When I grow up, I want to be just like the adorable and inspiring 85 year old women I saw following along as best as they could in the back of a cardio kickboxing class today. I stood in awe watching them in their elastic waisted linen pants and button-down collared shirts jabbing and crossing with energy.

I thought about the things I do today to increase my health and preserve my athleticism. Will I be able to do the same things those amazing women were doing today while surrounded by others more than half their age? I bust my butt to ensure a long healthy life, but I when I watch things like that....it just seems like a bit of a miracle as well. That's what I'm working for. With all of my being, I want to be just like them.

Source

I'm taking my weight -- which at the moment is 135 -- and I'm multiplying it by 12. My answer: 1,620. That's the average number of daily calories I should consume to maintain my weight. Interesting.

Without knowing it, I must have been eating 1,620 calories each day for a good chunk of time. I know this because my weight has been keeping pretty stable. It could also be that I'm eating more and burning some of my calories with exercise, which is then delivering me back to that same 1,620 mark.

This simple formula, courtesy of Discovery Health and EatingWell.com, can also help me figure out how to lose a few pounds.

To produce a weight loss at the safe rate of one to two pounds per week, all I need to do is subtract calories from my daily total. For one pound, I should shed 500 calories per day. For two pounds, I should ditch 1,000. That would leave me with daily totals of either 1,160 or 620 calories which tells me something: This won't work for me.

Anything under 1,200 calories per day leaves little room for proper nutrition so if I really want to lose weight, I should reset my number to 1,200. It's still less than my maintenance number which means I'll still lose weight.

Want to take a stab at this simple formula? Tell us what you find out.

Source

You can't be fit, or get fit, if you're not healthy. But being healthy has so many angles and there are so many things to keep in mind that it's easy to lose track and let different areas of your health slip without even realizing. Different seasons mean different health concerns, and so to make this season a healthy one we've got a list (courtesy of Natural Health) of 20 things you can do to help stay well, and fit, this winter:

• Spice up your meals with spices like ginger and garlic to boost your immune system, and hot peppers (if you can stand 'em) to boost circulation.
• Give homeopathic remedies a shot. One they recommend is influenzinum 9C.
• At the first signs of feeling sick try soaking your feet in hot water for about 20 minutes before going to bed.
• Make a point to take some deep breaths every day. Not breathing well and deeply regularly can have a slow but very negative effect on your body.

Source

That's right! The most powerful woman on television, Ms. Oprah Winfrey, will soon have even more power and presence on the tube. Teaming up with Discovery Communications who owns, Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC and more...OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. will launch in 2009.

A press release from Discovery Communications states, "The new multi-platform media venture will be designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN will debut in 2009 in more than 70 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. The venture will also include the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com."

Source

You might think you need to be more and more gentle with your body as it ages. Consider the heart, for example. As it ages, it gets smaller, muscle cells decrease and degenerate, valves thicken and narrow, arteries thicken and become less pliable, and the electrical system that causes the heart to beat may change. Overall, our hearts become weaker and pump less blood as we age. Clearly, you might think you need to baby that body of yours as it gets older and older. But then you'd be wrong.

Certain natural changes take place in the heart as we age, but the prescription for good heart health remains the same: Eat well and exercise regularly, regardless of how old you are. If you're inactive and happen to be older than 65, see your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

Not only is exercise good for the heart at any age, it might also fight off some of the age-related changes in the cardiovascular system. A study in the journal Circulation found that athletes in their 60s had blood vessels that functioned as well as those as those in their 20s. The bottom line: Long-term exercise protects the inner lining of the blood vessels and causes them to behave more like those of a young person.

Walking more than 1.5 miles a day can reduce heart disease risk in older individuals. So get on that treadmill. Or head outdoors and hit that pavement. Your heart will thank you.

Source

Portions are important when it comes to matters of health and weight management. But it's hard to control our portions when measuring cups, spoons, and scales aren't readily available. Since guesswork can sometimes be dangerous, we need some sort of guide when estimating our serving sizes.

Try this on for size -- Well & Fit magazine, published by the Publix grocery chain, offers these tips for estimating serving sizes at a glance.

1 cup = a small fist
1 ounce of cheese = an index finger
1/2 cup of rice or oatmeal = a light bulb
3-ounce serving of fish or meat = a deck of cards
1 serving of fruit = a tennis ball

OK, now I've got a few visuals. How about you?

Source

The world is a big place and it seems like we get news items and magazine articles all the time about which nations are the healthiest or most-fulfilled. If you've ever wondered about how people in different locations around the globe stay fit and happy, this piece is pretty fun and interesting.

It includes tips and secrets from people as near and far as Florida, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Japan, England and France on how to maintain a healthy mind and body. I don't imagine these people are experts or anything but sometimes it's nice to take advice from people based on personal experience.

Some of the secrets doled out include doing a water fast once every couple of weeks (Japan), get ting outside and walking as much as possible (Ireland) and breathing to lower stress (South Africa). If you're interested in all of the tips and the perceived benefits then read the piece in full.

Have you got any health or wellness tips you can share?

Source

Now that I've sworn off sweet treats for all of time, my mouth waters at the simplest healthy indulgence. Like this one -- the Any-Time-Of-Day Parfait. I stumbled upon this recipe while flipping through the pages of a Publix well & fit magazine, and I can't wait to build this layered number for myself. Check this out, give it a try, and let us know what you think.

The Stuff

3 kiwi fruit, peeled
1 six-ounce carton plain low-fat yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup bite-size shredded wheat biscuits, coarsely broken
1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted dash ground cinnamon

The How-To

Coarsely chop kiwi. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, honey, and vanilla. Then layer cereal, fruit, and yogurt mixture into two 8 to 10-ounce parfait glasses. Sprinkle with almonds and cinnamon.

Source

When dealing with illness, be it a simple cold or something major, one of the best things you can do is pay attention to your body and take care of yourself. This article relates health to a straight line, and then goes with the idea that there are 3 steps to take to get yourself down that line to a place of wellness.

Whether you buy into the idea that these steps can really "cure" you or not, the advice is still good -- it never hurt anybody to reduce toxins and add antioxidants, and it certainly won't make anything worse to reduce some stress in your life.

Source

Here's some good news for everyone: you don't have to worry about brushing your teeth anymore! That's right, just drink down some cranberry juice before you go to bed and let nature do the rest. Okay, so we're not quite there yet.

However, some new research coming out of the University of Rochester suggests that we may not be far away from cranberry-flavored toothpaste. According to the research, not only does this "miracle liquid" help prevent kidney infections, but it may also help fight against cavities. The article likens it to Teflon for teeth in that the juice makes it harder for all those nasty microbes and bacteria to stick to your fangs.

The U of R research team thinks that by attacking the bacteria, cranberry juice essentially renders plague-building enzymes useless. In doing so, the microbes aren't able to use those enzymes to make that gunk around your teeth. "Something in the cranberry juice disarms the pathogens that cause tooth decay," says Dr. Michel Koo, leading the team. Don't bother supplementing every meal with the stuff yet though, because scientists are busy trying to pick out that oh-so-important cavity-beating compound found in the juice to use in practical applications (like mouthwash and toothpaste ... mmm).

Source