A Scientific Measure of Emotional ValuesBy Dr. Douglas Ramm A little more than 10 years ago, psychologists who work in American universities began offering advice on how to enhance emotional well-being. Virtually all of these professors maintain that the most reliable method for increasing happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life consists of making changes in the way we look at the world. They believe that cultivating a positive attitude, developing a sense of gratitude and maintaining a sense of optimism are all we can do to achieve and maintain emotional well-being. Nonsense. Those who attempt to enhance their emotional well-being with this approach will end up sadly disappointed. It will not get them where they want to go. As a practicing clinical psychologist, I am convinced that emotions are always a matter of how we are affected by the things, people and events we encounter in daily life. Looking at what the ivory tower psychologists were telling the public, I saw clearly that real science was needed to discover which things, interpersonal events and conditions of daily life actually contribute to emotional well-being. If you would like to see where you stand with respect to each of the 10 core values as well as your overall emotional well-being, go to my website and respond to this online questionnaire. If you are interested in preserving your responses, print a hard copy of your answers to the GILS survey before clicking on the next page, where your Global Estimate of Life Satisfaction (GELS) score will be computed. Then, print a hard copy of your GELS score before exiting the website, because a permanent record of your responses is not kept at that website. [Ed. Note: Dr. Douglas Ramm is a psychologist, philosopher, author and leading researcher in the field of emotional well-being, contentment and life satisfaction. He has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows where he shares insights for enhancing quality of life. Discover how to enhance yours here.]
Much like Pavlov’s dogs, we are trained to have a physiological response (hunger) to a neutral stimulus. We associate all sorts of things with food, from a holiday celebration to a fight with our spouse. Food nourishes us, but it also comforts us, soothes us and even medicates us when we’re feeling anxious, lonely or tired. No wonder it’s so easy to overeat! But just as we were conditioned to associate food with all sorts of neutral stimuli, we can undo that conditioning. And it generally takes no more than 21 days. Our overeating triggers are actually chains of events, like Christmas tree lights that go on in sequence. A stressful argument leads to feeling helpless, which leads to the kitchen, which leads to 10 packs of Ring-Dings. So here’s the trick: short-circuit the chain. On my CD audiobook “Change Your Body Change Your Life,” I call this “putting a chink in the link.” Break the circuit and the remaining lights don’t fire up. First, isolate exactly what your five biggest hunger triggers are – loneliness, watching TV, anger, boredom, whatever. Write them down. Now put a “chink in the link.” Substitute a new activity for the destructive activity, much like an addict learns to go to the gym and get “high” from running. Try any one of these simple activities next time you hit one of your triggers:
[Ed. note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He’s a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master’s degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life. For more information, click here.]
Are you stuck in the Victim Syndrome? Confronting and shaking off the mentality of a victim could be the most courageous and life-transforming act of your life. The Victim Syndrome is a self-destructive view of yourself and the world. It leads to powerlessness, blame, low self-esteem and resentment. If the Victim Syndrome is not identified and managed it can destroy your body and your relationships. It can also become a “family tradition” -- a way of seeing one’s position in society that has been passed down from generation to generation. The checklist below can help you discover if you have been “infected” by the Victim Syndrome. The Victim Syndrome Checklist. To what degree do these items apply to your thinking, feeling and behaving? 1. I often feel powerless to change my life for the better. 2. I harbor a great deal of resentment toward others. 3. I often blame others (spouse, parents, economy, lack of education, etc.) for the unhappy circumstances in my life. 4. I can easily name “good” reasons for why I cannot change. 5. I have many friends and family that agree with my “good” reasons. 6. I have a hard time forgiving others. 7. I have a hard time forgiving myself. 8. I dislike or am uncomfortable with the word “responsibility.” 9. I resent and resist the idea of growing up. 10. I often fear life and its challenges. 11. When I am afraid I usually honor that fear and allow it to stop my productive action. 12. I often share my feelings of powerlessness with others. 13. I complain a lot. 14. I avoid people who encourage me to make positive changes. 15. I have not taken a significant risk in years. 16. I use my weight, gender, level of education, etc. as an excuse for my passivity. 17. I have decided that one cannot heal from past trauma. 18. I refuse to make a list of positive changes I want in my life or begin to make a plan of action. 19. I think that all these items apply to someone else. Most of us have some of these attitudes some of the time. But if you find that more than a few of the statements below apply to you, then please find a good support group or therapist to help you escape the Victim Syndrome. [Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including Eating to Kill, Wake-Up 101 and Weight Loss as a Spiritual Journey, click here.]
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If you have kids, you know what the headline to my article means. Two-year-olds are natural grazers. They eat a little here, a little there. They don’t sit down and gorge themselves, then starve themselves until the next feeding. They only start doing that once we teach them to. “Don’t eat that, you’ll spoil your dinner,” we say. Instead, we should be learning from them and eating six small meals a day. Eating more often with less food makes sense no matter how old you are. It raises insulin levels less, which allows you to keep hormonal changes in better balance. If you eat six small meals a day, you will also be less hungry when you do eat. This means you will have a much better chance of eating nutritious foods instead of reaching for something high in sugar. So if you want to control appetite, eat more nutritious foods and live a healthier life, I suggest you eat like a 2-year-old. [Ed. Note: Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert. For more information, click here!]
Many people don't have time to consistently go to the gym and want to work out at home. But how many exercises can you really do at home without clunky machines? All that you need for a total-body workout. This entire workout can be done using only your body’s weight as resistance. In fact, this workout allows you to use more muscles per exercise than you would at the pec-dec at your local gym. It should take no more than 24 minutes, but it will boost your metabolism for 24 hours. Here's the workout. Beginners should do all exercises in the entire workout only once. Only those at advanced fitness levels should try the three-set system described below. 1. Bodyweight squat and These are basic exercises and should need no description. Do exercises 1 and 2 back to back, with no rest (we call that a superset). Aim for 8-12 repetitions per set. If you are advanced, rest 1 minute before starting the next superset. Then rest a minute and repeat one more time. 3. Split squat and A split squat is also called a stationary lunge. Split your feet apart by taking a step forward. Use the wall for balance if you are a beginner. Drop your hips straight down and use your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps to push your body back up. Do all repetitions for one side and then repeat for the other side. Do 8 repetitions per side. For the mountain climber, get into a pushup position. Brace your abs as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach. Maintain that during the entire exercise. Lift one foot off the ground and bring that knee up to your chest, then touch the foot down as if climbing up a mountain wall. Slowly return to the start position. Alternate sides for 10 repetitions per side. Do exercises 3 and 4 as another superset as describe above. Do three supersets only if you are advanced. 5. Reverse lunge and A reverse lunge is also called a moving split squat. Stand with your feet together. Take a step back with one leg. Drop your hips down and bend both knees. Then squeeze your butt and thigh of the front leg (the leg that didn't go anywhere) and pull yourself back up to the start position. Do 8 reps on one side and 8 on the other. Beginners, use the wall for balance. The close-grip pushup is the same as the normal pushup, except your hands are shoulder width apart, not wider. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides. This works your triceps (the back of your arms) more. Do 8-15 repetitions. 7. Jumping jacks. Finish the workout with the classic jumping jack exercise. Beginners, do 20 and then stretch. More advanced exercisers can do 50 jumping jacks, take a 30-second break, and repeat up to three times. Then finish with stretching for your tight muscle groups. [Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine. If you're looking to burn fat, build muscle and quickly step into the body you have always wanted with just three workouts each week, check out Craig's fat-loss system by clicking here.]
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Farm-fresh eggs go Mediterranean in this one-dish meal that is perfect any time of the day. It provides sight-saving lutein and zeaxanthin, plus glutathione, an antioxidant that fights free radicals and detoxifies your body. Serves: 6
Ingredients Preparation Heat the butter in a medium oven-safe sauté pan, and add the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and golden. Pour in the egg mixture and turn the heat down to low. Stir the eggs to fully cover the bottom of the pan. When the eggs begin to cook and take shape, stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus. Place the sauté pan into the oven and continue to cook for 2 more minutes until the frittata is cooked around the edges and the center has puffed up. Remove immediately form the oven. Invert the frittata onto a large platter and serve immediately. Nutritional Information |