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While the advent of winter is a time of joy to many, the season’s delicate days are almost invariably punctuated by hazardous storms. You should always prepare for winter emergencies as the frosty month’s approach. With proper precautions, you can ensure that you and your loved ones are safe from the upcoming dangers.

Everyday Hazards

Some of the most beautiful aspects of winter can also be the most dangerous. When chilly weather sets in, you should take extra steps to prevent accidents associated this season.

For example, icy conditions pose innumerable hazards. Even strong, able-bodied adults are admitted to hospitals after falls on slippery ice. Driving becomes more cumbersome and dangerous due to hindered visibility, obstructed lanes, and reduced road friction. People face several risks when outdoors; when freezing temperatures fall upon your city, people are prone to frostbite and/or hypothermia, both of which are serious medical conditions necessitating professional attention.

Of course, you can still enjoy the pleasant aspects of the season as long as you protect yourself. Snow and ice should be cleared from pathways and highly-frequented areas. When you must hit the road, allow extra time so that you can practice cautious, patient driving habits. Finally, never allow your loved ones to venture outdoors without proper gear, such as shoes or boots with traction, gloves, hat, and heavy wool or goose-down coat.

Major Storms

Most will be faced with a major storm at some point in their lives. It is crucial that you do not wait to receive notification of a storm approaching before you prepare; you might not have access to the supplies that you need on an immediate basis. Be proactive and have emergency sources of food and water on hand; canned and bottled goods are ideal. To safeguard against lost electricity, you should also possess a backup source of heat such as a power generator.

When one arrives, don’t be alone if at all possible – a second person should be around to fetch emergency aid if an accident were to occur. If nothing else, make sure that you have access to a working phone so that you can call for help if needed.

New Years’ resolutions are always created with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, many people find it difficult to adhere to their goals; in fact, most drop off of their improvement journey about a week after creating their objective. But don’t lose hope; with smart strategy and perseverance, this year can be different. The following tips will help you to follow through with your desired plans and change your life for the better.

Your Fitness Goals:
Health and fitness pursuits are overwhelmingly popular New Years’ resolutions for 2013. Unfortunately, they are also some of the hardest to achieve because they require constant vigilance and dedication.

A successful way to achieve a positive outcome is to set goals and adopt a new lifestyle rather than undergo a drastic weight loss plan. The alterations that you make to your diet and exercise habits must be maintainable; if you severely deprive your body of calories or demand too much of your muscles, not only will you lose your motivation, but your body will also be unable to cope. Instead, you should enact small, manageable changes such as reducing your intake of sugary treats or going for a walk every afternoon. While your progress might be slower, these alterations will have a significant impact on your health over time.

Strategies for Any Resolution:
Certain strategies can be applied. For example, no matter what you are working towards achieving, you will always benefit from the input of a support network. Regular encouragement provides you with essential motivation, and an extra set of watchful eyes keeps you honest.

You should also try to establish a healthy relationship with what you are going to achieve. If it seems impossibly arduous, you will dread its associated tasks and will find it incredibly difficult to maintain your motivation. Conversely, if you associate fun with your endeavor, you will enjoy the pursuit of your new lifestyle.

Finally, it is crucial that you set small goals. You should acknowledge all successes during the course of your journey because each step is essential in achieving your overall objective. To provide yourself with further encouragement, you can reward yourself upon the achievement of significant milestones.

Mother’s Day celebrated on Sunday, May 12, 2013, is fast approaching. Whether you’re anticipating a big event or just a small family get-together, it’s best to plan early. There are many ways you can honor your mom on her special day.

Take Her Out to Eat

We all know that no one cooks quite as well as Mom, but it’s not really fair to ask her to prepare a meal on Mother’s Day. Instead, take her out to her favorite restaurant and treat her to a meal she loves. Don’t forget that many restaurants offer special brunches to celebrate this special occasion. Because so many families celebrate by going out to eat, be sure to make reservations early.

Create a Memory Book

This is one of the best gifts you can give your mother. Have several loved ones send you their favorite stories of your mother’s life. These stories can be serious or funny – a mix of both types of stories is ideal. They should acknowledge her love, caring, sacrifice, and hours of service to her family and to her community.

Once you have the stories, select some of your favorite pictures of your mother and arrange the stories and pictures in a scrapbook. This is a warm-hearted gift that she can enjoy looking at for the rest of her life.

Throw a Party

If your mom has always enjoyed a good celebration, throw a party in her honor. Pick a theme she will enjoy, buy decorations and refreshments, and send out invitations to her family and friends.

On the big day, make sure you recruit someone to take pictures of your mother and her guests enjoying themselves.

Share a Quiet Day Together

Sometimes the best way to celebrate Mother’s Day is to plan a quiet day with family and close friends. You can fix snacks or have food delivered to the house. Small get-togethers are great times for sharing favorite memories and stories. You may learn things about your mother that you never knew before.

An important way to improve overall health that is often overlooked is targeting your gut bacteria. Science has shown that the bacteria found in the digestive tract has an impact on more areas of medicine and well being than previously believed, and paying attention to some simple diet items can make a world of difference in health problems like arthritis, joint pain, digestion, energy and much more.

The intestinal tract is full of both good and bad types of microbes. People may be surprised to find, even, that microorganisms outnumber cells in the body by 10 to 1. It’s in managing the balance of the types of bacterium found in the lining of the intestinal tract that many people have found a key to digestive health and even the relief from some troubling medical issues. Using the method of careful diet choices and nutrition management, the growth of good bacteria can be encouraged, helping to heal and repair any damage to the lining of the digestive tract, as well as protecting it from infection, parasites, and other environmental toxins that may pass through the body over time.

Diet and exercise have long been the two top ways to keep the body and working order, and they go a long way to improving the gut flora as well. Along with avoiding antibiotics whenever possible, small diet changes or additions are going to be the best and most effective way to improve and increase the good microorganisms in the gut. To help the digestive system’s absorption of nutrients, try working on adding the following vitamins and nutrients to the menu.

• For good sources of Vitamin D and calcium, add diary-like milk, eggs, and cheese.
• Vitamin K2 can be found in dairy, too, as well as chicken, salami, and ground beef.
• Vitamin B 12 is also important and is found in many kinds of seafood like shellfish.
• Fiber is necessary for overall digestive function and is abundant in beans, whole grains, and dark, leafy vegetables.
• Glutamine is an amino acid that is specifically important to cells in the small intestine. It is found in high protein foods like meat, beans, and dairy, but bone broth is an especially efficient delivery method for this nutrient.
• Yogurt is another popular dairy product for those looking to improve digestive health, as it often contains probiotics that help reverse the damage of infection or disruption caused by a course of antibiotics. Fermented foods are another excellent option.

Diet changes and additions are the easiest and most effective way to improve gut bacteria, and improving gut function is one of the easiest, lowest impact steps someone can take to improve overall health today.

In today’s bustling, hustling, often chaotic world, an act as seemingly simple as socializing with friends and family can quickly become complicated. Though an integral part of everyday life, being social has gradually begun to fall by the wayside for many of us, taken over primarily by work and related obligations. We tend to forget how important being social actually is until we stop one day and realize that we’ve lost friends or inadvertently lost contact with loved ones.

The fact of the matter is that remaining social throughout our adult years is more important than many of us know, that it’s good for our health, both mental and physical. People who describe themselves as social are more active, report feeling happier in general, and typically have stronger, healthier hearts than those who refer to themselves as loners or homebodies.

Being social allows us to open up in essential ways, gives us the otherwise missed opportunity to share in a random laugh or smile. We feel happy with ourselves and therefore feel more content with our partners, more satisfied with life overall. We argue and fight less frequently when we enjoy friendly relationships with people outside of marriage. Fewer stressful interactions lend themselves to a decreased risk of heart attack and high blood pressure as well, doubling the many benefits of getting out more for the mere fun of it.

In order to ensure that we’re providing ourselves the ideal circumstances in which to socialize and reap all of the associated benefits, we must learn to stay away from negative thinking and the tendency to remain in isolation. It’s completely normal for someone who has endured negative social experiences to crave solitude, but escaping the outside world entirely is rarely the answer to any of our major problems.

As humans, we tend to seek out and pursue approval, acceptance, and socialization. Even when times are hard and our circumstances prove less than ideal, we must remember that many new things come along when we least expect them. Should we receive the odd invitation to go out for a walk, for example, and we pass it by, we may be missing out on a bigger opportunity than we know at the time. So take the time to come up with new and exciting ideas, plan spontaneous trips, and look forward to tomorrow with optimism. You never know what sorts of surprises lie in store for you when you open yourself to the outside world and all that it has to offer.

Fall is one of the most abundant seasons for delicious and diverse produce, offering up the bounty of the land for all to enjoy in innumerable autumn recipes. From your town’s biggest grocery store to its quaintest local farmers market, you’re sure to find all of the healthy, hearty ingredients you need to plan dozens of perfect family meals.

The vegetables and fruits associated with this season are well known for their brilliant colors, seen in every hue and shade imaginable. The greens, yellows, oranges, and whites of luscious autumn squash, for example, make for a casserole that’s as beautiful as it is savory. Rich in essential vitamins and minerals, squash is also an excellent source of fiber. To get the maximum nutritional benefit from this particular family of vegetables, be sure to leave the skin on and cook it with the flesh, basting it in olive oil and sea salt for a delicately rustic flavor.

Some other popular vegetables of the season include cauliflower, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and Brussels sprouts, all with their own nutritional advantages as well. Steam or saute with a pinch of your favorite simple seasonings and enjoy the succulent aromas of the season as they waft through your kitchen. If fall fruits are more your speed, you’ll love the plentiful supply of sweet delights that await you this time of year. Apples, oranges, pomegranates, pears, cranberries, grapefruit, and red grapes are only a few of the most popular fruits on display this autumn.

If you’re planning on purchasing any of your produce in bulk for a big holiday meal, talk to the people at the farmers market about pricing for larger orders. Sometimes, bulk purchases come at a reduced cost, making it even easier to stock up on all of the best autumn has to offer without breaking the bank. If you really want to have fun exploring the bounties of fall with family and friends, plan to make a day of visiting various markets and stores. When you’ve found the best few sources of fresh produce in your area, you’ll know that your pantry and refrigerator will always be fully stocked with the goodness of the land. Experiment with different recipes and swap meal ideas with your neighbors, sharing the uniting experience that is autumn.

Hypertension affects approximately 1 out of every 3 Americans, making it one of the most common medical conditions in the United States. More commonly referred to simply as high blood pressure, it is a leading cause of mortality in elderly men and women. Because being affected by this condition puts you at an increased risk for stroke, heart attack and peripheral artery disease, it is important to learn how to manage it properly before it results in potentially life-threatening complications.

Blood pressure is considered unhealthily elevated when the diastolic number, or the one on top of the equation, is higher than 140 and the systolic number, or the figure on the bottom, is above 90. Most people affected by hypertension do not experience any symptoms until the condition has reached a dangerous level. When symptoms do appear, they are usually limited to bouts of dizziness, increased frequency of nose bleeds, and a persistent but dull headache.

Managing blood pressure begins with talking to your doctor about your options. Depending on your age, the severity of your condition and any other medical problems you might have, it may be necessary to take a variety of medications to keep the problem under control.

Not everyone with HBP must be treated with medications. Certain lifestyle changes can save lives as well. Talk with your doctor about how smart changes to your diet and exercise regimen could possibly help keep your systolic and diastolic numbers in the healthy range. Even 30 to 60 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise three or four times per week could reduce your chances of developing HBP. If you’re overweight, losing the extra pounds can be incredibly beneficial, especially if you are already at risk. In addition, people who drink alcohol and eat a diet high in salt are more likely to be diagnosed with this condition, so limiting both of these things is a good idea as well.

Getting enough sleep at night and engaging in regular stress relief activities can have an immense effect as well. Many people suffering from hypertension find that daily meditation, yoga, swimming, walking, and massage therapy help them relax and keep their condition in check. Individuals who are less stressed are at a significantly lower risk of heart attack and tend to be happier in general.

The motivation to exercise can be difficult to maintain. Once you get going, you might not want to stop a healthy habit. However, seasonal illnesses have a way of putting a halt to even the best-laid plans. When a winter cold comes along, should the workout routine be put aside for the duration? Activity levels during illness vary depending on individual comfort levels and even more so depending on the severity of the sickness.

In general, a person can continue with an exercise routine during seasonal sickness as long as he or she does not have a fever and still feels comfortable. In the case of winter cold, most of the symptoms shouldn’t inhibit a standard workout routine. While a sore throat and fatigue without a fever may not make for the best gym performance of all time, they won’t necessarily require a day off. When congestion is contained mostly above the shoulders, such as nasal or sinus congestion, it’s still fine to engage in a fitness routine. Scale back to a less intense level if necessary for comfort.

However, there is a difference between the winter cold and the flu. Once a fever, body aches, and the fatigue associated with the flu set in, it’s probably time to consider staying home to rest rather than hitting the gym. The stomach upset and vomiting alone are enough to keep most people home, but for those who truly have trouble losing a workout, consider the effects of cortisol on the immune system. Cortisol is a hormone released during exercise. Over time, it improves the body’s response to stress. In the short term, though, it suppresses the immune system. That’s the last thing the body needs when trying to recover from the flu.

In short, keeping up with regular workouts when struck with a simple cold virus is okay without a fever, dependent on individual comfort. However, when the flu comes calling, it’s time to rest. Get extra sleep, watch television on the couch, or read books in bed. Drink plenty of fluids and enjoy some warm chicken soup. Get back to the gym and regular routines when the illness has completely cleared in order to avoid prolonging the downtime. While those who monitor progress closely may notice a small dip in performance upon return to the gym, taking the time to recover fully is best.