And here’s the kicker.  He’s affordable, too.  Check out his website if you’re in the Fort Myers/Cape Coral/Naples metro areas to see what your rates would be – as they vary depending on your location and if you have kids, etc.  But I think you’ll be surprised.  I was able to lower my health insurance premium to an “emergency only” high deductible plan and the savings is greater than what I pay for his fee each quarter.  It may not be “right” for you, but it was for us and probably is for many of you as well.  I highly recommend you at least talk to him if you have any questions about his services.

Is this a sales pitch?  You bet it is.  I wouldn’t recommend a doctor unless I was 100% satisfied.  Do I get anything if you sign up as a patient?  Nope, I sure don’t.  But Andy will make a donation to a charity in my name if I refer someone.  Hey, I think that’s pretty cool too.  Any questions about my experience with him, please let me know!

When you are overweight, your body experiences more stress as it goes about is daily tasks.  Your pancreas, which produces insulin to regulate your blood sugar levels, is also stressed, resulting in decreased levels of insulin.  When your body does not produce enough insulin, your blood sugar levels can become difficult to regulate.  Uncontrolled blood sugar levels also place stress on the heart, causing a danger of heart disease.

Since type 2 diabetes is largely due to being overweight, sufferers can greatly benefit from increased exercise, since exercise leads to weight loss in many cases.  Getting just thirty minutes of exercise daily can decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

If you already have type 2 diabetes, exercise is beneficial in helping to increase your insulin sensitivity and lowering your risk for developing heart disease.  It does not matter how long you have had type 2 diabetes, you will be happy to know that it is never to late to add exercise to your lifestyle.

The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling your type 2 diabetes. For people with type 2 diabetes in particular, exercise improves insulin sensitivity, lowers the risk of heart disease, and promotes weight loss.

In order to get started with an exercise plan, type 2 diabetes sufferers should first consult with their doctor.  This is to assess your physical fitness and to prescribe a level of exercise that is safe for you.  If you have certain diabetic complications, this will also have an impact on the type of exercise programs that are safest for you.  And if you are taking insulin, it is really important to discuss the prevention of low blood sugar during your workout.

Getting started with an exercise program does not have to be a grand affair.  You can begin with something as simple as adding a daily walk.  Since every little bit helps, you can implement other changes in your lifestyle as well, such as taking the stairs, working in your yard, and parking further away from your destination.

A simple 15 to 30 minutes of daily exercise can make a huge difference in controlling your blood sugar levels and also prevent complications from your diabetes.  You need not waste your money on health club memberships, either, just grab a pair of decent walking shoes and get started.  The main requirement to getting started with exercise is your willingness to lead a life free from type 2 diabetes.

Arthritis occurs in the joints of the body.  In the joint areas of your body (where your bones meet), there is layer of cartilage between the bones that enables your joints to function smoothly and without pain.  There is also a lubricating fluid that works in conjunction with the cartilage to help perform this function.  However, when your cartilage wears thin, it causes an inflammation of this fluid, resulting in what we know as the most common form of arthritis – osteoarthritis.

Arthritis is not something that develops overnight.  It develops over the span of your life and is a result of the wear and tear placed on the joints.  Most people will develop some form of arthritis in their lifetime, but you can help prevent the most severe forms with a moderate exercise program.

If you implement a good weight bearing, low impact exercise program to your lifestyle, it can work wonders in helping to prevent the pain of arthritis.  Exercise helps to increase the strength of your muscles, which help to support your joints.  When your muscles are strong and healthy, this decreases the normal wear and tear that you experience in your joints and also helps to maintain flexibility.

Even if you are past the age of 50 and are beginning to suffer the effects of arthritis, you can still benefit from a solid, low impact exercise program.  You just have to move past the notion that you are too old to exercise or that exercise can be harmful at your age.  Nothing is further from the truth.

You can avoid the most debilitating effects of arthritis by losing weight if you are overweight.  All that extra weight that you are carrying around increases the stress on your joints.  Consider this – being just 10 pounds overweight puts an extra 60 pounds of pressure per square inch on your knees when you move.  Now, how do you think that affects the cartilage in your joints?

It is also a good idea to add stretching to your exercise routine, which helps to increase your flexibility while still challenging your muscles.  If you are unsure of how to begin, consult your doctor for the stretching exercises that are the most beneficial for arthritis sufferers.

The most important thing to remember is that exercise is the most important thing that you can implement in your lifestyle to decrease the painful effects of arthritis.  And since walking is considered exercise, there is not an excuse to skip exercise.  If you are suffering from lots of joint pain, you may want to consider an exercise like water aerobics.  But, remember, you cannot experience the positive benefits of exercise if you do not take the first step and get moving.

Exercise is definitely not something that someone else can do for you – if it was, most of us would gladly hand off the task to someone else.  For this reason, it is essential that you find the motivation to exercise, but taking those first few steps can be somewhat difficult.

However, since so many people are overweight these days, it is imperative that this trend towards obesity is headed off – exercise can contribute to the cause.  And even if you are not overweight, it does not mean that you are as physically fit as you can possibly be, and you could probably benefit from a little exercise if you are not as active as you should be.

Exercise is good for the mind, body, and soul – so finding the motivation to exercise should be at the top of your priority list.  Did you ever notice how if you are angry, upset, or nervous that a walk helps to calm you?  That is exercise soothing your mind.  Do you not love the way you look and how your clothes seem to fit better when you exercise?  That is exercise reshaping your body, while giving your mood a boost at the same time.  Thinking about the end benefits of exercise is one small step to finding the motivation to exercise on a consistent basis.

It is so easy not to exercise in this age that it makes finding your motivation so much more difficult.  Whereas people tended to walk wherever they wanted to go in the past, automobiles have changed that.  You may even remember the days when you had to leave the couch to change the channel on the television – now you just aim your remote.  The combination of technology and fast food has turned many of us into lazy, overweight, unfit couch potatoes.

However, you should not let this deter you from finding the motivation to exercise.  If you really want the added benefits of exercise, there are steps that you can take.

One key step you can take in finding your motivation to exercise is to develop a goal.  Your goal should be as explicit as possible.  So do not just tell yourself that you want to lose weight.  Make it even more detailed than that.  Set a goal for your weight loss in pounds, and mentally visualize yourself achieving that goal.

Another step to finding the motivation to exercise is finding a partner who can exercise with you.  It has been proven that people who have exercise partners tend to stick with it longer than those who do not.  So find yourself an exercise buddy.

Another thing that can help you stay motivated to exercising is measuring the small gains and benefits of your exercise.  So as long as you are moving towards your goal, remember that you are making progress, though it may not be as quickly as you would like.

Remember, though getting motivated to exercise requires some work on your part, it is not impossible.  Just keep in mind that the end result of your motivation is a much happier and healthy person, which will positively affect your entire life.

It allows you to examine any conflicts brought upon by cognitive dissonance, helps gain new perspective and focus on different ideas and in general serves as a sort of ‘balm’ upon your psyche. You may also begin to tackle that annoying problem you’ve been having at work and come up with the solution that has been evading you for days. You might see a beautiful flower growing along side of the road which you can pick to take home to your husband or wife and tell them how much you love them. You may just take this time to relax and let your mind become calm in what would otherwise be a hectic crazy time of your day. The physical benefits of walking are mirrored by the equally beneficial mental benefits. In today’s world of hustle and bustle, we can’t forget ourselves. Summertime is approaching and the weather is starting to get nice, so get out there and walk. Your mind and your body will thank you for it.

How can you raise your metabolism? There is only one way and that is sustained cardiovascular exercise. This means jogging, running, biking or jumping jacks. It can also mean swimming, fencing, horse back riding or playing soccer! So get outside, enjoy life and preserve your health at the same time.

You never know, you just might find that you like it outside a whole lot better than sitting at your desk in front of your computer all day!

There is a general consensus in many foreign countries that Americans are fat.  Why, you’re thinking?  Look at the news.  Every time you look, there is a story about obese people.  They show our fast paced lifestyle, always on the go, always in a hurry, never time for that healthy, balanced meal.  Some of you may be thinking, hey, that’s me but I’m not fat.  Trust me on this one, if you don’t start to change your eating habits now, that WILL be you in a few years.  One day, you will wake up and ask yourself, how did I become this person?  If you have children, start them off right but eating healthy as well.  If you don’t introduce the junk food and allow them to eat it all of the time, they won’t become attached and/or dependent on it.

It’s a lot easier to curb the problem now rather than later, so if you are one of these people with the fast paced life with no time to sit down and eat a healthy meal, please stop for a minute and think of the long term effects of what you are doing to your body.  And if you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your kids.  They shouldn’t bear the weight (literally) of your fast paced life.

Setting aside all of the above, there are significant healh benefits to running:

• Running burns fat
• Helps fight the aging process by preventing muscle and bone loss that occurs with age
• Running reduces the risk of stroke and breast cancer
• Running lowers blood pressure
• Running raises HDL, or good cholesterol
• Running helps boost your immune system by creating more white blood cells that fight sickness

So, the next time you decide that you want to sit down on the sofa and watch re-runs, you might want to think about popping on some jogging shoes and going for a run around your neighborhood.  You certainly won’t feel better overnight, but over the course of a few weeks or a month, you will certainly begin to feel noticeably better.

What was that again, you say?

Scientific studies show that drinking more than two cups of coffee a day (~32 oz.) cuts your remaining amount of life, on average, by a year. While some people are dependent on their morning cup of coffee for their ‘get up and go’, experts claim this apparent need is actually just the physiological nature of the addictive properties of caffeine manifesting them in your psyche; at any rate, no matter your metric feeling a little sluggish in the morning is better than losing a year off your life! It is important to note too that simply by reducing your amount of coffee rather than completely eliminating it, you make the most substantial gains. The most harmful effects of substance abuse (and drinking too much coffee is absolutely a real form of substance abuse) can be eliminated by reducing consumption.

It’s a little too late to start today, but when you wake up tomorrow, how about trying to just have two cups instead of that entire pot of coffee that you had this morning?  Your body will thank you for it later in life.

There are a few ways to quit which have been reported to work fairly well:

1. Nicotine replacement products – These would include nicotine gum, the patch, etc.
2. Fading – This involves gradually smoking less and less, and downgrading the amount of nicotine that is in the cigarettes that you smoke.
3. Hypnosis – Some people claim this works, others claim it doesn’t.  Your mileage may vary.
4. Cold turkey – This is when you smoke one last cigarette and say that’s it, you’re done, no more.  And stick to it.

Remember, combining approaches that address both your physical addiction and your smoking habit is most likely to be effective…and, as the old adage says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”