Guide to 8 Different Types of Headaches
By Sarah Jio via Woman's Day
According to the latest data, as many as 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches. They’re a pain, quite literally, and finding the right treatment can be tricky. Here, we’ve tapped the experts to get the latest on the most common types of headaches and their remedies.
Oral-Induced Headaches
The epicenter of one of the most common types of headaches isn’t your head, but rather your mouth or jaw, and while these headaches can be felt all day, sufferers say they’re most intense in the morning after a night of teeth-grinding, or during stressful periods during the day when most are unaware that they’re clenching their teeth. How to get help? “Most patients do not realize that they can see a dentist with special occlusion training to treat headaches,” says Colleen Olitsky, DDS, a cosmetic dentist practicing in New York and Florida. “A person's bite, or occlusion—the way the teeth come together—can cause head and neck aches.” Treatment may include wearing a specially fitted night guard, braces, veneers—or even getting Botox.
Posted 3/21/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 28 comments 22,945 views
The Strength to Run the Race
By Michelene Cleary, aka MICHCLEARY
“True Strength is not brute force; it is a quiet decision to do whatever it takes to get the results that you want.” Yoga Magazine – March Issue
It all started out easy enough, the wellness challenge at the office that recommended participation with SparkPeople. That was nineteen months ago for me and I look back on that day as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Little did I know how much the decision to not only join, but participate with my whole heart, would change my life. As I write this blog I am down a total of 95 lbs and very close to my goal weight.
Earning SparkPoints through SparkPeople was part of the way to win the challenge, so I worked hard to get as many as I could in the beginning. That’s when I stumbled across this dailySpark blog by Coach Nicole. I was so inspired by her blog that I decided to run a 5K. I hadn’t run one in over 20 years and have never considered myself a runner. I talked my best friend into joining me and we ran together in November of 2009.
Posted 3/18/2011 12:00:17 PM By: : 62 comments 32,874 views
Jackie Warner's Secrets to Amazing Abs
By Kimberly Papa of That's Fit
Celebrity trainer Jackie Warner has the kind of abs most of us can only dream about, but the creator of the "Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs" DVD and star of Bravo's "Thintervention" says anyone can get a seriously toned tummy with the right diet and her must-do moves -- which, by the way, do not include crunches.
Why do you say crunches alone are a waste of time?
Crunches are not going to change your body shape at all. Diet is the key. If you don't change your diet, then doing crunches will add only muscle to your shape and can actually make you appear larger. The best exercises for changing your body shape and strengthening the core is to do push-ups and weighted squats.
Read the full story at That's Fit!
Posted 3/16/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 42 comments 33,813 views
Hot Flashes: Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle Tips
Editor's Note: Cathy Cram, M.S., is the resident maternal fitness expert on our sister site, BabyFit.com. Today's blog post is the second in a series on menopause health and fitness.
By Cathy Cram, M.S.
The responses from my first blog overwhelmingly mentioned hot flashes as one of the most difficult symptoms of menopause. With that in mind, I’ve spent the past week looking into the most recent research on hot flashes and treatments. I’ve come across so many treatments and lifestyle recommendations that I’ve decided to break the hot flash blog into three parts. Today I’m posting part one, which offers diet, exercise and lifestyle tips. Part two will cover alternative treatments (such as herbs and acupuncture) and part three will explore current medications prescribed for hot flashes, as well studies being done on new treatment options.
Posted 3/15/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 75 comments 57,875 views
A Quick Look at the Best Slow Cookers
By Mandy Major, Woman's Day
Slow cookers are extremely versatile and ideal for everything from chicken entrées and vegetable sides to cakes and fruit desserts. But which is the best one? We decided to put 10 affordable models ($60 and under) to the test to see which ones would be worthy of our counter space after spring cleaning. To evaluate each slow cooker’s features, we tried our own Spring Vegetable & Chicken Stew and Ranchero Pork with Lime-Marinated Onions recipes, rating each cooker from 1 to 5 on heat level, ease of use, maintenance/cleaning and attractiveness. Read on to see how the slow cookers stacked up.
Read the rest of the story at Womansday.com.
Posted 3/14/2011 3:00:00 PM By: : 31 comments 22,283 views
Body Acceptance: Loving My Body, Old and New
By Beth Donovan aka ~Indygirl
I can’t remember ever liking my body as a child or a teen. In my 20s, if I did like it, even for a second, it was only because I had “starved well” that day. In my 30s I definitely hated my body and in my 40s I was bigger than ever, weighing in at 460 at my highest. Oddly enough, it’s in my 40s that I’ve started accepting my body more.
I don’t know exactly what has changed, but my body is no longer subject to my rules of perfectionism. I have, in fact, granted myself permission to have a bad hair day, an “I feel bloated day” or a day when I’m just off my game. I used to stand in front of the mirror for an hour primping and preening, having to look just perfect before I would leave the house. If I couldn’t achieve what I thought was needed, I was bad enough off about my self image that I would call off school and even work. I would cry and starve myself the whole day in an attempt to make up for my failure.
What did I see in the mirror that was so wrong? I was fat. I hated my hair. I had a zit. My mascara was odd. You see, nothing else could be wrong if I was fat. I had to make up for it in every other way. I had to be perfect to overcompensate for being fat. I needed perfect grades, perfect makeup, perfect clothes, and never to make mistakes. Let’s face it: I set myself up for the failure and depression I suffered with expectations like that.
Where did those expectations come from? From a very young age, my mother and her family rode me about my weight. My mother said she didn’t want me to suffer by being overweight as she did, but her tactics were very cruel. Name calling, pointing at parts of my body and asking “What is that?” and commenting about whether I was or was not eating were prime examples. No matter what I did, she was not pleased. The rest of the family just kept lecturing, taking their diet pills and starving, setting a great example for my bulimic teens and 20s. I’ll save that story for another blog.
How did I go from the 200’s and hating my body to the 300’s and accepting my body more?
Posted 3/10/2011 4:59:53 AM By: : 225 comments 57,372 views
You Don't Have to Do It Alone
Editor's Note: Obesity expert Dr. Martin Binks contributes regular guest posts to the dailySpark.
Long-term change in how one cares for oneself can seem like a long and lonely road. It doesn’t have to be! Having the support of people who care about you can make it much easier. Support comes in many forms and is unique to each person. What you may find supportive could be seen as intrusive by another person. For example, a patient of mine recently expressed annoyance at a friend walking up to her while she was exercising and offering unsolicited motivational comments, yet for another person this might have been seen as helpful. It is essential that you become the CEO of your support team to ensure you get what you need from them. It is equally important that you recognize this when supporting your friends.
Follow the steps below to get the help you need from your support network and to help you to understand what might go into your providing good support to others.
Posted 3/9/2011 3:38:54 PM By: : 37 comments 24,501 views
Bouncing Back after an Injury
Hi, dailySpark readers! I’m Emily from Daily Garnish, and I am excited to write my second guest blog post for the site (read my first one here). Today I'm going to share some tips with you today about bouncing back – both physically and mentally – after being sidelined by an injury.
Over the past few years, I have somewhat defined myself as a runner. From the moment I jogged my first block I was hooked on the exhilaration and sense of accomplishment that running brought to me. I started with my very first 5K, worked my way all the way up to marathons, and raced nearly every distance in between.
On a rainy day last October, I was crossing the street on my way to a haircut when I was suddenly struck at full force by a large SUV. The minute I hit the pavement and felt the burning in my legs, I knew that I had more than a few bumps and bruises. As the ambulance raced me to the hospital, my thoughts drifted to the half-marathon I was scheduled to run that very weekend, and my sixth full marathon that I had trained to run at the end of the month. I was grateful to be alive, but also knew that the damage to my left knee was going to forever change who I was as an athlete.
The next few months brought a range of emotions – from gratitude to depression, anger to sadness, and everything in between. Days that were previously spent running, biking, and lifting weights were suddenly spent laying on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Over the course of the following days, weeks, and months – I discovered that allowing myself to heal emotionally was just as important as the physical healing process.
Posted 3/8/2011 6:01:29 AM By: : 75 comments 34,957 views
New 'Biggest Loser' Trainers: Cara Castronova and Brett Hoebel
By Lisa Johnson of That's Fit
"The Biggest Loser" wasted no time introducing the new trainers, unveiling their identities before the opening credits. As we suspected, Cara Castronova and Brett Hoebel are "the unknowns," and the trainers spoke about the experiences that led them to the show.
Brett Hoebel has been in the fitness industry for almost 20 years and working in several forms of martial arts. "I've studied, I was a pre-med, there's a science to training," he said. "There's no guesswork on anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology." He also talked about being overweight as a teen. "It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears," he said. "That's what I want to show the contestants."
Cara Castronova, who was ranked number two in the country in her weight class as a boxer and won two Golden Gloves in New York, has overcome her own life hardships. Her father, who taught her how to box, died when she was 14 and her mother passed away a few years ago after a car accident. "Having a hard life has made me stronger," she said. "I'm here to bring back the fighter in each and every one of them."
Read the rest of the story at That's Fit!
Photo credit: Trae Patton, NBC via That's Fit
Do you think the new trainers are as good as Bob and Jillian? Do you think they'll be as effective? What do you think about their qualifications?
Posted 3/2/2011 11:00:00 PM By: : 107 comments 30,082 views
Ravenous: The Practice of Food
Editor's Note: A few weeks ago, I read an article in Yoga Journal written by Dayna Macy. The recipes, fresh and healthy, with an attention to perfect portions and knowing when to say "enough," appealed to me. But what stood out more was the footnote that Macy had written a memoir about her liberation from a lifelong battle with food addiction. "Ravenous," I typed into the reading list I keep in my BlackBerry. A few days later I was on the phone with our editor at Hay House, going over some deadlines for the cookbook. I mentioned to her that I was looking for some new titles to feature on the blog. The first word out of her mouth: "Ravenous"! By week's end, I had connected with Dayna, fallen in love with the first few pages of her memoir (I finished it in one sitting over the weekend), and asked her if we could feature an excerpt on the dailySpark. Dayna, who's a huge fan of SparkPeople, eagerly agreed. Chapter 14, The Practice of Food, is among my favorite chapters in Ravenous: A Food Lover’s Journey from Obsession to Freedom. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
By Dayna Macy
"Am I fat?"
I've never actually asked this question to another human being -- until now.
I'm sitting in the office of Dr. Linda Bacon, a nutrition professor in the Biology Department at City College of San Francisco and author of Health at Every Size. I'm here because I embrace the message of her book: don't wait to live your life—the perfect one you imagine you'll live one day in your perfect body. Live it now.
"Yes."
I want to make sure I've heard correctly. "You just said, I'm fat, right?"
She nods and says again, "yes."
I'm silent. My hitherto unspoken weight hierarchy always began with thin, moved on to average, then on to chunky, then on to fat, and then finally, obese. I have always put myself in the chunky category, or its kinder, gentler cousin -- curvy. But never fat. Fat is another country, far away from where I live.
Posted 3/1/2011 6:05:00 AM By: : 103 comments 27,532 views
3 Water Bottles with Built-in Filters
From our friends at Woman's Day
You’ve heard it before: Ditch the plastic water bottles for a reusable version. But with so many options out there it can be hard to choose. We did some research and came up with three dependable—and good looking—favorites, which are all BPA-free and contain built-in filters, which means that you can have drinkable tap water on hand anywhere you go!
Posted 2/28/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 44 comments 38,194 views
Need Motivation to Get Moving?
By Julie Fagan of Peanut Butter Fingers (JL2726)
Sometimes we all need a little extra motivation to exercise. Even if you regularly get to the gym, you're bound to have a day where you feel less-than-motivated to put yourself through a good workout occur every now and then. Additionally, those who are just beginning to make exercise a priority may need a little extra motivation to stick to a workout routine.
Whenever I'm feeling lethargic and uninspired, I look to motivational mantras to change my mood. I frequently rely on motivational sayings to help keep me on track and transform a sluggish mindset into an enthusiastic one. (Want to find your own mantra? dailySpark blogger ~INDYGIRL shared her favorites!)
My name is Julie and I write the healthy living blog Peanut Butter Fingers, which details my life as I work full-time, eat (mostly) healthy, workout and navigate life as a newlywed. I am determined to make my health a priority and try to make it into the gym six days a week. Of course there are mornings when my alarm goes off and I'd rather stay tucked in bed, but that's when I let my mind wander to a set of motivational mantras that I keep in the back of my mind for days when I'm feeling particularly lazy.
Posted 2/28/2011 6:08:40 AM By: : 92 comments 53,445 views
How I Cope When Pain Relief Leads to Weight Gain
I've learned how to deal with my food cravings and urge to binge, but what happens when an outside force (in my case, a medication), influences your weight-loss efforts? Do you give up? Or keep fighting? Here's my story:
I’ve recently been on the medicine prednisone for a pinched nerve in my back and have suffered the usual side effects of ravenous hunger, weight gain, and high blood sugar. Prednisone is in a class of drugs called steroids. Steroids take down inflammation and keep autoimmune responses to minimum. For someone with an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, a steroid can make all the difference in mobility. In some cases, such as a severe allergic reaction, it can save a life by reducing the body’s inflammatory response to an allergen. In my case, suffering from a severely pinched nerve, it reduced the amount of swelling in my joints to allow my nerve a chance to become unpinched.
Posted 2/24/2011 10:05:44 AM By: : 133 comments 37,728 views
NEW Series: Menopause Health and Fitness 101
Editor's Note: Cathy Cram, M.S., is the resident maternal fitness expert on our sister site, BabyFit.com. Today's blog post is the first in a series on menopause health and fitness.
By Cathy Cram, M.S.
Welcome to Menopause Health and Fitness 101!
As both an exercise physiologist and a woman over 50, I’m on this journey with you, so I hope together we make this time of life as vital and healthy as possible. My focus is to provide you with the latest research on all aspects of menopause, and together we can explore how to fine-tune your lifestyle to help you reach your fitness and optimal weight goals.
One of my biggest interests is in how exercise can affect the menopause transition both physically and emotionally. I’ve found that when talking with other menopausal women, there’s been a big shift in how they view themselves, and at times feelings of depression have developed because of the changes they’re seeing in their bodies and personalities.
As a fitness professional, I know that regular exercise can improve mood, but for a long time I wondered if it could have the same effect during the roller-coaster period of menopause.
Posted 2/15/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 109 comments 35,705 views
Joy Bauer's Tips: Eat Out Without Gaining Weight
From our partners at Woman's Day
Dining out is one of the biggest challenges for dieters. Menus are designed to lure you in, and studies have shown that simply seeing or smelling food can erode the steeliest resolve (it’s hard to resist ordering that brownie after seeing it pass by on the dessert cart!). That’s why it’s important to have a game plan before you set foot in a restaurant.
Check Out the Menu in Advance
Access it online if possible, or call the restaurant and ask if they can fax a copy. When you get there, don’t even open the menu—simply tell the waiter what you decided on earlier in the day.
Start with greens. Salad helps fill you up without adding many calories… as long as you don’t drown it in dressing or smother it with fatty toppings like cheese and nuts. Vinegar contains negligible calories (plain vinegar, not vinaigrette), so feel free to douse your salad with as much as you want. Or ask for a dressing on the side and use no more than one to two tablespoons.
Watch portions. They are notoriously huge in restaurants. Even if you choose everything right, you can go wrong by cleaning your plate. You want to leave the table satisfied, not stuffed. One way to achieve this is to eat slowly and mindfully, paying attention to the company, not just the food. Try putting down your fork and taking a break every three bites or so. This gives your brain time to get the “I’m full” message from your stomach. On a similar note, don’t get so wrapped up in conversation that you forget what and how much you’re eating. To make sure you don’t overstuff yourself, when you’re about halfway through what’s on your plate, stop and assess your hunger on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being ravenous and 5 being stuffed. If you’re at a 3 or 4, stop eating.
Posted 2/14/2011 4:00:00 PM By: : 23 comments 19,620 views
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