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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The Little Things
  A final thought on healthy eating… It’s important to understand not all healthy foods stay healthy. Just because you start out with a healthy item, what you do to it can greatly alter the nutritional content.Meaning, the salad you plan to eat with
plenty of leafy greens turns in to a high-fat, high-calorie meal if you top it with unhealthy extras, such as bacon and cheese. The
fastest way to turn a healthy salad
unhealthy is to use high-calorie salad dressings. It’s the same idea with chicken — skinless chicken breast is not the same as the chicken fingers deep friend and dipped in a high-calorie sauce. Even one-calorie soda is nowhere near as healthy as zero calorie water. Be careful when trying to eat right that you are, in fact, eating smart. 
9:54 am edt 

Diet is the Best Compliment to Exercise
  The desire to become healthier and get in better shape has been a hot topic for many years. Health clubs, gyms, martial art schools and video workouts have become more and more popular. While working out is very beneficial to maintaining a healthy weight and being in better shape, your diet cannot be neglected. There seems to be so much information and focus out there on exercise routines, but not enough on a healthy diet.Obesity is becoming more of an epidemic in the U.S. and, yet, it seems more people are working out. So why is obesity on the rise? Repeated studies have shown changing your diet, along with exercise, is a more effective way to lose weight than exercise alone. People need to become more educated on what foods to eat, how often and how much.The best thing for someone wanting to lose weight is to understand it isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. Set a goal, get educated on diet and exercise and do both. While a healthy diet is great for shedding pounds, exercise is great for building muscle, increasing energy levels and improving balance and coordination. Martial arts training and a healthy diet are both great ways to achieve your health goals while learning self-defense, gaining flexibility and feeling empowered.At the end of the day, a little variation in your diet combined with your exercise routine can make a huge difference in how you look and feel. Drastic changes don’t need to be made to be healthy. Find something you enjoy doing, find healthy foods you enjoy eating and start making a difference in yourself NOW! 
9:53 am edt 

Happy Mother's Day
  Mother’s day is a time to celebrate our mothers and/or special mother figures
by showing how important they are in our lives. Change it up this year and do
something different with Mom!
· Create a memory jar. Pain and decorate a jar. Write favorite memories of your mom on slips of paper and encourage the other members of your family to write their memories down as well. Fill the decorated jar with the paper slips. Then, on mother’s Day, sit with your mom while she reads all of the memories you have shared
· Take her to afternoon tea. Book an afternoon tea at a local teahouse or
restaurant. Invite the people who are most important to your mom and spend
the time talking about how much you appreciate her.
· Plant a tree. Pick your mom’s favorite tree from your local garden center.
Together, plant the tree in a visible place in your yard. Visit the tree each
Mother’s Day to remember the love and appreciation you have for her.
· Have a picnic in the park. Pack a picnic with your mom’s favorite meal and find a scenic spot to have lunch. Spend the time talking and laughing about the things going on in her life.
· Donate your time to a local charity. Schedule a time with your mother to
volunteer at one of her favorite charities. Go to a local nursing home, take items to a women’s shelter or help out a soup kitchen. Let your mom know how much you appreciate her efforts and how you admire her giving spirit.
So, when celebrating Mother’s Day this year, show that special woman in your
life you care!
Happy Mother’s Day! 
9:51 am edt 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

To Your Health: The Benefits of Martial Arts
  Did you know martial arts is not only great for children but great for adults as well? Most often martial arts is associated with self-defense, however there are many more benefits than just learning how to defend yourself. Listed below are just a few ways martial arts benefits both children and adults.Benefits for adults:1. Weight Management
A typical martial arts class burns 500 calories. Adding martial arts to your life can absolutely help you lose weight.2. Improved Heart Health
Research has found the only real way to improve the status of cardio health is by doing activities that stress the heart or elevate your heart rate. Getting thirty minutes a day of a cardio exercise is a great way to stay healthy and help lower your chances of a stroke or heart attack. Martial arts is a great activity to stay healthy.3. Increased Muscle Tone
Martial arts training doesn’t just burn calories and improve cardio health but it also builds muscle mass. The more muscle you have the more calories you actually burn and the more toned your body will look.4. Improved Reflexes
Research shows practicing martial arts improves reflexes and having better reflexes can help in all aspects of life. Whether you play sports, drive a vehicle or play with your children, faster reflexes can definitely have a positive impact on one’s life.5. Improved State of Mind
Researchers have found participating in a regular exercise routine is one of the best ways to improve your mood. Martial arts is a great activity to release endorphins which can improve your state of mind up to four hours after you are
done training.
Benefits for children:1. Discipline — Martial arts is one of the best ways to improve discipline in young children. Discipline in any person is important and learning discipline at a young age is vital to success.2. Socialization Skills — Martial arts is great at teaching social skills. Martial arts requires children to work together to accomplish a common goal without being competitive. When children work with other children it helps them learn and understand how to deal with different personalities and ability levels which in turn helps them become more social.Goal Setting — Martial arts is constantly about setting and achieving goals. The belt colors used in martial arts facilities are really just rewards for 

all the hard work that a student puts in. Learning how to set and         achieve goals is essential in succeeding in life.

4. Self-Esteem — Martial arts is an individual, go at your own pace, activity and because of this students don’t typically feel let down or like failures. Yes, martial arts can be competitive if one chooses that path but for most students it’s about accomplishing goals and being rewarded which in turn builds confidence and self-esteem.5. Focus — Martial arts takes unbelievable focus. Students learn quickly that if they are not paying attention or focusing they can fall behind. Typically, it doesn’t take long for a student to learn to focus and pay attention
so that their peers don’t pass them by as all students get rewarded for listening
and learning.
 
 
9:49 am edt 

The Art of Learning
   It’s April and it is a month with which a lot history and world changes are associated.It’s been a long hard winter this year and in most parts of the world we are coming out of a deep frost or cold snap. People are starting to have spring fever but don’t put too much emphasis on the calendar. April used to be the second month in the Roman calendar which, of course, made March the first month until the Romans changed January to be the first month. So, back in the day, your spring fever would have occurred in June.If you are a jokester, you are well aware of April Fool’s day. This day may have come about when the New Year was celebrated on April 1 back in Roman times and then was changed to January 1. Some people still celebrated New Year’s on April 1 and those who would not change would usually get some type of fool’s gift which continued the tradition to this day.The diamond is the birthstone of April and the flowers that make claim to this month are either the Daisy or the Sweet Pea.Theory has it that April, which used to called Aprilis, is derived from the Latin verb Aperire, which means “to open,” this might be why April is looked at as the beginning of the trees and flowers blossoming again.People born from March 21 to April 20 are considered an Aries on an astrological calendar. People born from April 21 to May 21, you are considered a Taurus.Regardless of the history, at this time especially in the United States, April is considered the beginning of warm weather returning. People may start planting in some parts of the world or harvest in other parts depending on where you live.In many parts of the world, April brings a sort of happiness. The gloom and doom of the cold and early darkness seems to get further and further away each day and people are anxious to get back outside again, especially if they live in a part of the world that has a cold, bitter winter.Regardless of its rank, the month of April still has some very nice holiday celebrations. The warmer weather may make people feel good, and the month brings promises of spring and summer depending on where you live. So get out there and enjoy all that April has to offer. 
9:47 am edt 


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