When you have children, one day you’re feeding them in a high chair and the next thing you know you’re getting ready to send them off to college. When the time comes for your last or only child to leave the nest, you may have mixed feelings. Although you may have dreamed of this day during tough times, when it finally comes it can feel bittersweet. While it can be a difficult transition, there are many ways to help yourself thrive now that you have an empty nest.
Some days you hit the pavement and everything just feels right. Your stride feels perfect and you feel light as a feather. You may even experience a deep state of euphoria known as a Runner’s High. Then there are days where every move you make feels like an extreme effort and your legs feel like bricks. When you have a goal in mind or simply enjoy physical exercise, these “bad” running days can be especially frustrating.
Recovering from the coronavirus is different for everyone. While some people feel back to their old selves fairly quickly, others can experience a wide range of ongoing health problems that may last weeks, months, or years. According to the CDC, 13.3% of people who have COVID will have lingering side effects for at least one month after they’ve been infected. For those who were hospitalized, more than 30% of people have reported experiencing side effects after 6 months.
Many people wish they were the type of person who wakes up early to workout each day, takes time to meditate, enjoys a healthy diet, follows a cleaning schedule–but the truth is, we all have the capability to be that person.
Within the first year, 25% more people began experiencing anxiety and depression worldwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Although life has begun going back to “normal,” many of us don’t feel “normal.” Residual stress from years spent worrying about becoming infected and how to navigate socializing safely is to be expected. Take a moment to recognize the traumatic event you experienced and then tread carefully to address what you need to move forward.
If you’ve gone to the doctor recently and were diagnosed with prehypertension, you’re very fortunate–but you’re not off the hook. Even though your numbers are under 140/90, there is still reason to take your diagnosis seriously.
If you regularly spend your nights tossing and turning, you’re not alone. More than 60 million Americans have trouble sleeping. Poor sleep can negatively affect both your emotional and physical health. Those who don’t get enough good nights of sleep often experience memory, concentration, and mood problems and are at a higher risk for depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
Nearly every ancient culture used feces’ shape, size, and texture to provide health diagnoses before modern medicine existed. Today, many people get squeamish and embarrassed to talk about their bowel movements, but they are still a very reliable way to investigate what is going on inside the body. If you feel off, your first instinct may be to call your doctor, but looking at your bowel movement should be number 2.
While our mantra is “age is just a number,” sometimes the body needs a little extra help to keep up! It can be difficult to eat enough foods with magnesium at any age, but when we get older it becomes even more challenging. In fact, more than 40% of people in the US don't get the recommended daily amount of magnesium through food.
We’ve all been there. You plan to go to a workout class after work or you hype yourself up to finally speak up during your next group meeting, but when the time comes to do it, your motivation seems to disappear. According to Melanie Robbins, an accomplished lawyer, television host, author, and motivational speaker, you have 5 seconds to act before your brain shuts your motivation down.
Magnesium directly influences brain development, memory, and learning because it regulates the body’s N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. When the body has healthy magnesium levels, NMDA receptors only stimulate nerve cells when necessary. However, if the body is deficient in magnesium, nerve cells can be over stimulated and wreak havoc on the brain.
If you can touch your thumb to your forearm or put your hands flat on the floor without bending your knees, you may think that you’re double jointed. Despite the extremely common use of the term “double jointed,” it’s actually very inaccurate and misleading.