Black Rock, which is well known for snorkeling. Visitors like the sandy beach at Napili Bay, because there are no high rise buildings around, and the bay is protected well from waves.  The Kapalua Resort in west Maui is home to Kapalua Beach, Oneloa Bay Beach, and the D.T. Fleming Beach. South Maui Beaches The rule with Hawaii and Maui is that the further south you travel, the less crowded the beaches will be.  Kihei offers you a series of beaches along the six mile coastline, some even offering lifeguards, restrooms, and picnic areas.  Polo Beach and Wailea Beach offer both restrooms and equipment rentals.  Or, if you prefer a more secluded beach, you should visit Maluaka Beach at the Maui Prince Hotel - where you may even encounter some green sea turtles. A few miles past the Maui Prince Hotel is the Big Beach of Makena, which is one of the best beaches on Maui.  As the name implies, the beach is quite large, and best of all - empty.  It offers white sand, picnic facilities, and even restrooms. East Maui Beaches The beaches of East Maui are unlike others in Hawaii.  Surround by lush scenery, the beaches are secluded, scenic, and very colorful.  Hamoa Beach is a must visit if you plan to visit East Maui.  As you approach the beach from the main road, you'll walk past colorful plants and palm trees surrounding Hamoa Beach.  Just off Hana Highway is Hana Bay Beach, which offers black volcanic sand. The Red Sand Beach is difficult to get to, you'll need to find a narrow path along the coast.  The beach offers plenty of swimming and snorkeling, and you should be the only one there - which is great for those looking for privacy.  Even though it is hard to get to, Red Sand Beach is truly one of a kind. Maui is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Bright sunshine and beautiful scenery. Pictures cannot do it justice. The amount of peace and sunshine I felt in my soul cannot be expressed in words. You must go there. Christina L Norris

Getting anxious over Anxiety and Depression

A lot of people who are exerting too much of their brain power usually exhaust not only their physical strength when engaging in various multi-tasking activities, they also tend to over extend their brains up to the point when it plainly needs some good old time for relaxation. A lot of busy people who seem to cannot fathom the idea of relaxing and taking time of from work, as well as their worries, tend to actually start having nervous breakdowns, anxiety depression and all sorts of mental illnesses that can cause a person's sanity to go haywire, fortunately, if you're one of those poor unfortunate ones who are unable to distress and is constantly worried and fussing over things, there are actually available cures and various treatments for treating anxiety depression.

Anxiety depression is actually characterized by all sorts of irregularities and erratic behavior from the person who is suffering from it, this is usually due to certain stress triggers that may tend to easily cause a person undue jitters and stress. Also, a lot of people who tend to get easily nervous over stressful activities are actually prone to having anxiety depression, its just a matter of being strong-willed when it comes to facing difficult and stress-prone activities. It may be pretty hard to overcome at first, but trying to be calm and cool in times of extreme pressure is what'll actually save your mental health from going totally downward spiral.

When it comes to effectively curing one's self from a mental illness, one must keep in mind that you have to be actually honest with yourself and assess what kind of depression or mental illness you actually have, go to reputable psychiatrist to get yourself diagnosed correctly as well as be able to get the right depression treatment for yourself. Here are the various types of depression:

Manic or Bipolar depression - characterized by sudden and extreme changes in one's mood wherein one minute he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria while the
next minute (day or week) he or she is feeling to be in a personal hell.

Postpartum depression - characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother wherein physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible factors why some new mother go through this.

Dysthimia - characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it's been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case, should be treated immediately.

Cyclothemia - characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness may occasionally suffer from severe changes in one's moods.

Seasonal Affective Disorder - characterized by falling in a rut only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall) studies however, prove that more people
actually fall in to a rut more during the Winter and Fall seasons and lastly, Mood swings, wherein a person's mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in just a short time. 

But the type of depression that has actually been proven to be quite common among people is anxiety depression, which is actually characterized by the state of being overly anxious about things. Anxiety, a supposedly normal behavior that'll actually help a person adjust more to a certain stressful activity like first date jitters or a grueling exam the following day. Anxiety actually helps you get psyched up towards facing certain "difficult situations"; anxiety therefore is actually a good thing. Anxiety depression however, is simply the opposite, not to be easily dismissed as a "case of the nerves"; Anxiety depression is in actuality an illness that can be caused from the biological makeup of an individual, or in other words, a hereditary illness.

Also, there are actually various types of Anxiety depression, each having its own unique characteristics. Take for example Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD, this kind of Anxiety depression is a lot more complicated than the average Anxiety depression, in spite of possibly being a day-to-day habit for those who suffer this kind of Anxiety depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder actually makes the individual quite more paranoid than usual, anxiety attacks are more frequent, even absurd at times. They can even be anxious even when there's no apparent reason that calls for them to behave in such a way. People suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder actually shows a lot of symptoms, from lack of sleep, to being unable to relax, getting tired easily, cannot concentrate on what they're doing and even suffering from depression.  This kind of Anxiety depression is still curable; just a little work will actually do the trick. Many people suffer from Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks and have troubles functioning in everyday life. From getting out of bed in the morning to finishing a work day can often be a struggle for many.

Consult a reputable cognitive behavior therapist who'll help give the individual the therapy that he or she needs to help him or her loosen up, also prescribed medicines are sort of a must to help these individuals battle anxiety attacks, help them calm down and relax.



Christina L Norris