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The Health Benefits of Wine

Posted: October 18, 2011 in Eat Healthy
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Wine, in moderate amounts, can be very helpful to our health.

All alcohol has been found to help boost High-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good cholesterol”  but more exclusively to wine, especially red wine, is the concentration of antioxidants that come with each serving.

excerpt from reducetriglycerides.com

Research has indicated that moderate intake of red wine can be beneficial to the heart health. The cardioprotective effect has been attributed to antioxidants present in the skin and seeds of red grapes.

It is believed the antioxidants, called flavonoids, reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in three ways by:

  • reducing production of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (also know as the “bad” cholesterol)
  • boosting high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol), and
  • reducing blood clotting.
Researchers at the University of California, at Davis have found the highest concentrations of flavonoids in Cabernet Sauvignon, followed closely by Petit Syrah and Pinot Noir.
But the key remains “In Moderation”. For women it’s one glass a day (or about 5 oz.) and for men it is two glasses (or about 10 oz.). Now when you get pass these levels of intake that’s where the benefits of wine can take a turn and become more harmful than helpful. Wine can elevate triglycerides which can cause your body to store more fat. Also women that are more susceptible to breast cancer really should drink with caution.  All alcohol, including wine, can increase hormones that could effect their condition.
excerpt from health.com

Wine could preserve your memory. When researchers gave memory quizzes to women in their 70s, those who drank one drink or more every day scored much better than those who drank less or not at all. Wine helps prevent clots and reduce blood vessel inflammation, both of which have been linked to cognitive decline and heart disease, explains Tedd Goldfinger, DO, of the University of Arizona School of Medicine. Alcohol also seems to raise HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, which helps unclog your arteries.

These are just a few of the benefits and the warnings from/about drinking wine. See the related links below to find out more about the beneficial factors of drinking wine.  In moderation 😀

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Back Workouts, What You Didn’t Know

Posted: October 18, 2011 in Exercise
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Standard Back Exercises

Barbell Bent-over Row

  • Bend knees slightly and bend over bar with back straight. Grasp bar with wide overhand grip.
  • Pull bar to upper waist. Return until arms are extended and shoulders are stretched downward.
  • Repeat. 10-12 reps. 3 sets.
Inverted Row
  • Lay on back under fixed horizontal bar. Grasp bar with wide overhand grip.
  • Keeping body straight, pull body up to bar. Return until arms are extended and shoulders are stretched forward.
  • Repeat. 12-16 reps. 3 sets.
Pull-up
  • Reach up and grasp bar with wide overhand grip.
  • Pull body up until neck reaches height of hands. Lower body until arms and shoulders are fully extended.
  • Repeat. Do as much as you can until it becomes difficult. Once it does add 2.
  • For underhanded pull-ups reverse hand grip.

When starting out with a back exercise routine pick 3 exercises, such as the ones above, and master them before moving on to new routines.  Your back muscles are the largest group of muscles in your body and once you strengthen them the rest of your body starts to fall in line with proper training.

3 Things You Don’t Know About Your Back 

excerpt from Men’s Health Magazine.


1. Building your back can torch your belly fat. That’s because the more muscle you train, the hotter your fat furnace burns. And there are no larger muscles than the latissimus dorsi, a.k.a. the lats. Master the pull-up to bolster these muscles fast. 

2. Your arms will lift more weight than the larger back muscles if you let them. For a better back workout, initiate rowing movements by squeezing your shoulder blades back. Then think about pulling the weight with your elbows, not  your hands. 

3. Anytime you train your back or chest, or even sit at your desk, your lats become stiff. Since these muscles attach to your spine and wrap around to your ribs, they’re used in most upper-body activities. Stretch your lats every day to stay loose.

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Compromise Quote

Posted: October 13, 2011 in Inspirational
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You can’t get ALL you want ALL the time, but you may get HALF you want SOME of the time. COMPROMISE. ~ WBIO

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Inspirational Quotes: Running

Posted: October 12, 2011 in Inspirational
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“Now bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.”

~ Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

“It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.”

~ Emil Zatopek

“We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.”

~ Emil Zatopek

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same…
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run – 
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

~ Rudyard Kipling, “If”

“Endurance? You’ve only got to get out there and do it. Face up to it: man was meant to run.”

~ Percy Cerutty

“Tough times don’t last but tough people do.”

~ A.C. Green

“Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

~ African Proverb

“Relentless Forward Motion!”

~ Tom Riley

“I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”

~ Jesse Owens

“Running is real and relatively simple – but it ain’t easy.”

~ Mark Will-Weber

“Runners just do it – they run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.”

~ Author Unknown 

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No Excuses Baby!

Posted: October 12, 2011 in Inspirational
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Today’s a good day for exercise.

Let’s get fit. No Excuses, baby!

😀

Are Danes Happier Than Americans?

Posted: October 12, 2011 in Inspirational
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Say it ain’t so!

…but it just might be.

Good read from alternet.org: “Why Danes are So Much Happier than Americans”.

This article provides some good insight into the differences in our culture and ethics.  Would we live happier lives if we adopted some of these ideas?  Read on:

Danish happiness has been attributed to their legendary income equality — but there’s more to it than that.
October 9, 2011  | Americans may be deeply divided about what ails our country, but there’s no denying we’re a nation of unhappy campers.

Danes, on the other hand, consistently rank as some of the happiest people in the world, a fact attributed at least in part to Denmark’s legendary income equality and strong social safety net.

Forbes recently cited another possible factor; the Danes’ “high levels of trust.” They trust each other, they trust ‘outsiders,’ they even trust their government. 90% of Danes vote.   Read more…

 

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Inspirational Quote: Confidence

Posted: October 11, 2011 in Inspirational
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You can determine how confident people are by listening to what they don’t say about themselves.

~ Brian G. Jett

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Currently Reading: The Art of Happiness

Posted: October 10, 2011 in Inspirational
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I’m currently reading “The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living”  by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler.

I’m only a couple of chapters into this book, but I wish I would’ve read this years ago.  I highly recommend picking this book up.  Will provide more insight into this read when finished.  Should be soon since once I pick it up I can’t seem to put it down. 😀

 

 

 

 

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10 Things I’m Grateful for Everyday Update

Posted: October 10, 2011 in Well-Being
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A little over a month ago I posted: “10 Things I’m Grateful for Everyday” and decided that I was gonna keep a list of at least 10 things everyday that I’m grateful for.. pretty self-explanatory. Although I slipped a day or two here in there, I done pretty well.

One of the stipulations in the my venture was that at the end of the said month I may or may not post the list.  Well… I’ve decided not to.  Some of the things on the list are private and should remain as such. LOL.. but it was a very gratifying experience to endure through.  I highly recommend you try something along these lines yourself.  Or come up with your own 30 day challenge and test yourself.

You may not always win, but you will discover things about yourself.

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Columbus Day: 5 Things You Didn’t Know – ABC News.

Posted: October 10, 2011 in Well-Being
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Christopher Columbus

Columbus Day: 5 Things You Didn’t Know – ABC News.

An interesting article from ABC News on Columbus Day.

As today’s Columbus Day celebrations begin, marking Columbus’ 1492 arrival in the New World, here are some little-known facts about the explorer celebrated by Italian-Americans across the United States.

1.   When the  Columbus Day Holiday Began

In the U.S., it’s sometimes reported that the national holiday began in 1971, but that’s actually the date when Congress changed Columbus Day to the second Monday of October. In reality, Columbus Day became a national holiday much earlier, in 1937.  At that time, President Franklin Roosevelt declared the holiday would take place on Oct. 12 (the date Columbus first landed in the Bahamas).  But the first known Columbus Day celebration in the U.S. took place in New York City in 1792, long before it became a national holiday. Read More…

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