Daily Health News Blog

And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been. - Rainer Maria Rilke You raze the old to raise the new. - Justina Chen Headley There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I. - John Steinbeck One can begin so many things with a new person-even begin to be a better man. - George Eliot A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jeweled vision of a life started anew. - Aberjhani You're never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to start from scratch once again. - Harriet Morgan Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect. - Alan Cohen Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you're going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today. - Marilyn Grey Nothing is predestined. The obstacles of your past can become the gateways

People who meditate regularly say it provides mental, spiritual, and physical benefits. Even some mainstream doctors recommend meditation to help treat chronic pain, high blood pressure, and other ailments. How it works is not fully understood, though research is accumulating--and encouraging. Meditation helps you draw attention inward and calm the mind. It comes in many forms, which typically involve combinations of postures, breathing, sound, visualizations, and/or movement. Transcendental Meditation, for example, focuses on a mantra, which can be a word, phrase, or sound that is repeated with every slow breath. Zen Buddhist meditation involves sitting in special positions as you direct your awareness to your posture and breathing. Another popular form is mindfulness meditation, which also comes out of the Buddhist tradition. You practice being aware of the present by observing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations, without making judgments or allowing yourself to think abo

When it comes to dieting, losing the initial weight is the “easy” part. Keeping the weight off is harder. Here’s what it takes to be a successful weight-loss maintainer. A large study in the  American Journal of Preventive Medicine  has found that dieting and long-term weight control require some different tactics. In particular, successful weight-loss maintainers are more likely to: • Eat lots of low-fat sources of protein. • Follow a consistent exercise routine. • Reward themselves for sticking to their diet or exercise plan. • Remind themselves why they need to control their weight. That’s in addition to practices common in both successful dieting and weight-loss maintenance, such as eating lots of fruits and vegetables, controlling portions, planning what you’ll buy before going to the store, and reading nutrition labels. Previous research by the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), which tracks people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at leas