Whole Body Health! Systems Thinking to Getting and Staying Healthy and Fit

One of the things in health and fitness I've noticed for many years is that many have focused on the separation of body parts when training. And that was even true when it came to nutrition. And yet, our bodies were never designed to be separate in function. From our muscular system to our skeletal system to our endocrine system to our nervous system to our digestive system and to our cardiovascular system, all work in conjunction with one another.

I like to describe it as the human system. Each part is in support of the other. When there is an imbalance in one part of the system, it throws off the rest of the system. Heck, even going down to the cellular level, we can see communities working together for the whole.

One example is in the area of back pain. When we sit too long, the Sartorius muscle in the upper front of the thigh tends to shorten and the Gluteus muscles tend to weaken. This leads to a muscle imbalance that causes the Sartorius muscle to pull on the lumbar area. Back pain may develop.

So, what is a system?

It's simply many parts that come together to function as a single unit. When one part of the system is taken away, it changes the whole system. How the system is arranged is crucial to proper functioning. If you were to split the system in half, you wouldn't have two separate systems. You'd have a destroyed single system.

Here are some ways to keep your human system functioning properly:

· Thoughts count. How you perceive your body and your health is important. Just know that what you do in one part of your human system will affect another part. Even your beliefs will affect it.

· Nutrition counts. When you consume certain foods, how and what you eat will have a positive or negative effect on your human system. If you digestive system is off due to food stagnating, it may lead to you feeling sick. Your mindset will feel sick too. If you eat too much sugar, that may lead to chronic inflammation. This, in turn, will affect your whole system. Just the opposite is eating healthy foods, such as fresh fruits and veggies. You'll get a healthy response.

· Exercise counts. Your body was made to move. Make sure to use proper form and function when you do exercise. Remember, your body was designed to move as a whole. When you train this way, you lessen injuries and pain. Additionally, you'll move more freely.

· Be consistent in everything you do as far as living healthy. Your whole system is designed towards consistency. Simply exercising once a week or eating healthy every once in a while doesn't get it. Be aware of your thoughts which lead to your actions. Change your thoughts if necessary so you will take action towards health and fitness.

Remember this; your whole body is a single system with systems built into it. Each part of one system will affect other systems which affect the whole system. Everything that you do will count. Starting right now, become a systems thinker and you'll become healthier because of it.

Plump it Up! - The Purpose of Collagen Injections

Contrary to earlier reports, collagen is not just used for plumping up your lips to resemble Angelina Jolie's-- collagen can do much more than just that. Today, celebrities use collagen to attain smoother skin, defined cheek bones, and as means of protecting their skin's dermis. Collagen isn't just some cosmetic surgery staple; it is also a solution to fixing saggy skin. One of collagen's main nutrient are skin proteins that help replenish lost natural skin oils. Collagen makes your skin glow and look younger; as well as improve your overall, physical appearance when injected or used in other parts of your body.

It is important to understand the layers of the skin and which layer among the two needs a dose of collagen once in awhile. As we all know, the epidermis, or the upper layer of the skin is often exposed to dust, pollution, and other external organisms that could affect our body, starting with our skin. The epidermis is also responsible for controlling the liquid excretion of our cells and tissues. Beneath the epidermis is the dermis which is rich in natural collagen proteins. These proteins help the epidermis with its daily task of controlling the skin's water supply.

Collagen was not made to be an artificial protein used by cosmetic surgeons to plump up our cheeks or lips. It is a certain natural protein that helps in the growth of our body's cells and blood vessels. It also supports our epidermis by keeping our skin's elasticity. When a healthy amount of collagen is provided by our dermis, our epidermis retains its fine, plump appeal; which unfortunately, does not last long. Sooner or later, throughout time, our own body's collagen supply goes down-- and that is how we get unwanted age marks, saggy skin and wrinkles.

Although nothing can stop our body's own collagen supply from going down, collagen used by cosmetic surgeons have been proven to return our skin's glow and elasticity. Collagen has been used to create more defined cheeks and pouty-lips, which was made famous by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. Botox and Collagen have also gone hand in hand and have become two of the most used cosmetic treatments by celebrities.

A lot of doctors recommend the use of collagen to achieve more defined cheeks and smoother-looking skin. The reason why collagen is best injected beneath the skin is because your skin needs to regain its collagen supply, which is normally excreted in your dermis. Another technique which you can try out is to apply collagen creams over your skin after getting collagen injections. The collagen cream helps in slowing down water loss and retaining moisture on the surface of your skin, while injected collagen helps in retaining water beneath your skin.

How to Get a Sexy Female Body That Turn Blokes Heads

If you are tired of your flabby body, here is what you need to do in order to get an ultra sexy female body.

Having a sexy and sculpted body is in the trend now as compared to last time where super skinny body is popular. If you want to change your body from the twig look a like to curvy body or if you want to change your plump body to a more toned and firm body, this article is for you as we discover some healthy and cool ways to get a body that can turn blokes heads.

You have to start weight lifting weights if you want to sculpt your body and lose body fat. Building lean muscle mass is the only way to go if you really want to have some curves.

You do not have to worry that you will put on bulk. Females do not have high testosterone levels like men do. With proper training you will put at the most half a pound of muscle mass per month and considering you are doing everything right.

Do not worry if you have put on some weight on the scales. Muscles weight heavier than body fat and they take up less space than body fat. You will be glad to know that you will be heavier but look smaller. Not to mentioned with tones muscles that other women will die to have.

The second step you can take to change your body to fat burning furnace is to cardiovascular training. Not just any training but a high intensity interval training type.

There are some people that spend hours in the gym, which is not necessary.

A high quality high intensity interval training cardiovascular workout only requires 20 minutes. With that requirement, you should not come up with any more excuse not to do it. Would you like to spend twenty minutes wasting your time in front of the television getting nowhere or twenty minutes on the cardio machine changing your body?

High intensity interval training is very easy to do. All you need to do is to do 10 intervals of 1-minute sprint and one-minute jog. Remember, it is sprint really hard and not just a normal run. This type of cardiovascular training gets you out of your comfort zone training and stimulates body fat burn.

It will be tough but the results are well worth it.

Let us talk about diet. You do not really have to follow the low carbohydrate rule or the high protein low carbohydrate diet.

You can enjoy your carbohydrates as long as you keep them in small amounts and keep them as complex as you can. Brown rice is always better than white rice and whole wheat bread is better than just eating white bread. Your muscles need the carbohydrates to restore the glucose levels after your hard training session anyways.

You can have some bad carbohydrates once a while just make sure you only enjoy it after a hard workout. Then you really deserve the treat.

Do not assume fat the biggest culprit of all. It does not mean that you do not consume fat you would not get fat.

Females tend to burn more body fat when going on a lower carbohydrate diet and consume more healthy fats. If you think you are doing a favor to yourself by eating loads of low fat food, think again.

In most cases, food produces put in loads of sugar to make the food taste good. This is because the food does not taste so good when it contains less fat. So what happens? Your insulin level will shoot up. Insulin is the hormone in the body that converts glucose into fat in your body.

By consuming slightly higher healthy fats, moderate protein and moderate complex carbohydrates, you will be able to keep the insulin levels in check and turn your body into super fat burning mode.

Finally, to make the bloke's head turn, you need to work the butt muscles.

You cannot get sexy curvy butt by spending the entire time in the gym on the Stairmaster. The butt muscle is the largest muscle on the body and it needs to be trained just like any body part you have. You need to do weights and train butt to make it toned and curvy.

Focus on doing barbell squats, dumbbell lunges and leg presses. These exercises engage the butt muscles the most and if you train hard enough, you will get butt of steel in no time.

In conclusion, if you want a well-toned body, you need to include weights, proper cardiovascular training, and proper nutrition knowledge.

Even celebrities hop on the weight-training wagon to get their sexy body. Well, the can afford personal trainers but for the rest of us, there are lots of excellent fat loss programs out there that are very affordable.