The Most Valuable Gift

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As the holidays are quickly approaching, many are trying to come up with the best gift ideas.

If asked for the most valuable in life, what would come to your mind? Happiness? Wealth? Family? Youthfulness? ...... Yes for all, and first comes your HEALTH. The value of health is the number “1”, and everything else will follow by adding “0”s after it, making the wealth value grow and remarkable. However, when the “1” falls, then all the “0”s counts for nothing. Thus, health is your most valuable asset. It’s great if you have a good health insurance plan; however, investing in health is better than focus on health care.

I knew a brilliant engineer in his late 50’s , with successful career and family life, was diagnosed with end stage lung cancer and passed away less than 2 years afterwards. He was a long time heavy smoker (more than one pack a day) and also obese. The sadness overshadowed me for a long time. Too often,  people don’t pay enough attention to the value of health and the importance of daily healthy life style until the fatality shock.

Understand the true value of health is such a good lesson learned and too important to ignore. Health is the best gift you well-deserve. Life is busy, and to value health means to make it a priority in your life. If not, your health will worsen as your body is aging, you will face challenges when your body is not fully functionally operating, experience pain and suffering, loss freedom and independence of life, and your life may be cut short.

Are you fully aware what you need to do for enhance optimal quality of life of your life span,? Are you doing your best? Need motivation? Get lost somewhat? Trying out by errors? Frustrated with set-backs?

Health coaching can help you get started and stay on track on your wellness journey.  Talk to me to find out how a personalized health coaching program can help you achieve your health goals. Feel free to check it out – the initial call is at no cost and with no obligations.

Good health is more than free of illness or suffering. It also includes healthy weight and healthy life style maintenance, mental and physical wellbeing. A healthy body feels good, energetic, and full of life.               

Mindset can build health or take away from it. Negative thoughts are toxic. Aware of this can give you power over your mental and physical health.  You are accountable for building your well-being.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is about more than showering regularly and brushing teeth at night. It’s about keep your body active through regular exercise and commitment to eat healthy. It’s about making good judgments on a series of life choices on daily basis. It’s about to keep up learning evidence based health science and not misled by myth or fraud.

Important decisions have to be made on daily basis, such as -

•        Get up for a walk or stay on the couch watching TV? Furthermore, what fitness program is right for me? Am I too old to get results on belly fat loss?
•        Eat breakfast or not? Eat in or out? What and how much to cook/order for dinner?
•        Drink beer, or soda, or tea, or water, or regular or decaffeinated coffee?
•        Do I need Vitamin or other supplements? What’s the benefits and risks?
•        How much night sleep do I need? Can I catch up later? Should I take sleeping aids?
•        What to do when I stressed out? How much control do I have?
•        Is my feelings important? Should I talk about my feelings? With who?
•        How to deal with chronic health conditions?

Life is a series of choices and as we get older, the choices we make have a lasting impact on us. What healthy choices have you made to date? Have you been behaving consistently? Or if you have not been making these decisions consciously, think about your health value seriously.

Prioritize your health; you are worth of it. A customized private coaching program will be perfect for a kick-off start from getting up from the couch, or develop a personalized healthy life style, or target a specific health concerns, or manage chronic conditions by therapeutic lifestyle, or breakthrough loneliness and depression, or for what your special needs may be.

Your health is most valuable. Don’t take it granted; it requires your commitment and you are accountable for life lone maintenance effort. Act now, the health journey begin with your first step today and a small step every day.  To get started, contact me at RN@qualitylifeforum.net to find out how health coaching can help you get to where you want to be, from where you are now. The initial call is totally free – it’s my free gift for you.

Happy holidays.

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Dealing with Chronic Stress

Stress is part of daily living with different challenges during our life journey. All humans are destined to experience adversities throughout their lives that are likely to impact their health and quality of life. Getting older can be stressful because of multiple losses in financial, psycho-social, personal, a decline in health, independence, and cognitive and functional abilities.

Stressors affect older adults are more often to be chronic, including change in social and family relationships/roles, loss of physical abilities (i.e., vision, hearing, memory, mobility) , dealing with medical conditions and health care decisions, suffering pain of loneliness and loss of loved ones. Improving lifestyle and behavioral choices are essential steps toward increasing overall health and managing chronic stress. As individuals react to stress differently, stress can impact our lives positively or negatively.

Visit www.qualitylifeforum.net to learn more about chronic stress, stress management strategies, and health coaching support.

Tough Fight for Belly Fat

Fighting with midlife belly fat? You are not alone.

It’s a tough game. Metabolism slows down with age, which means you burn fewer calories to keep basic body functions going. At the same time, bone and muscle mass decline and fat mass increases, which most likely accumulate in the abdominal area as belly fat. Belly fat is not just about clothes size, it is also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Belly fat build up overtime as one gets older unless actions are taken for prevention.

Belly fat is commonly measured by waist circumference and here is how to measure it:

1. Start at the top of your hip bone, then bring the tape measure all the way around your body, level with your belly button.
2. Make sure it's not too tight and that it's straight, even at the back. Don't hold your breath while measuring.
3. Check the number on the tape measure right after you exhale.

​For best health, waist circumference should be less than 40 inches around for men, and less than 35 inches for women.

To learn more re: key fact about belly fat loss, Understand the role of key hunger hormones and weight loss challenges , mindset, strategies, and healthy lifestyle transformation, visit www.qualitylifeforum.net for October 2018 health coaching session and health coaching programs.

Blood Sugar Self-Management with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

Blood sugar is significant in human body chemistry and it is an important diagnostic indicator for diabetes.

What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels? The normal range is less than 100 mg/dL after not eating (fasting) for at least 8 hours; and less than 140 mg/dL 2 hours after eating.

What are high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) levels?

• Fasting hyperglycemia - This is blood sugar that's higher than 130 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) after not eating or drinking for at least 8 hours.
• Postprandial or after-meal hyperglycemia - This is blood sugar that's higher than 180 mg/dL 2 hours after you eat. People without diabetes rarely have blood sugar levels over 140 mg/dL after a meal, unless it’s really large.

In addition, Hemoglobin A1C ( HbA1C) is a blood test that provides an estimated average of  blood sugar over the past 2-3 months. The testing result significance is indicated in the chart below, according to NIH –

Diagnosis       A1C (percent)     Fasting Plasma Glucose      Oral glucose tolerance test
                                                          
Normal            below 5.7            99 or below                                   139 or below
Pre diabetes   5.7 - 6.4                100 to 125                                      140 to 199
Diabetes          6.5 or above        126 or above                                 200 or above

Follow www.qualitylifeforum.net for more details and learn self-management strategies for regulate blood sugar naturally


The take home messages from your health coach
 
1. Making lifestyle modifications will regulate blood sugar naturally.  It is an effective preventive strategy for risk reduction or work well in combination with medical interventions.

2. Blood sugar levels may increase with age as result of metabolic changes; therapeutic lifestyle changes will help to reduce cardiovascular and many other risks. Eat healthy, lose weight, and stay active are effective no-drug treatment.

3. Mindset and behavior transformation for life style changes can be very challenging.  For those who needs help for get motivated and get results, engage in a structured program is a viable option.   QualityLifeForum.net private health coaching will help you map out a plan, implement wellness strategies, take you through step by step for achieve results, and nurture the new health behavior become part of your life style.                                       

Lowering Cholesterol with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

 

Lipids are part of the important biochemistry in human body and play a major role in our health.

Cholesterol is a fat-like lipid that produced by the liver. It has important functions for the formation of cell membranes, certain hormones, and vitamin D.

Triglycerides are another type of lipid as source of energy, which is stored in fat cells as reserve. When human consume more calories than the burn rate over time, triglycerides build up high.

Lipid (cholesterol and triglycerides) is transported by lipoproteins through blood system within the body.  When blood contains too much cholesterol and triglycerides, it may raise risk of health problems, such as heart disease and stroke.  High cholesterol and high triglycerides typically do not have physical symptoms; it is detected by blood chemistry testing.

The clinical laboratory testing includes low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and total cholesterol, which is the sum of LDL and HDL.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is often called “bad cholesterol”, which carries cholesterol to arteries. It can build up on the artery walls as cholesterol plaque, which narrowing arteries, cause high blood pressure, and raise blood clot risk. The artery blockage in heart, brain and lungs can cause heart attack, stroke, and sudden death.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is sometimes called “good cholesterol.” It helps return LDL cholesterol to liver to be removed from your body. This helps prevent cholesterol plaque from building up in your arteries and can help lower risk of blood clots.

Cholesterol levels for adults

Cholesterol levels tend to increase with age.  Males tend to have higher levels of cholesterol than females. Cholesterol level often increases in menopausal females.

• Total cholesterol levels less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) are considered desirable for adults. A reading between 200 and 239 mg/dL is considered borderline high and a reading of 240 mg/dL and above is considered high.
• LDL cholesterol levels should be less than 100 mg/dL. Levels of 100 to 129 mg/dL are acceptable for people with no health issues but may be of more concern for those with heart disease or heart disease risk factors. A reading of 130 to 159 mg/dL is borderline high and 160 to 189 mg/dL is high. A reading of 190 mg/dL or higher is considered very high.
• HDL levels should be kept higher. A reading of less than 40 mg/dL is considered a major risk factor for heart disease. A reading from 41 mg/dL to 59 mg/dL is considered borderline low. The optimal reading for HDL levels is of 60 mg/dL or higher.

A high triglyceride level combined with low HDL cholesterol or high LDL cholesterol is linked with fatty buildups in artery walls. This increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

• Normal triglyceride level is less than 150 mg/dL (1.69 mmol/L)
• Borderline  high triglyceride level is 150 to 199 mg/dL (1.69 to 2.25 mmol/L)
• High triglyceride level is 200 to 499 mg/dL (2.25 to 5.63 mmol/L)
• Very high triglyceride level is greater than 500 mg/dL (5.65 mmol/L)

Actions for high cholesterol risk reduction

Generally, the earlier an adult starts living a healthy lifestyle, the better for their cholesterol levels. Cholesterol levels build over time.  Get blood chemistry checked at physical exam once a year; know your numbers (total cholesterol level, as well LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels). The key proactive measure is making therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC), which includes diet, exercise, and weight management.

Diet - low in saturated fats and trans fats ( i.e., red meat, organ meats, processed foods , deep fried foods and baked goods) ; high in soluble fibers and protein are good for lowering cholesterol buildup.

 Weight Management is essential for lowering cholesterol and preventing it building up. Overweight people who reduce their weight can help lower LDL in the process. Losing weight is especially important for those with a group of risk factors that includes:

• high triglyceride levels
• low HDL levels
• overweight men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches
• overweight women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches

Regular physical activity of 30 minutes on most days is recommended for everyone. This will also help with weight management, which in turn helps with lowering cholesterol.  Make exercise as therapeutics. Remember: something is better than nothing and more is still more. Everyone should strive to meet or exceed recommended activity level for greater health benefit.

Follow www.QualityLifeForum.net for details in Therapeutic Lifestyle Change for lowing cholesterol and risk reduction. 

 The Take Home Messages From Your Health Coach

1. Making therapeutic lifestyle changes is a key proactive measure and best wellness strategy for healthy aging.

2. Cholesterol and triglycerides levels tend to increase with age; healthy life style will help to reduce cardiovascular, and many other disease risks. Your doctor may have already instructed you to eat healthy, lose weight, and stay active as non-prescription treatment.

3. Mindset and behavior transformation for life style changes can be very challenging.  For those who needs help for get motivated and get results, engage in a structured program is a viable option.   QualityLifeForum.net private health coaching will help you map out a plan, implement wellness strategies, take you through step by step for achieve results, and nurture the new health behavior become part of your life style. 

References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol#hdl-cholesterol
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315900.php
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/161a4759e29a09af
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/much-really-need-walk-live-longer/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MFP_Newsletter_Workouts_20180217_ad2&os_ehash=55@sfmc:54599222
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/chol_tlc.pdf

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Regulate Blood Pressure with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

Follow www.qualityLifeForum.net for March 2018 coaching session - Regulate Blood Pressure with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

 

- The new Blood Pressure Guidelines from American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association in Nov, 2017 had lower definition for hypertension to allow earlier intervention.

 

- High blood pressure is commonly associated with aging; healthy life style is the natural therapeutic way to help lowing high blood pressure, reduce cardiovascular, and many other disease risks. 

Prevention is the best wellness strategy. If your doctor already prescribed blood pressure pills for you, he (or she) would have prescribed therapeutic lifestyle changes (healthy eating, lose weight, and stay active) for you as well.

 

- Mindset and behavior transformation for life style changes can be very challenging. For those who needs help for get motivated and get results, engage in a structured program is a viable option. QualityLifeForum.net private health coaching will help you map out a plan, implement wellness strategies, take you through step by step for achieve results, and nurture the new health behavior become part of your life style. 

 

Most importantly, you will feel great! Health is your freedom for golden years. Health is your freedom for golden years.

Contact RN@qualityLifeForum.net to schedule a free 30 min call to chat today.