That's Fit

Glued to We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs and TMZ? Count US Weekly and People among your guilty pleasures? Don't feel ashamed -- whether you're following the lives of pop stars, athletes or politicians, I think everyone has had their own case of 'celebrity worship.'

And believe it or not, there's nothing wrong with that. A recent study in Time Magazine showed that celebrity crushes can be good for your mental health, and can even boost your own self-esteem. Still, that's provided the crush doesn't go too far (stalking is so not cool,) or replace real relationships in one's life (hello, creepy!)

So go ahead and worship someone -- bonus points if you take inspiration from a fit celeb like Michael Phelps or Jennifer Lopez.

(via Crabby)

I'm reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen right now. In one of the beginning chapters, the main character discusses how when you're a child you can pinpoint your age to the exact month, when you're in your 20's your age springs to mind rapidly when asked, but when you hit your 30's sometimes you think of yourself as a year or two younger than you actually are. Denial? Maybe. Or maybe it's just the beginning stages of your mental fitness starting to slip.

Exercising your mind is just as important as your physical fitness. If you want to check your mental prowess, try out this fun brainteaser quiz on Good Housekeeping. The test is adapted from a Mensa quiz and it's not easy. But it's a good workout for your mind.

It's easy to assume that issues related to mental health and substance abuse are limited to only a few overcrowded, fast-paced locales. New York comes to mind, as does L.A., Miami, Boston, and Chicago. However, as an article in the current issue of Women's Health demonstrates, problems of this kind are hitting the rest of the nation just as hard.

The article cites a recent survey of more than 136,000 people over the age of 12, which was conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. Heres a quick look at the findings:

TOBACCO USE
Highest: West Virginia (40.6 percent)
Lowest: Utah (22.1 percent)

MARIJUANA USE
Highest: Vermont (9.7 percent)
Lowest: Utah (4.3 percent)

ILLICIT DRUG USE
Highest: Rhode Island (11.2 percent)
Lowest: North Dakota (5.7 percent)

This morning I had to talk to my son about his latest little escapade -- putting a huge wad of gum down the garbage disposal. I spent a good half hour risking limbs while cleaning up that mess. Yet when I talked to him about it, he barely seemed to listen much less apologize sincerely. I finally had to request an apology -- and the one I got was insincere. (Grr.) As a punishment, he has to do extra chores to "make up the time" that I spent fixing the disposal. He wasn't phased by that at all.

So I know how it feels when you try to discipline your child and you know that you're not getting through. Rachel over at ParentDish has written about extreme measures parents have taken to get through to their kids. Recently, a Spanish couple has taken their own extreme measure -- they had their kids admitted to a mental health institution to be treated for their addiction to their cell phones.

The kids, ages 12 and 13, were having a hard time in school and completing other activities because of their phones. In addition, they were lying to relatives in order to get money to spend on their phones. They had had their phones for 18 months. Before recognizing that it had become a problem, their parents hadn't restricted their cell phone use.

I know that exercise can improve my mood and it's one of the best stress management tools I have, but I can't say that scrubbing the bathtub has ever had me jumping for joy. But that's what the authors of a recent study were trying to determine -- just how much physical activity is necessary for better mental health. It doesn't take as much as you would think. Their study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, reveals that as little as 20 minutes of mild activity such as house cleaning can boost your mood. So get out that vacuum, polish the furniture, and chase away all the dust bunnies -- it's time to give your mental health a little spring cleaning.

I was glad to see that the study went on to say that, while mild activity was effective, greater mental health perks were realized with more intense and more frequent activity. I'm not a big fan of the articles and programs that tout cleaning house as physical activity. It's active, it's good for you, and everybody needs a clean house... but let's not fool ourselves. 20 minutes of vacuuming is not the same as 20 minutes of real exercise. So take it up a notch -- if 20 minutes of mild activity will boost your mood just imagine how great you'll feel when you exercise (for real) every day!

Spring is here and that means flowers, nature in bloom everywhere, and as I just recently learned while working on an article for AOL Body (11 Reasons to Love Spring): the potential for improved health. While doing research for the article, I had the opportunity to discover a new reason to love spring, which is -- at the risking of sounding touchy-feely -- the healing powers of gardening.

"Watching something grow and even smelling flowers can have an impact on someone's health," says Mary Beth Miller, a horticultural therapist with Gardening for Good. A horticultural what? No, not a therapist for plants, but someone who helps her (human) patients address mental or physical health problems through gardening and connecting with nature.

What are the health benefits? The Horticultural Therapy Institute says this unique brand of therapy:

Ahhhh, spring has finally sprung. In my part of the world, that means 45 to 55 degree temps will be the norm for at least the next few weeks or two, steadily climbing into even higher digits thereafter. This makes an outdoor workout a much more viable option than it was this time last month. That's good news for your health; both in terms of your physical and mental wellness.

A University of Buffalo study revealed that men with the highest level of fitness are three times less likely to die of cancer than men who are inactive. Researchers posit that regular exercise has a disarming effect on free radicals, which can damage DNA and potentially cause cancer.

And ...

British researchers discovered that people who exercise outdoors reported an 82 percent reduction in their depression, whereas people who exercised indoors reported only a 45 percent reduction after their workouts.

The combined results of these studies (not to mention the voluminous amount of additional research that shows a definitive link between exercise and good physical and mental health), create a very clear road map to health and wellness. So, it's time to get outside and start following it!!

These days, it seems almost un-American to not be stressed. It's not that we want to be mentally and emotionally fried all the time, it just ends up happening anyway. Methods of battling back against these unwanted feelings frequently involve time commitments (i.e. joining a yoga class, meditating, exercising, speaking with a therapist, etc.), which can itself lead to more stress. Because, time? Who has any of that to spare?

Find some time. Make some time, if need be.

Really take a hard look at your daily and weekly schedule and eliminate anything that is not absolutely necessary and replace it with an activity (or inactivity) that will allow you to chill out for a little while. Research has shown that short naps taken during the day, for example, can have a profoundly positive affect on your health, stress levels notwithstanding. The same has been shown in studies on regularly performed meditation.

Do whatever you have to in order to stress less. Your body will thank you for it.

Apart from how crowded it has made my gym over the past few years, I'm excited to see that the exercise revolution reach such a fever pitch. Best of all, doctors are now looking at exercise as a viable solution to some of their patients' ills.

Such is the case with a recent report from the BBC; doctors have discovered that regular exercise may help people to better deal with their depression. In a survey of 200 English general practitioners, the Mental Health Foundation found that twenty-two percent suggest exercise to help people with milder forms of the condition. This is a marked increase from the five percent that was reported in a similar survey three years ago.

Doctors are looking to exercise more and more these days, rather than reporting to prescription drugs for their patients. This is all good news, even if it does mean I may have to wait a few minutes for a treadmill to finally become available!!

All too often, you worry about work, your love life, your bills, taxes -- all issues that you know aren't going to go away. So, to turn around those irrational fears, you need to reprogram the way you react to the triggers that bring on your unwanted anxiety.

First: Make a plan. What helps me is to write down how I feel about certain triggers, why I react the way I do, and how I'd like to react instead. By breaking down my fears it helps me discover why they scared me in the first place.

The next step is to reprogram: When you're faced with a fearful situation, you freeze (like I do) because you've programmed yourself to freeze. Instead, concentrate on your breathing and try to visualize a place you associate with calm and serenity -- the beach, the mountains, or your hometown.

Lastly: Practice and improve. Once you recognize the onset of your irrational fears, you'll eventually reprogram yourself to react more pro-actively and that should reduce your stress.

Can you name the 50 state capitols? I could in 5th grade. Today is a different story, however. I'd probably remember about 35 of them or so. Just chalk it up to the arbitrary filing system of the human intellect. Being able (or not being able) to recall such facts clearly are indicative of this fact, but in some cases it could be due to a decline in our overall brain function.

To help remedy such a decline, nature has provided us with several brain-boosting foods, many of which are available at your local supermarket.

You would think that we, as a nation, would remember every fact and figure since the dawn of time, given the amount of coffee we consume. It's key nutrient, caffeine, can improve concentration and reaction time. Also, studies from the French National Institute of Medical Research of Montpelier (which is also the capitol of Vermont -- booyah) found that drinking caffeine daily may help aging adults better remember names and words.

Packed with protein, lentils make for a great, healthy meal. But, it's the folic acid they contain that may cause people to have better recall ability than those who are deficient in this B vitamin. And, similarly to caffeine, people who have high blood levels of this B vitamin may see less decline in their verbal skills as they age.

While eating them in pancakes is delicious, blueberries are far healthier when eaten as-is. Taste aside, eating these high-antioxidant berries in any fashion will help combat free radicals and inflammation of brain tissue, thereby helping to ensure that cognitive function remains strong.

I wonder if eating these foods will help me remember those other 15 state capitols. I tell you, it's always the Carolinas that get me. Raleigh ... and ... argh!! Forget it.

As a general rule talking all the time is considered a slightly negative habit, but if you love to chit chat you might be doing yourself some good: research shows that small talk helps memory. Just 10 minutes of talking with somebody face to face was shown to be just as effective on memory and intellectual performance as spending the same time doing crosswords or Sudoku puzzles.

So if you're not a puzzle person and you've been frustrated because all the "boost your memory" stuff seems to center around doing puzzles, math, or the like -- good news! Now you can talk your way to better mental health!

All parents understand that dealing with tantrums is an unavoidable part of having children, but not all tantrums are created equal. Although throwing fits and testing the limits is a normal part of development for kids, in some cases it can signal something more serious. Experts have found that there are 5 different tantrum "styles" that can indicate deeper problems like mental health issues in some kids. The 5 tantrum styles they identify as "red flags" are: aggression towards caregivers or objects, self injury, frequent tantrums, very long tantrums, and the inability of the child to calm themselves after a tantrum.

If you worry that your child is throwing "red flag" tantrums it's probably a good idea to take them to see a professional and be evaluated. But don't worry too much -- the majority of kids have tantrums and in most cases they're just a part of life!

All too often, we get caught up in the frantic pace of life and forget to sit back, relax and think about what we're grateful for. I'm one of the worst for this -- my entire day is filled with business and I'm afraid that if I actually sit down to think about my life, I'll miss something or be have trouble catching up later. Keeping a journal seems out of the question.

But when I saw this gratitude journal on Prevention, I was inspired. If keeping a journal is to difficult, how about a gratitude journal? Here's what you do -- when you can, write down something -- anything -- that you're thankful for that day. It can be a life-altering revelation, or it can be something as simple as being thankful that your spouse took the garbage out.

And I'm willing to bet that if you were feeling down one day, browsing through your own gratitude journal or this one would be a definite pick-me-up.

A scientific review came out this past week that questioned the effectiveness of many treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With thousands of veterans returning from Iraq on a regular basis, the determination on what works and what does not is more important than ever.

One treatment, though, has been proven to work -- exposure therapies. This therapy simulates the conditions of trauma so that coping skills can be developed. But other than that, there is a lack of evidence for other therapies -- but that does not mean patients should give them up.

The report stated that therapy should not be discontinued for PTSD patients, saying that "we do the best we can with what we've got." However, the report also stated that "we need better," in reference to specific, verifiable treatments for PTSD.