How Stress Can Affect Your Health and Weight

Stress has become a too familiar part of our daily life. Stress is real and a serious threat to your overall health as well as your efforts to lose weight.

Your body is constantly trying to maintain a state of internal stability, called homeostasis. You sweat to cool yourself on a hot day and shiver to stay warm when it's very cold. When your body feels stressed, it struggles to compensate for the real perceived threat that's created the stress.

This response can trigger a complex series of biochemical changes that struggle to bring you back to your pre-stressed state. For example, when you're stressed your body releases various hormones and chemicals including adrenaline, cortisol, and others that shift your body into a flight-or-fight response. These hormones increase your metabolism, your heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

If these bodily changes are channeled into a physical activity the stress can be resolved. If, however, the stress is chronic and unresolved part of your life, like a difficult boss or an unhappy relationship, the effects on your body are ongoing and dangerous.

Long-term unresolved stress of the kind that many of us endure daily makes us vulnerable to hypertension, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, and other disorders. Unresolved stress also has been linked to developing insulin resistance as well as developing the "belly fat" associated with inflammation. Too much cortisol may also contribute to leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that is recognized as a "turn off signal" to hunger. Elevated cortisol in conjunction with adrenaline can also encourage your body to hold on to fat especially around the abdomen.

So how do you deal with stress? If you teach yourself to adopt some simple stress-reducing strategies, you really can reduce the physical effects of stress. You need to become stress resistant.

Regular exercise can help you to dissipate unfavorable chemical responses created by stress. Stress reducing techniques practiced daily can be pleasurable in your daily routine.

Proper diet can reduce the inflammation and internal stress of your body.

Good Debt versus Bad Debt

Debt is part of our daily life. Each month we spend a lot of money paying off debt. Not all that is bad and if we want to get out of debt or improve our credit score we should understand what the difference between good and bad debt is.

Good debt is something which generates wealth in the long term and often the interest you pay is tax-deductible. Examples for good debt are mortgage debt, certain home equity loans and student loan. When you take a mortgage out when you purchase a home the value of your home will increase in the long term.  You could sell that home and you could get more money than what you paid for. Student loans are also good debt to since getting a degree will help you to get a higher paying job. Certain home equity loans are good debt too if you use it for home improvement or to pay off higher interest rate bad debt such as credit card debt.

Bad debt on the other hand doesn’t generate wealth and the interest you pay is not tax-deductible. Examples for bad debt are car loan, credit card debt and certain home equity loans. Car loan is bad debt since your car is losing value from the very first day. When you use your credit card to buy cloth, food or things like a computer or big screen TV you accumulate bad credit. If you don’t pay off your credit card in full you end up paying more and more on something which worth less and less. Certain home equity loans can be bad such if you spend the money on a vacation or buy something which will gradually lose its value.

If you want to improve your credit score work on your bad debt first and keep the debt to income ratio for unsecured debt under 15%. Try to resist applying store credit cards when they give you a discount at the first purchase. If you can’t pay off the balance you will end up paying over 20%. With good credit you can get credit cards whit under 10% interest so why get a store credit card. And remember if you can’t afford to buy something your credit card is not going to make you richer.

Foods That Slow Aging and Keep You Healthy

Aging is something you have to accept. There is nothing wrong to be over 40 in fact you could have the best time of your life if you keep your body healthy. Certain foods can make you look and feel young and help you to stay healthy. Of course you need some regular exercise too. Here is a list of foods that you should include in your diet every day.

• Certain vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnips and Brussels sprouts help the body in fighting toxins and cancer. They contain antioxidants and sulfur, which provide energy and keep your skin healthy. Eat them raw or lightly cooked.
• Nuts are high in calories but you don’t have to eat a whole lot to benefit from them. Nuts are rich in protein, fiber and important minerals such as potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium. They are good for your digestive and immune system and helpful in fight against cancer. Their high Omega-3 fatty acid content keeps your brain and body healthy. They are also good for a healthy skin. There are plenty of nuts to choose from such as almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios, Brazil nuts and more.
• Whole Grains such as whole wheat, oats, brown rice, faro, barley and wheat berries are rich in fiber which keeps your digestive system healthy. They also make you feel full a good way to control your appetite. Including whole grains in your diet is a smart way to combat all types of illnesses, such heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.
• The Omega-3 fatty acid from certain fish improves mood and mental capacities. These oils have antioxidants which can attack cells that cause the body to decay. Omega-3s can also fight inflammation in the body. Inflammation can cause many different health complications. Fish oil is also good for the skin preventing dryness and eczema. Salmon and tuna are the most popular with elevated level of Omega-3.
• Avocado is full of monounsaturated fat, which can reduce the bad cholesterol level in the body. It also has a lot of potassium, which fights fluid retention and high blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Avocado also has a high level of vitamin E, which prevents skin aging. Avocado is rich in folate, which can decrease the risk of heart attacks. Avocado with its antioxidants can help your body protect itself from free radicals.
• All black and blue berries, such as blackberries, black currants and black grapes contain antioxidants which protect the body against damage caused by free radicals and aging. Dark berries are also helpful in maintaining good balance, coordination and short term memory. In the pigment of these berries there are phytochemicals which are called flavonoids. Flavonoids have antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. Red wine contains high levels of flavonoids.

What You Need to Know for Successful Investing

When you start investing you need to know that investing money on the stock market comes with certain risk. Before you invest you also have to figure out how much money you want to start with.

If you are new to investing it’s not a good idea not to invest all your money without learning about the basics. There are too many people start investing too much money without the knowing basics of investing. It’s better to start to invest with less money perhaps with a couple of hundred dollars while you master the investment terms. It’s also a good idea to keep an emergency fund and never touch it.

As I mentioned investing comes with risk. How much risk are you willing to take? Remember the money you invest is not insured, when you lose it its gone. Stocks are the riskiest investments. Mutual funds are a lot less risky since they are more diversified. Buying bonds are even much safer and you can still earn a lot more money than in a regular savings account. The higher the risk the more money you can make but also the more money you can lose.

You have to learn how much risk you can take also called risk tolerance. Starting with a little money and watching the stock market you will learn to get used to the market fluctuation without panicking.

Why do We Buy Things We Don’t Really Need?

It happens to me sometimes too that I end up buying something I don’t really need. I buy it and a week or too later I realize that it was a wasting of money. Obviously when this happens I don’t go through the right decision making process. So, why do we end up buying things which don’t really make us happier? In fact later on paying credit card bills could be frustrating and painful. Here are a couple of things I could think of:

• It could be the commercials that influence us and convince us that we absolutely need something. It seems that everyone else has it. If we don’t have it we are filled with the anxiety of the outcast.
• Our friends and family members have it. It seems that their life is so much happier. It’s embarrassing when they talk about it and we don’t have it.
• Our kids are asking for something they absolutely need mainly due to peer pressure.
• Sometimes we buy something we already have but we can’t find it or just simply lazy to look for it in the garage, in the basement or in the attic.
• Sometimes we buy something for a real good (cheap) price and we didn’t pay attention to the quality. Later on we end up buying the same thing but this time we get the better quality.
• It happens that we talk about something then I buy it and my wife comes home with the same thing.
• We buy things simply because we are distracted in a store and we forget about what we really wanted in the first place.
• Sometimes we get a good deal on a larger package and most of it will end up in the trash.
• Often we forget to cancel a subscription and we have to pay for that.
• We want to try out something for free but after the free trial period we forget to cancel it.

Before you buy something you don’t really need, remember you could save that money or better invest it.

What do Women Want from a Man?

It's not very hard to get a woman's attention if you know what women are looking for. There are many women out there who are looking for men. Often they don't find the right man because they don't have enough time to look around and men don't know how act.

When you want to get a woman's attention, you don't have to pretend that you are someone else. Sooner or later she will find out who you really are.

Women like independent men, someone who can make his own decisions. The man should be also confident. This confidence attracts women because it's easy to trust such a man.

A man should now how to support himself and his woman. He should be able to provide his woman with all those things she needs to bloom like a flower.

A man should notice every little detail on a woman, the way she dresses, her jewelry, Her makeup, her hair, her perfume. If you don't notice these, your mind is somewhere else. Your mind should be right with her to get connected.

The type of man women like should also be sensitive and able to express emotions. He should be able to have a nice conversation about various things. A good sense of humor is very helpful too, you have to be able to entertain your woman.

Is Fat Good or Bad?

When we think about weight loss and fats we are sort of confused. We hear many  times that in order to lose weight we have to cut fat completely out of our diet  or limit it to just a small amount. If we follow this we are going exclude healthy fats from our diet too.

We heard about bad fats, trans fats that we shouldn't eat in order to lose weight and stay healthy. Most of us don't have enough information about healthy fats, the good fats we should eat which are essential to our health. A lot of people believe that all fats are bad.

Yes, we need to eat fats to stay healthy. And we also need fats to lose weight which sounds contradictory. Here are some good reasons why we need fats:

• It's hard to believe but fat can help you to lose weigh. Fat is filling, fat will prevent you from overeating and will help you to feel satisfied.
• Essential fats will help you to reduce the risks of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, fatigue and allergies due to their anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties.
• Omega-3 fats help you to reduce the chances of developing depression. Depression is a frequent trigger of overeating. Omega-3 fats have mood enhancing qualities.
• Believe it or not the brain is made up of 60% fat! Fat forms an essential part of your cell structure. Without them your cells will be unable to replenish and you will not be able to function at your peak capacity.
• Fats can influence your blood sugar balance. Balancing your blood sugar level will reduce your cravings and will also prevent mood swings.

As you can see, as long as you are eating the right fats you can still lose weight. You just need to know which fats are which. Some of the best sources to receive healthy fats are flex seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and wild salmon.