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If you eat healthy and still gain weight, the problem may be a lack of sleep.

An estimated 50-70 million Americans are suffering mentally and physically from a lack of sleep (1). Though eating habits obviously play a role in weight gain, studies have shown that there is a definite relationship between a lack of sleep and weight gain.

Various hormones released during your sleep regulate your weight and appetite.

Leptin, released during sleep, is the hormone which tells your body that it is full and doesn’t need more food. The lower the levels of leptin in your body, the more of the hormone ghrelin is released to increase your hunger (2). The growth hormone is also released during sleep; while this hormone causes growth in children, it controls muscle mass and fat level in adults (1).

A University of Chicago research found definite relationship between too little sleep and increased appetite/weight gain. The people in the study who slept only 4 hours a night had leptin levels decrease by 18 percent. This caused the ghrelin levels, which stimulate appetite, to increase by 28 percent (2). These results should be motivational in getting a good night’s sleep. Many of us just stay so busy that sleep is the easiest thing to cut back on.

If stress is causing your lack of sleep, not putting into action a plan to deal with stress will only add to your weight problems.

Stress increases your levels of adrenaline and cortisol, mobilizing the body’s sugar supply, for the purpose of quick thinking and action in emergency situations. If you live in a frequent or continual state of stress, the excess cortisol will make your body think that it is in need of more and more energy supply for a “fight or flight” response that is not physically taking place Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Do you consider yourself a “perpetual worrier?”

Is there always something in your life about which you are worrying? Do family pressures, financial pressures, and hectic schedules that are part of normal everyday life overload you with stress and anxiety to the point of negatively affecting your physical health, emotional health, and spiritual well-being? If so, you certainly are not alone. You can learn to have a worry-free life, but it takes some changes in your thought patterns.

First, remember that worrying does not accomplish anything positive for you.

Along this thought, Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying and being anxious can add a single unit of measure to the span of his life (Mt.6:27 Amp)?” Imagine that! All the volumes of time and energy you put into worrying will not even accomplish something as small as adding a single second to the length of your life! And, as many doctors and studies show, it is proven to do just the opposite and remove time from the length of your life as well as from its quality.

Second, realize that you cannot put trust for your well being in physical objects.

There is a very famous discourse by Jesus on worry in Matthew 6. Most people think it begins in verse 25, but I think verses 19-24 are actually a significant part of the instructions, particularly verse 24 which says,

No one can serve two masters for he will stand by and be devoted to one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and deceitful riches, money, possessions as what is trusted in.

This quote is not condemning money, but rather the concept of being deceived into putting your trust in money and possessions. If your trust is there, you will still worry about the safety and stability of your life. I had a friend who had been very wealthy in her younger days, before her husband died. She loved to talk about the house she had and how she used to wear a different pair of shoes to work every day of the year! However, in spite of all her wealth, she said they went to bed every night worrying about whether or not they had put their money in the right investments. Admit to yourself that money, possessions, and investments will not keep you worry free. Neither can they be counted on for life-long stability. The world is full of stories of people of great wealth who lost everything overnight. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Though those of us who run our own businesses often feel it is impossible to get away for a vacation, it is this seemingly impossible idea that is essential for the prosperity of your business.

In times of stress, and more so when the weather turns wintery, most of us begin to dream of a relaxing getaway in a warm, responsibility-free environment.  The thought is wonderful, motivational, yet for the small business owner, it often seems only a dream.  Rod Kurtz, Small Business author for AOL, recently wrote a post reminding small business owners of the essential nature of vacation.  Especially since small business owners usually work 24-7, he says a relaxing getaway is crucial for

-renewed motivation
-rejuvenation
-increased productivity

As getting ready for such a vacation usually brings even more stress, business owners are more likely to cancel vacation plans than follow through.  According to Mr. Kurtz, while most Europeans take a month long vacation, almost 2/3’s of American business people have canceled vacations due to the recession.

Different vacations for different purposes!

I love this quote by Clint Greenleaf, Greenleaf Book Group, as to the different types of vacations necessary for the business owner Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Negative words from other people may not be as harmful as the negative words you speak to yourself.

I read a great post the other day by fellow SelfGrowth.com expert, Jaqui Duvall, on moving from self-criticism to positive self talk, along with the benefits of it and the how-to’s.  I’m going to give you a few highlights of her article here.  Please use this link or the link below to read Jaqui’s full article, “Proactively Start Your Day with Positive Self Talk.”

Though the old saying about sticks and stones says, “Words will never hurt me,” words do hurt; often, our own words hurt the most.

This is the premise for Jaqui’s article.  The words we speak to ourselves in our minds are often even more harsh and more harmful than the words of other people.  Interestingly enough, she has found that many of her clients admit that they are their own worst critic instead of their own best friend.

There is a common source for this type of inner, self criticism.  Psychologists say that it is directly linked to how we were talked to as children, that we “imitate the parenting we received inside our own heads, continuing the practice of praising, disciplining, etc.”  Any nurturing voice in one’s mind is usually drowned out by the critical ones.  If fear is involved Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Here are 10 tips for easing your holiday digestion and allowing you to ensure your enjoyment of all those holiday foods!

All our favorite, lavish foods for the holidays can cause even the healthiest eaters to be tempted to overindulge, creating digestive discomfort that distracts from holiday enjoyment.  Dr. David J. Foreman, Herbal Pharmacist, has written a helpful article on “Holiday Digestion.”  You can read the full article (1) and others by Dr. Foreman at www.VitaminShoppe.com .  Click on Articles and Recipes at the top, then on Advice from Experts, then Herbal Pharmacist; you will then see the archives on the right.

Below are some excerpts from “Holiday Digestion.”   Dr. Foreman writes a monthly newsletter for the Vitamin Shoppe chain of stores.  

1. Maintain a balanced diet of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

2.  Avoid drugs that may exacerbate your condition like aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

3.  Avoiding alcohol and caffeine at the holidays may be difficult for many, but this will be helpful to your digestion.

4. Do your best to decrease stress. This will have a huge impact on your digestive health.

5. Use a combination digestive enzyme, the best being ones that contain protease to digest proteins, amylase to digest starches, lipase to digests fats, and even lactase for lactose. Dr. Foreman’s suggestions are: Multi Enzyme by Vitamin Shoppe, Digest Gold by Enzymedica, Advanced Digestive Formula by Vitamin Shoppe, and Digest More by Renew Life.  Take supplement right before your meal.  If you are still bloated in an hour, repeat the dose. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Leisurely

A couple of readers asked about health problems stemming from past hurts and how positive thinking brings healing, so let’s touch on both today!

There is an endless stream of little things happening everyday which can irritate you if you allow them to, but they are not even worth the negative thoughts and resulting physical consequences.

The first main point here is “little!” For most of us, it is allowing little situations to consistently irritate or worry us that ruin our health. Medical studies have shown that up to 80% of physical illnesses are caused by emotional issues. Some of us may be experiencing health problems due to living in an emotionally and/or physically abusive environment; if that is the case, health cannot come without a change “in” the environment or “of” environments. (If this is your case, please go to the Cloud Tag in the side column and click on “boundary violations” for posts to help you with that type of situation.) The majority of us, however, allow our health to be ruined by instances that actually come down to a matter of our own choice of thoughts. We can be the cause of our own poor health by allowing a multitude of small instances throughout the day to create irritation or anger or worry. Because we allow these negative responses so often, harmful chemicals such as cortisol are continually being released into our bodies. Studies show that cortisol, a chemical released by stress, increases irritability, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and is associated with numerous diseases (1).

The little things that set you off will vary with your personality. For example, what negative thoughts come to mind when:

• someone cuts you off in traffic?
• cuts you off to take the closest parking space?
• a family member spills something on the carpet or furniture?
• the kids start fighting?
• the dog had an accident in the house?
• a co-worker makes a cutting remark about you in front of other staff? Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Even in the midst of fearful circumstances, focusing on the fear itself or the cause of it can hinder a positive outcome.

I’m going to approach the subject of fear in different way here than I normally would. We’re going to look at a circumstance described in history and outline points that you can apply to the fearful circumstance you are presently facing or may face in the future. The reference is out of Mt.14:26-32, and whether or not you are a believer in the historical accuracy of this account, its principles are still applicable.

Here is the description in the Amplified translation. [I prefer the Amplified for study because it gives more detail as to the meaning of the original Greek words; most translations limit the text to a “word for word” translation when many languages -- such as Greek, Hebrew, Arabic -- have much broader concepts included in their individual words.]

And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, “It is a ghost!” And they screamed out with fright. But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid! And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me from death! Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Let’s apply this situation point for point to our own fearful situations, learning from both the positive and negative responses in the story.

1. Notice Jesus’ response to the men’s fear — He “instantly spoke” when they cried out in terror, vv.26,27. Jesus, Father God’s revelation of Himself and His character to us, shows an immediate, interactive response to Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Do you live life hurried, fearful, and competitive because you feel it is necessary to achieve your goals?

Living life as if in a constant state of emergency in your attempt to reach your goals or be a superachiever is an enormous drain mentally and physically and is completely unnecessary.

Best-selling author Richard Carlson, in “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff (1),” challenges the commonly held belief—sometimes even unknowingly—that a hurried, frantic, and competitive mindset and lifestyle are necessary for success. 

Dr. Carlson eradicates the idea of living as a franctic superachiever: 

1. Put to rest the idea that, if you stopped being frantic and competitive, you would become lazy and apathetic. The opposite is true.
2. Fearful thinking actually drains your creativity and motivation. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Living without the buffer of a margin in your finances, schedule, and even energy level will cause you to live daily life in an unnecessary state of stress and exhaustion.

What is a margin? 

Dr. Don Colbert defines a margin as “a buffer between feelings of being overwhelmed and feeling at peace (1).”  According to Dr. Richard Swenson in The Overload Syndrome, “a margin is the difference between vitality and exhaustion (1).”  Either way you define a margin, the definition is something anyone would desire in his or her daily life.

What are the typical scenarios of living life without a buffer? 

Schedule-wise, an example is giving yourself only enough time to get ready to leave the house for an appointment so that any phone calls or other unexpected items which require your attention suddenly put you under the stress of possibly being late.  Or, another schedule example without a margin is only leaving with just enough time to arrive for an appointment providing you have a high percentage of green lights and no traffic jams.  

Financially, many people create continual stress and anxiety by Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Gratifying

Fear or anxiety left undealt with can quickly destroy one’s quality of life, causing lack of sleep, lowering of productivity on the job, stress in relationships, poor decision making, and countless physical ailments. 

This past Christmas, we gave out several copies of a book on the topic of overcoming fear to several co-workers. There were two different issues of the book, one dealing with the life fears of the average person, the other dealing with the additional fears particular to the family members of those in the military.  We received incredible feedback, to the extent that co-workers came looking for copies to give to family and friends.  The book had an unusual format, Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Leisurely

Anti aging is a hot topic as more people realize that you do have the option not to succumb to all the typical ailments of aging and, especially, not to feel the affects of aging as early.

My grandfather decided to make major changes to his health when he turned the age of 39. I am not sure what all food related changes he made, but I know he stopped drinking alcohol, cut back to one cup of coffee a day, and began taking supplements and power walking a mile a day. He enjoyed incredibly good health throughout his senior years. He had a brief bout of severe arthritis in his early 70’s but through research on supplements and faithful prayer it soon disappeared completely. He still had none of the typical old age illnesses, rarely even a cold, when he passed away at the age of 89. On the other hand, I have known people who eat the typical American diet of almost no fruits, vegetables, or water and never exercise. They have already had diseases common to old age in their late 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s.

Many of the lifestyle changes to create a extended, healthier life are easy to make!

I wanted to include abbreviated lists from a couple of different organizations on anti aging. Each website has vast amounts of information to surf through, so please make use of their links to click through and read more ways to have a long, satisfying life.

These 8 tips are from Simply Anti Aging’s pages on health and nutrition. Many more tips on their site.

1. Laugh More. Recent research has shown that laughter really does help us in managing stress. Adopting a humorous view of life’s difficulties can take the edge off everyday stressful situations. Laughter stops the release of damaging stress hormones into the body. (A)

2. Improve Cardio Fitness with Dance. Combining cardio exercise fitness with dancing is a great way to keep fit over 40. (A) Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Impassioned

We each go through times in life in which peace of mind is a little more of a struggle to maintain.

As I was going through journal notes this morning from the past several months, I came across several quotes on peace that I thought I’d share with you. This is an unusual type of post for this blog. My desire is that these points will help to solidify your peace of mind when fear tries to rob it. Following most quotes, I’ll have some comments to ensure the steps for attaining peace are as clear as possible.

Peace of Mind Begins by Your Communication with God Controlling Your Thought Life.

Col. 3:15 Let the peace of Christ continually act as umpire in your hearts, settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds…and be thankful, giving praise.

God encourages us in this quote to allow His peace to umpire the fearful thoughts that battle in your mind. When faced with fear, one has a choice to let the fears in his mind run rampant, or allow God’s peace to put those questions and fears to rest with finality. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Leisurely

Regardless of the stresses you are facing, you have the power to choose your thoughts and, as a result, choose your well-being.

It may seem an illogical and impossible statement, but it is truth none-the-less.  Regardless of your circumstances, you choose your thoughts, and subsequently, your state of mind and personal well-being.  People throughout history have proven it true, usually in circumstances far worse than what most of us will ever experience.

One of my favorite examples is Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, whom I have mentioned before.  He is an Austrian Jew who was sent to a concentration camp with his family during World War II.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.  Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Whatever circumstances you are presently you going through, any situations you may yet face, Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Leisurely

Laughter  -  It is something we all enjoying hearing, something we all enjoy doing.  It has natural healing powers.  It’s time to do more of it! 

For over a thousand years, long before the realm of modern science, age old proverbs reminded people of the healing power of laughter, 

A rejoicing heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov. 17:22

Dr. Don Colbert shares that laughter is one of his prescriptions to patients who come to be placed on nutritional programs. He has discovered that when he asks patients how often they laugh, most cancer patients respond, “I never laugh.” He prescribes 10 belly laughs a day for his patients. (1)

Research has shown a wide variety of healing aspects from laughter:

Pain Relief - A study of patients recovering from surgery showed that the group which was allowed to choose the humorous movies they saw benefited the most from the laughter therapy and required fewer pain-killers compared with a control group that saw none at all. (2) Other research has also shown laughter to increase one’s pain threshold. (4)

Lower Blood Pressure - Laughter reduces the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), and dopamine (4); stress hormones, on the other hand, increase the number of platelets, causing obstructions in the arteries and raising blood pressure. (3) Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »

Reading Level: Gratifying

Do you consider yourself a “perpetual worrier?”

Is there always something in your life about which you are worrying? Do family pressures, financial pressures, and hectic schedules that are part of normal everyday life overload you with stress and anxiety to the point of negatively affecting your physical health, emotional health, and spiritual well-being? If so, you certainly are not alone. You can learn to have a worry-free life, but it takes some changes in your thought patterns.

First, remember that worrying does not accomplish anything positive for you.

Along this thought, Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying and being anxious can add a single unit of measure to the span of his life (Mt.6:27 Amp)?” Imagine that! All the volumes of time and energy you put into worrying will not even accomplish something as small as adding a single second to the length of your life! And, as many doctors and studies show, it is proven to do just the opposite and remove time from the length of your life as well as from its quality.

Second, realize that you cannot put trust for your well being in physical objects.

There is a very famous discourse by Jesus on worry in Matthew 6. Most people think it begins in verse 25, but I think verses 19-24 are actually a significant part of the instructions, particularly verse 24 which says,

No one can serve two masters for he will stand by and be devoted to one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and deceitful riches, money, possessions as what is trusted in.

This quote is not condemning money, but rather the concept of being deceived into putting your trust in money and possessions. If your trust is there, you will still worry about the safety and stability of your life. I had a friend who had been very wealthy in her younger days, before her husband died. She loved to talk about the house she had and how she used to wear a different pair of shoes to work every day of the year! However, in spite of all her wealth, she said they went to bed every night worrying about whether or not they had put their money in the right investments. Admit to yourself that money, possessions, and investments will not keep you worry free. Neither can they be counted on for life-long stability. The world is full of stories of people of great wealth who lost everything overnight. Immerse Yourself in the Full Healing Contemplation Here »