Donna L Brogan.com

For people consumed with losing weight, surgery may seem like an easy option. Gastric bypass surgery has helped a number of people and has come to light in recent years due to a number of celebrities receiving this procedure. Although a gastric bypass surgery may seem like an easy way to shed unwanted pounds, it is actually a very serious weight loss method and is not for most people. You should only consider gastric bypass surgery if you are very significantly overweight and need to lose the weight for medical reasons rather than for cosmetic reasons.

Which Are You?

There are basically two kinds of people: those who get things done and those who wait for conditions to be right. The first group will quietly get on with things, putting forth every effort as they act, giving consideration as they perform, until they reach their final objective. The second group thinks a lot. They wish, wonder, and dream. If they do act, it is only after much soul-searching and their action is often hesitant, and filled with doubt.

This has been me. I have always been a dreamer. I am somewhat of a perfectionist so things have to be done just right and everything I can learn must be learned before I can start something. I have found out the hard that if you continue on this path you are doomed. You will never reach your dreams. So get up off your bottom and just jump right in there. It will never be perfect because only God is perfect.

Colin Powell once said, “The freedom to be your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best.” What would really get you going today? What would make you so excited, so enthusiastic, so motivated, and so full of energy that you would literally put your every ounce of effort into it? Folks, you cannot simply be successful. Your success must start with a particular objective, or it cannot happen. Discover the one thing that is truly important to you. Begin to focus on that objective and get passionate about it. Make every effort to make it happen.

My mentor, Daniel Graham teaches me something about myself everyday.  He says effort is the rock against which we can hone our integrity. As long as our effort is all that it can be, there will be no room for short cuts, doubt or cheating. Everyone is motivated by something. What is it that would compel you to transcend any obstacle, to do whatever is necessary to pursue that goal?

I would love to hear what you think and which kind of person you are.  Please leave a comment below and if you haven’t already join my google friend connect.

Be the best you can.

Diet and Exercise

I can’t stress enough how important these two things are to live a happy and long life.  If you want to see your children and grandchildren grow up, and be able to spend time with them in a productive way,  you MUST learn to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Nutrition and physical activity combine for us to have healthy bodies.  Exercise is going to give us fitness along with four major things:

• flexibility
• strength
• muscle endurance
• cardiovascular health.

Diet on its own is not going to be able to give you this.  You need to have the physical part as well.  One thing to remember is that a bad diet can affect the way that your fitness training goes even if you follow the best type of exercise plan that you can.

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Do you know the important things you should know about healthy living, such as how to handle your food while preparing it, how to help your family enjoy certain foods, how to get your family involved in the every day style of healthy living?  How about the pitfalls of dieting, certain diseases caused by dieting and very important dieting along with exercise?  Well read on and find out all these things and much more.

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In my previous post I gave information on many places we might not think of as being really bad areas for germs.  This post will tell about more germ areas and the most germy jobs.  Please read the following from a comment I received on my recent post – It is a great addition to my post:

September 17, 2009 by Oren Pardes:

While disinfection IS a highly recommended practice, many germs have become MORE of a problem due to our attempts to kill them. Those that survive “adapt” and become “stronger”. Rather than focus on reducing the number of germs, we need to increase our ability to resist them.

Germs (even in large numbers) are usually only a problem if our immune systems are weak. Getting the kinds and amount of food, water, sleep, exercise, sunlight, and other things that support and strengthen us is by far the most important action(s) we can take for staying healthy and protecting ourselves from getting sick.

Germs can also only infect and hurt us (and/or anyone else) if they can get into our bodies. Unfortunately, we often help them to do so – with what we touch with our hands (including ourselves). Putting our hands in our mouths is so common we probably don’t even realize it.

Here are three easy but important practices for staying healthy:

1. Cough and sneeze into a sleeve (or other fabric) rather than hands.

2. Wash the SIDES and TIP of EACH finger (and under the nails).

3. Clean faucet and door handles BEFORE washing hands OR use a paper towel to touch them AFTER washing hands. Otherwise hands are NOT clean.

Finally, the household object with the MOST germs is almost always the kitchen sponge used to clean dishes. Microwaving it on a regular basis is one way to reduce the chances of spreading germs by “cleaning”.

Thank you Oren.:-)

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Well IS this a scary thought?  You bet it is.  I would like to let you know just how you can protect yourself from as many germs as possible, by letting you in on things you might not have even thought about.  Are you ready?

Almost every medical expert in the world will tell you that germs are everywhere, whether you like it or not.  By just walking across the room, you are surrounded by airborne organisms.  Sit in a chair and when you get up you will be covered with bacteria.  No matter how clean you think you are or your home is, you will never be able to be totally free of germs.

Humans are the worst types of offenders.  Not that people should be overly concerned about becoming ill.  According to Phillip Tierno, Director of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at NYU, only about 1-2% of the 60,000 types of germs people may come in contact with on a daily basis are a potential danger to anyone with a normal immunity.  That works well for us, because just about any surface contains some of these microscopic organisms. 

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For anyone into learning yoga, you will find that there are a few things that you might want to purchase for proper training. When it comes to yoga equipment you will want it to be safe and give you the ability to perform the correct moves and poses. This means that you will want to go shopping for some special equipment.

First and foremost, it is important to have a good mat. Mats come in all shapes and sizes, so you will have many choices when making a purchase. Look for a mat that is large enough for you when you are sitting. It should be dense, but not too dense.  You don’t want to sink down into it.  Be sure that it is lined with a non-skid material, washable, preferably machine washable. Remember, yoga is an exercise, so be sure to wash your mat often to prevent the spread of bacteria and other germs.

You will also want to buy blocks made especially for yoga.  These will be used to correct your posture.  Made of dense foam, they can be used to help learn specific positions. They are light and strong so that you can easily take them to and from your class, if you will be attending a class.  Bolsters can also be used for the same purpose.  However, they are heavier, but conform more easily to the shape you need.

More advanced yoga students may wish to consider other props, such as a yoga sling to hang from the ceiling.  This will help in doing inverted positions. Yoga ropes, which can be mounted to your walls or ceilings will help with posture and flexibility.  If  that is a bit too much for you, some sandbags with handles can be used to create a bigger stretch when you are doing certain poses.

You may want to purchase books and videos on yoga to continue to learn this art. When it comes to learning new poses you will find that a coach or instructor can help to show you the correct way it should be done. Videos are a great way to do this.  Taking a class is also a great way to have more fun and meet new friends.

Yoga is a form of meditation that has been around for centuries. It came about through  the traditions of  Buddhism and Hinduism. The religious aspect of yoga still exists but in some cultures it is now used as a form of exercise. You will find that the stretches and strength building exercises can work with your self image. You are able to burn fat, increase your flexibility, and also build muscles. There are lots of other exercises that are combinable with yoga.  By using yoga with other cardiovascular exercise, you will be able to make your body healthier than ever.

Yoga, traditionally, is a routine of exercise that will rejuvenate the body. Meaning that even though yoga is a fairly difficult workout, it should make you energized as opposed to draining your body and making you feel tired. Therefore, if you are pairing yoga with other forms of exercise, do yoga first, using it as a warm-up exercise. Warm-up exercises are a must before exercising.  It loosens your muscles so they won’t be prone to injury.

Yoga teaches you breathing techniques that help calm the spirit and focus the mind. With good breathing techniques you will be able to breathe fully and there will be more oxygen going to your brain and body.  By practicing yoga, you will be able to do cardiovascular exercises for a longer period of time.

Since yoga helps with increased flexibility, injuries while doing other sports and/or exercises may be prevented. Yoga can be viewed as an entire exercise regimen focused on stretching muscles, thus allowing you to find your limits. This is important when practicing any sort of physical activity.  Always speak with your doctor when you are starting any exercise routine.

Yoga is becoming a part of life for many people. It is a way that you can integrate body poses and breathing exercises with added meditation to give you peace of mind.  It seems to make everything right with the world.

Meditation comes from intense concentration. The person focuses on a single object so intensively that they think of nothing besides the awareness of that object. In yoga meditation is the highest point of the Eight Limbs of Yoga.

These “eight limbs” define yoga as a lifestyle:

• your attitude with the world around you
• your attitudes towards yourself
• physical posturing
• breathing exercises
• withdrawing the senses
• concentrating
• contemplating
• enlightenment

Meditation calms the mind and offers many health benefits way before enlightenment. Regular meditation will help reduce stress and anxiety. It can also lower your blood pressure and decrease your risk of a heart attack. Side effects of yoga are improvement of  concentration, clarity of thought, and can release your creative side.

With some research, yoga will help with cognitive, emotional, and sensory data of the brain. Meditation may also slow natural shrinkage of the frontal cortex due to aging. Try meditating for 40 minutes a day. Actually, most change happens in the brain’s right half.

Meditation isn’t easy, clearing the mind of extraneous thought is very difficult, and clearing it of all thought is even more difficult. It will take time and hard work in order to learn how to do meditate.

To begin, you will want to sit somewhere quiet, with your back and head straight. You will need learn some basic breathing exercises first.  First,  close your eyes, breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Focus on your breath, be sure to get cool air to enter through your nose and the warm air out your mouth. Redirect all of your thoughts and just focus on the warm air leaving. You should start off with some short meditations that last a few minutes. Most beginners will start off counting their breaths so that they can focus on the breathing, if you do this  only count to four and then start over again.