That's Fit

Life Fitness is a process of continuous growth: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Need motivation and guidance to facilitate positive changes in your life? Ask Life Fit Expert Laura

Dear Laura!

After being married for almost 9 years, my husband admitted to having an affair that has been going on for almost over a year. He told me he wanted to leave me for her. So, I recently filed for divorce and am devastated and depressed. I have used to work out four to five times a week and also always used to eat the right foods. Now, I could care less. I've gained almost ten pounds over the past month and am really having a hard time. I know I should get back in shape but I just can't get motivated. Any ideas on how to get back on track would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Theresa in Rochester, N.Y.

Dear Theresa,

The feeling of being betrayed can really "do a number" on your head and is likely to have an impact upon your self-esteem. And granted, it is normal to go through a period of grieving. Losing someone through divorce is similar to losing someone who has died. You still go through a similar range of emotions. Your lack of motivation is more than likely due to depression. When one says to another in marriage "Til death do us part" it literally means forever. However, I am here to tell you that nothing in life is guaranteed. Not even a piece of paper can guarantee that people won't make the wrong choices which may ultimately end their "forever" relationship.

To help you get back on track to being happy, healthy and fit here are a few thoughts to contemplate:

Swimsuit season is fast approaching! It's just around the corner so now is the time to uncover that beautiful beach body you've been keeping under wraps all winter. Is yours hidden beneath an extra layer of winter flab? Have a great exercise plan in mind but having a hard time getting motivated because of stress, pain, anxiety or even depression? Relaxation is one of your body's best healing mechanisms, but it's not always easy to do. Natural techniques like breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, and guided imagery can help, plus you don't need any special equipment or training to reap the benefits.

This month was pretty important for my little family; my son's adoption was finalized. I first started thinking about adoption nearly five years ago. Then, in the summer of 2005, I hosted a boy from Russia for the summer. I tried to adopt him, but before I was able to a Russian family took him in. Though I was heartbroken, I knew he was OK and I was happy that he was placed in a loving home in his homeland.

When the Russian adoption fell through, I decided to adopt from the US foster care system. It was hard switching gears, but I was excited and ready to try again. 10 months later I was matched with an energetic, funny, and athletic 10-year-old... my son. He moved in with me last June. The past 10 months have been the most challenging and rewarding months of my life. My son tests me daily, but he also stuns me with his resilience and wonderful qualities.

While things are sometimes harder than I expected, there is very little that we've gone through that I hadn't learned about through research or from my agency. One thing that that took me by surprise, however, was the depression I felt after first meeting my son and after he first came home. I had always thought post-adoption depression (PADS) was a bit of a myth. After all, there are no pregnancy hormones involved and, after finally adopting after a lot of effort (because very few adoptions process without tons of effort on everybody's part), how could you possibly feel depressed?

Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Flax is an ancient crop (it was used as a food source in 3000 BC!) but there's nothing outdated about it's benefits. Perhaps you've heard of the many, many benefits of flax? If not, well, I'll tell you right now: It's really good for you.

How good? Here's just a short list of ailments it can help ward off: Cholesterol, cancer, constipation, diabetes, heart disease, menopause, inflammation and depression. And it's no surprise -- Flax contains all-important omega-3 fatty acids, as well as a special thing called lignans. Lignans act like antioxidants and have anti-tumor properties. And that's not all: Flax has fiber, which, in addition to helping you lower your cholesterol and risk of heart disease, helps keep you ... well, regular.

Anyone who's contemplating suicide needs help. They need someone to help them realize that whatever difficulties they're facing, they aren't trapped. They can get through their problems with someone by their side. Most teens who have attempted suicide state that they didn't really want to die, they were just trying to escape from a situation that seemed unresolvable at the time.

But if someone turns to the Internet for help, researchers from the UK's University Bristol, Oxford and Manchester have discovered that they're likely to get the wrong kind of help. The researchers entered a dozen suicide-related search terms into four Internet search engines to see what results they would get. They used the first 10 sites from each search for a total of 480 web sites. Out of those sites, only 13% were geared toward suicide prevention. Only 59 sites strongly discouraged suicide. The remaining sites offered information on suicide methods -- not the type of information that someone who is contemplating suicide needs to read.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please seek help immediately. See a counselor, talk to a trusted adult, visit your religious leader, or call a suicide crisis line (1-800-442-HOPE) or your local emergency number (911).

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!

When my nephew was away at college he became very depressed. Frighteningly depressed. It took the whole family by surprise at first because we didn't really see it coming. He had friends, he had just switched his major to something that suited him much better. He had a great apartment and had just gotten a dog. It seemed like everything was going well for him. But then, wisely, he drove to his parent's house one night and told them he needed help. And he did. While he seemed fine over the phone, what the family didn't know was that hours away at school he wasn't seeing any of his friends, he wasn't going to classes, and he was too depressed to even let his dog outside much of the time. After his depression was out in the open we were all able to look back and see the signs that we missed. We thank goodness for the strength he had and for his ability to ask for help. And we've all kicked ourselves a bit for not seeing the red flags that were right in front of us. Had we seen those warning signs, we could have helped him earlier. Today my nephew is doing wonderfully; he's graduated from college and landed an awesome job. Managing his clinical depression is a part of his daily life; he understands his triggers and manages his symptoms well.

Studies show that 2 out of every 100 children and 8 out of every 100 adolescents struggle with depression. While full-blown depression usually starts in adulthood (as it did with my nephew), low-grade depression may start in childhood or teenage years. And it's important to recognize those signs and get help early on.

Roughly a year ago my cousin had a stroke. It shocked and scared everyone in the family because nobody saw it coming. Prior to her stroke she worked at a school, but has yet to return to work. She's made great progress physically, though she still has weakness in one arm. But her bubbly, effusive, and gregarious personality has never quite been the same since the stroke.

According to an Australian study, depression can disable stroke patients almost as much as physical issues. The study followed 210 stroke patients. Of those who eventually went back to work, 33% were diagnosed with post-stroke depression. 45% of those who didn't return to work were diagnosed with depression.

If acronyms such as LOL, 9, AFC, AYTMTB, B4N, and BTDT make sense to you, then you just might have a texting addiction. A recent article in the American Journal of Psychiatry states that, if you overuse text messaging, you may have a problem with it. Possible signs that you're overusing texting include:

• Excessive use that interferes with your daily activities (such as school, work)
• Feeling depressed when you can't text
• Becoming socially isolated because of it.

It all seems a little silly and blown out of proportion to me. But then, I know my niece was racking up huge cell bills because her parents' plan didn't include free text messaging. Despite repeated discussions and reprimands from her parents (including paying the charges for texting) she couldn't seem to stop until her parents took her phone away. Maybe it was an addiction after all...

When I get stressed or anxious, my mood is quickly reflected in my son's behavior. He's more likely to be disrespectful and to break rules when I'm stressed. Of course, if I don't break the cycle it creates an awfully vicious circle, because his behavior can make me more stressed. But I just try to remind myself (sometimes more successfully than others) that I am the parent and therefore should be at least a tad more emotionally mature than my 10-year-old.

But it turns out that our stress levels can do more than set off a temper tantrum... it can actually lead to our kids getting sick. A recent study found kids with anxious or depressed parents also had higher sickness levels. The parents' stress can actually lower the child's immunities and lead to significantly higher instances of illness.

The college years are fun, but they certainly can be stressful. Some kids are away from home for the first time, others are struggling to support themselves. Students are trying to juggle class loads, part-time jobs, and an often a very busy social scene.

Though most college students can handle the stress that they feel, in a recent survey, 1 in 5 undergraduates reported feeling stressed out all the time. Chronic stress can lead to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, poor school performance, and health problems. Alarmingly, one in ten students reported thinking about suicide.

Students reported that the things that caused them stress included:

• school work
• grades
• finances
• relationships/dating
• family problems
• extracurricular activities

The good news is that more than half of the students surveyed reported feeling hopeful and that they had a good support system. Half said they would turn to professional help if they needed it and 15% have already done so. Even so, it's clear that even though college students are out of the nest, they still need plenty of support.

A research team recently conducted a study on some antidepressant medications. The team found that, except for with the most severely depressed patients, the meds weren't much more help than the placebo sugar pills they used for control. The particular meds they studied were fluoxetine (found in Prozac), paroxetine (found in Paxil), venlafaxine (found in Effexor), and nefazodone.

Researchers caution that, if you're taking antidepressants, by no means should you stop taking them without consulting your doctor. Some drug manufacturers think the study was too limited and produced flawed data. Antidepressants can take a long time to work for an individual and there may need to be tweaks and changes in the prescriptions until the right medications are found. If you're dealing with depression, your best bet is to work with your doctor and/or therapist on medication help and to also take natural measures to manage your depression. Check out the gallery for some ideas.

When I was about 35 pounds heavier, I used to think about my body all the time. I was constantly fretting over the parts I didn't like, wondering how I was going to change, stressing over food and agonizing over clothes. I was all-consumed. I spent so much time thinking about my body, that I kind of lost track of the more important things in life. I certainly must have been far less productive and thoughtful to others than I am now as well.

Throughout my fitness journey, which truly began when I started teaching group fitness classes at 15 years old....I have had many great and not-so-great moments with my body. I even enjoyed a few great years in my teens as a bulimic. Whoopee! (That was really the low point.) Having said that. Along the way, I've learned to enjoy a variety of challenging exercises and balance my fitness. I also learned to appreciate and enjoy produce more than Cheetos. I got a grip on eating right and now I never fret at all over what I put in my mouth. I simply make great choices most of the time.

No, that's not the latest title to a pop song. It's just a fact. Researchers at the University of Oxford in England have discovered that merely looking at a baby's face triggers a part of our brain associated with rewards. So basically, one look and we're happy. Study participants didn't have the same reaction when they looked at other adults. Something about babies causes adult to respond positively with nurturing, caring thoughts.

The results of this study may hold clues to postpartum depression. It's possible that chemical changes during pregnancy or labor and delivery could alter the brain's ability to respond in its instinctive way.

Prozac is one of the most widely-prescribed medications in North America. So what would you say if someone told you it was no more effective than a sugar pill? You'd be pretty shocked, right?

But that's just what some recent studies have concluded, according to this article. The findings, which have been called 'fantastically important', showed that many of the most widely-used antidepressants did no more good for mentally ill patients than a placebo. According to Research Professor Irving Kirsch, "Given these data, there seems little evidence to support the prescription of anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients, unless alternative treatments have failed to provide benefit." Read the rest of the findings here.

What do you think? Do you believe these findings?