I hear numerous women in their 40’s and 50’s complain they’ve gained weight and just can’t get it off. I have one thing to say: cardio and strength training! If you exercise strenuously 30 to 45 minutes a day, six days a week I can guarantee you will see a difference.

Add in stretching, yoga and some weight resistant training and you will be in fantastic shape, with vibrant energy. As an added benefit, your clothes will fit better, you will prevent diabetes, high cholesterol and, women’s silent killer-heart disease.

My Mother is a great inspiration for me. She had prior never been in the least bit athletic. During her mid 40’s when all us kids were in school and she was able to go back to work, she made a commitment to herself to get into shape and be able to run 5 miles by the time she was 50.

At 55 my Mother did run a marathon and has never stopped running since. Several years ago, at age 74, my Mother and I ran a marathon together.

My Mother learned new techniques for keeping in shape without hurting herself. She now runs a Half Marathon at least twice a year. She runs three times a week and walks three times a week.

At 78 she’s still working, is slender and in fantastic shape. She looks like a woman 15 years younger and with the energy of someone younger-still. I figure if she can do it so can we all.

Start slow and where you can. If it’s only 15 minutes in the morning followed by 15 minutes in the evening that’s great. Purchase a pedometer and work towards 10,000 steps a day. Exercise: there’s just no two ways about it.

Many symptoms that you see a medical professional about are actually due to dehydration. Do you get headaches, get low energy in the afternoon have dry skin get constipated?

Many of these symptoms will disappear when you are properly hydrated. Below is a guideline to help you determine how much water to drink:

Take your weight in pounds and divide in half. The result is the amount in ounces of water you should drink. For example if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water a day. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? But once you get used to it, you will feel much better.

Avoid caffeine and alcohol, as these have a huge impact on your kidneys and liver. Your body has to work overtime to filter out the poisons from caffeine and alcohol. Additionally, caffeine and alcohol can disrupt your sleep, make your PMS worse, block your skin pores and much more. Do your body a favor and stick with water.

The activity can be as simple as sitting down and reading a favorite book for 20 minutes, painting or even going for a walk.

Ensure it’s an activity that is fun exclusively for you. Though, it can involve doing something you enjoy that will benefit someone else, like volunteering for example. What’s important is that it is something that fulfills you and makes you happy.

Not only will you benefit from your activity but the people around you will also really appreciate it, as well.

Heart Center is all about unconditional love, forgiveness, compassion, healing.

Send some of that good stuff to yourself, your family and friends and out into the big, wide world.

Spend time every day, even just 20 minutes, just for you, let go of your worries, find stillness, nourish your spirit.

Try the following breathing exercise, It increases your vital energy and encourages your body’s natural ability to self-heal, and you can do this any time you want!

Breathing Exercise

1. Close your eyes. Place the tips or your thumbs and index fingers together, forming a triangle. Place the center of where your thumbs touch, directly above the navel with the tips of your index fingers pointing downwards.
2. Place the tip of your tongue where your front teeth and palate meet.
3. Inhale through your nose, long and deeply into your abdomen. Imagine a pure, yellow light filling and warming the area three inches below your navel.
4. Gently hold your breath as long as you can without straining or tensing up.
5. Gently exhale through your mouth. Contract your lower abdomen and back. Imagine sending gray waste out

First, ask yourself: “Am I living to eat or eating to live?” And I mean LIVE! Live in a manner to support vibrant, deep down health.

In my opinion, the first way to support vibrant, deep down health is to eat organic as much as is possible.

• At minimum eat organic eggs, dairy, meat & soy.
• At minimum eat organic eggs, dairy, meat and soy. Non-organic versions of these products are grown with loads of antibiotics and hormones.

Research has shown that the wide use of antibiotics in farming has contributed to the multiple drug resistant bacteria found these days. MRSA, a penicillin resistant Staph, is not only common in hospitals, it’s also showing up in gyms and even day care facilities.

Antibiotics have contaminated the waste water released as a byproduct of farming. This is the same water which eventually finds its way into our own drinking water.

Ingesting foods laden with hormones is especially bad for women. Do you ever wonder why some women’s breasts get lumpy when they drink milk (even in your daily latte?).

I believe there is a correlation between ovarian cysts, fibroids, breast lumps, etc. Organic eggs and milk are fairly easy to find in most grocery stores. If you can’t find organic meats and other items, ask your store to stock it. The more of us who request organic foods the more the grocery stores will get on the bandwagon.

Probiotics; I can’t say enough about how beneficial probiotics are for you. The easiest way to get probiotics is in yogurt-organic of course. Look for “live active cultures” in the ingredient list. Probiotics, not some gelatin-based dairy product, are what makes yogurt yogurt. As an added benefit, you’ll be providing your body with calcium as well!

In fact, read the ingredient lists on all packaged food products you buy. If you don’t recognize a particular ingredient, do a Google or Wikipedia search on it. You’ll be surprised at what you find you are putting in your body.