Better Sleep

Better SleepLooking to get better sleep? We all love a good night’s   sleep. But did you know that not getting one not only makes you dull and stressed, it can also make you pack on the pounds.

Health experts recommend eight hours of sleep a night for most adults. Yet so many of us get fewer than six-and-a-half hours during the work week.

Too little physical activity is clearly part of why we’re overweight. But a lack of sleep may make weight loss and weight control more difficult by altering your metabolism. It may also be changing your eating and exercise patterns.

In a Japanese study, children sleeping less than eight hours a night were almost three times as likely to be overweight.

Lack of sleep may change hormone levels and thus influence weight gain. Higher levels of the hormone insulin have been linked to a shortage of sleep.

Because insulin promotes fat storage and controls blood sugar, extra insulin could make weight loss more difficult.

Studies also show that a lack of sleep leads to lower levels of the hormone leptin, which can cause an increased appetite. Sound familiar?

A third hormone affected by too little sleep is cortisol, linked by research to stress. When people feel threatened or stressed, their cortisol levels rise in a “fight or flight” reaction. In one study, people whose cortisol levels rose highest in response to stress had more waistline fat – and fat at the waist is related to the greatest number of risks for heart disease and other ailments. So what can you do to get better sleep?

Better Sleep With Aerobic Exercise

Results from a Stanford University study show exercise, particularly aerobic exercise in the late afternoon or right after work can turn this all around.

The physical stress of aerobic exercise produces fatigue and a rise in body temperature. A few hours later, your body temperature drops. That coupled with the fatigue from your exercise triggers your brain to induce a deeper, longer better sleep.

Better Sleep

What time of day you do is as important as doing it. If you exercise too close to bedtime you may be up for hours climbing the walls. Getting a half hour brisk walk is all it takes.

If you belong to a Gym, get there and mix it up on the cardio machines.

Or get yourself a good cardio dance video by a certified instructor.

In any case quality zzzzzs equals quality of life and may even increase longevity.

For more health and fitness information and at home exercise programs please visit www.mirabaiholland.com

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Aerobic Exercise: Dust Off Your Sneakers

Aerobic ExerciseExercise has always been trendy. From Jack LaLanne to the latest computerized workouts. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks decade by decade. I’m not particularly upset by that. Trends drive the industry. Some of them are downright wonderful as is the case towards softer workouts like yoga and pilates. One thing that does bug me though is the trend towards doing ONLY yoga and pilates. They do little or nothing for your heart.
I love these forms of exercise but not at the expense of the basics.

Remember Aerobics? (It’s trendier to call it cardio now)

Aerobic Exercise

February is Healthy Heart month so what better time than now to get back into Aerobics.  And if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get fit, you simply aren’t gonna be fit unless you get a regular dose of cardio. In case you forgot, aerobics is any exercise using your large muscle groups to increase the body’s need for oxygen over an extended period of time. Low impact Cardio Dance, Brisk Walking, Jogging, Biking and Swimming, are all good forms of aerobic exercise. According to the National Institutes of Health a half hour of moderate aerobic exercise a day can reduce risk of heart attack by 50% and have a positive effect on most of the problems associated with aging.
Cardio energizes your body from the inside out. Your heart is pumping like mad. Your lungs and arteries are hard at work delivering the oxygen that you need to keep going.
Your muscles are getting a great workout carrying your body around. You’re burning a bunch of calories and if you keep it up for 30 minutes or more your natural mood enhancers the endorphins kick in and you get the exerciser’s high. You can see why you’d want to get a daily dose of aerobic exercise. It goes a long way toward reducing our risk for disease, managing our weight, and lightening our mood to help us stay fabulous forever.
So dust off your sneakers.

For more info on Women over 50 Health and Fitness and at home exercise programs for  visit www.mirabaiholland.com

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Cardio Exercise Improves Mood

Cardio ExerciseNow that the weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, I find myself as you may too, for no apparent reason, feeling a little blue. So I dust off my sneakers and get ready to move because I know cardio exercise improves mood.

Research shows that cardio exercise improves mood because it increases levels of serotonin and endorphins in the brain. These are important neurochemical transmitters, which help to elevate and stabilize your mood.

In fact one of the known causes of depression is a lowered level of serotonin. Aerobic exercise can be as effective as medication for relieving mild to moderate depression in many cases.

More Reasons Why Cardio Exercise Improves Mood

There is more to cardio  exercise than serotonin and endorphins. It helps lower adrenaline, a chemical associated with stress to help promote relaxation. And as you become more fit you feel better about how you look and feel. This can give you a positive outlook in general. Try some easy aerobics. You may just cardio dance your troubles away. I make sure I’m exercising aerobically most days of the week, at least for 30-60 minutes. I not only feel my spirits lift while I’m exercising but for many hours afterwards.

 Are You Depressed?
The standard symptoms for depression are:

  • Persistent feelings of sadness or “emptiness”
  • Sense of hopelessness, worthlessness, and guilt
  • Inability to enjoy ordinary pleasurable activities, including sex
  • Noticeable change of appetite, possibly accompanied by significant weight loss or weight gain
  • Shifts in sleeping patterns, such as insomnia or sleeping too much
  • Difficulty concentrating, persistent irritability, excessive crying
  • Preoccupation with thoughts of death or suicide
  • Decreased energy, fatigue
  • Persistent aches and pains

Many things can cause depression. They range from some medications to low levels of light during the winter months. Alcohol and a poor diet, as well as inherited predisposition, can lead to the condition as well. Before you decide on asking your doctor for an anti-depressant prescription, adopt the healthy lifestyle habits of a nutritious diet, regular exercise and enough sleep. If things don’t improve, of course, seek medical help.

So try my take on the old Arlen & Koehler song lyric that Judy Garland sang, “forget your troubles, come on get happy” you can exercise your blues away.

For more info on women health and fitness and at home exercise programs for women visit www.mirabaiholland.com

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It’s Fashion Flash Monday!

Fashion FlashToday’s Fashion Flash host is Kari from FabOverForty, your one click stop for everything 40plus beauty, skincare, fashion, fitness and lifestyle. The rest of us Fashion Flashistas have been hard at work digging up cutting edge tips, trends, deals, and most-haves for women over 40.

Check us out and tell your friends.

 

FINDING FABULOUSITY!

Most of my work is done with women who haven’t been active in a while. My coaching style is to start you wherever you may be physically and emotionally and get you moving, gently and pleasantly.

If the first experience is pleasant, you’ll want a second and a third and so on. Sustainability is the key to fitness success.

My clients tell me that getting fit has given them the self-confidence to pursue things they would never have dared to try, that the change in their bodies had kindled a change in the way they saw themselves. Instead of feeling invisible, they felt fabulous and that “fabulosity” had spilled over into the rest of their lives. As much as I would love to take all the credit for this transformation, I think that it boils down to healthy body, healthy mind.

Getting fit was the key that unlocked the door to their potential.

Pretty cool, huh?

And because you deserve it, we’re offering a 15% off coupon on DVDs & T-Shirts just for our loyal newsletter subscribers.NEWYOUT2014

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Your Target Heart Rate Zone

Your Target Heart Rate ZoneI just started teaching exercise classes in the resort town I live. People from around the world take my classes while vacationing here. I was teaching a cardio dance class and said something like “ ok it’s time for us to get into your target heart rate zone”. To my great surprise, this comment was returned with a lot of blank faces and questions.

It seems that target heart rate; the very thing that makes cardio exercise so effective has been lost over recent years of emphasis on Strength training, Yoga and Pilates. Everyone used to know that in order to protect and build your heart muscle you need at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a day in your target heart zone.

But, how do I know I’m in my target heart zone? Well there’s a quick way, and a more accurate way. The quick way is to exercise just hard enough to be barely able to carry on a conversation while you work out. It’s easy and it works okay.

But wouldn’t you like to know once and for all how to find YOUR actual target heart rate zone? Good, because I’m going to show you how to calculate it according to your age and your resting heart rate. This is called the Karvonen formula named after its inventor, Dr. MJ Karvonen.

Based on his research, incorporating your individual resting heart rate, gives a more accurate target heart rate zone. Generally the lower the RHR the more fit the individual.

 So tomorrow, when you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed, find you pulse at the base of your wrist or side of your neck. Count your pulse for 30 seconds and multiply that number by 2.

Once you have your RHR, you are set. Get your calculator out and do the rest.

 Karvonen Formula

 220– Your Age =Your Max Heart Rate (Max HR)

 Max HR– Your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) =Your Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)

 HRR X 60% +RHR = Low End of Your Target HR zone

HRR X 80% +RHR = High End of Your Target HR zone

Example: 50 Year old person

220 – 50 =170 Max HR

170 Max HR-60 RHR=110 HRR

110 HRR X 60%(66) + RHR (60) = 126 BPM Low End Target HR Zone

 110 HRR X 80%(88) + RHR (60) = 148 BPM High End Target HR Zone

 Target Heart Rate Zone 126 to 148 BPM

Once you work out your target heart rate zone, it’s easy to know if you are exercising within it. One quick way is to take your pulse for 6 seconds and multiple that number by 10. That’s how many beats per minute your heart is beating. Compare that to the range of your target heart zone and you’ll know if you’re over, under or in the right place.

The 21st century approach is to exercise with a heart rate monitor. A good basic one costs about $50. You’ll have the high tech assurance you’re exercising in your target heart rate zone.

In either case, you’ll learn what it feels like when you’re in and when you’re out, and its fun to know you’re in control.

For more info on at home exercise programs for women visit www.mirabaiholland.com

 

 

 

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It’s Fashion Flash Monday, May 20th by Mirabai Holland 2013

Today’s Fashion Flash Host is Barbara Hannah Grufferman author of The Best of Everything After 50. Her website is your source of for all things after 50.

Our Fashion Flash team has been prospecting for nuggets of knowledge and fab deals for women over 40. Check out our finds and let us know what you think.

“Getting fit shouldn’t feel like getting your teeth drilled.” It that statement resonates with you my Ease-in System may be what you are looking for. “You can ease into the best shape of your life!” For more info Click here

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