Health and Fitness Journal

Can anyone out there offer me some treatment for migraine headache? For years now I have been suffering from this terrible illness but no doctor, natural therapist or friend has been able to give me any substancial advice on how to stop them. I think I first started getting migraine headaches when I was at high school and over the years they have continued to occur in more frequency and with much more severity. These days if I am driving and one starts to come on, I literally have to pull over and wait until it subsides.

I’ve tried several medications but none of them seem to work. They have developed into such a painful level that I have had to quit my job and stay at home on a disability allowance from the government. It has also had a negative effect on my relationship with my boyfriend. Whilst he is very caring and understanding, he wonders why I get so angry and sad all the time. I don’t think people truly understand how painful they can be until they have actually experienced one themselves. If anyone reading this has any advice, please feel free to leave some comments as I am verging on rock bottom.

Being a young female I am always looking for ways to keep my weight down and stay healthy. That’s why myself and a group of Brisbane Nannies decided to form an early morning exercise group. Basically, as all of us are from the same agency it allows us to have very similar schedules. It is because of this that we are able to take the children we a looking after on morning power walking trips in one big group. The kids absolutely love it because they too have a chance to be outdoors having fun and meeting with other children.

This idea came about one day as we were enjoying some coffee. One girl had mentioned how much weight she had put on recently and a few of the other girls had similar problems. Susan suggested we should have a pram race in the mornings up a great big hill to see who was the fittest. At first everyone giggled at this but it eventually lead to the creation of our morning nannies exercise meet up. I’ve managed to lose about two kilos from this and am having an absolute ball doing it too.

OK, so I know this is a health and fitness website, but what I have to say could be seen as somewhat healthier than the alternative. I’ve been a smoker for about 10 years now and I have tried so many ways and times to give up. From cold turkey to patches and even hypnotherapy, I have tried almost everything. I think the longest I went was about 6 months after reading Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking. An excellent read that I highly recommend to any smoker. But as I am yet to give up I have decided to smoke using a Vaporizer.

A vaporizer works by using heat to bring the temperature of tobacco to the point where it boils the active ingredient without burning the plant material. As a result you get a cleaner, tastier and more potent hit from the vapors. It also reduces the smell of nasty odors and is seen as a much healthier alternative than smoking a cigarette the conventional way. I guess whilst I still want to give up, this can be a temporary measure until I have the strength to give up for good.

Have you ever taken part in some corporate games before? No? Neither have I but a few of the Boulder real estate companies have decided to form a baseball league whereby they play each other on the weekend for the pride and glory of being the best baseball league in Boulder. Personally, I am on the fence with this one. In my opinion I am all for corporate fun with your co-workers but the fact that it is held on the weekend for me is a little annoying. I mean aren’t we supposed to have a happy balance between work and family? If these events are being held over the weekend, when does that allow me to spend time with my family?

If I choose not to participate then I run the risk of not being a team player. On the other hand if I do participate I will enjoy the benefits of being fit and healthy again. It has been years since I did any physical exercise let alone play a sport for several hours. The more I think about it the more I am excited at the prospect of being in shape again. I guess my wife could always bring the children to watch and meet some of the other players wives. Hmm…yes I think I am going to give it a try.

Isn’t it just amazing how quickly mold can build up around your bathroom? Almost every weekend I find myself in the bathroom scrubbing and scrubbing around the toilet bowl, shower and sink just to remove this filthy menace. I really need to employ the services of a mold removal specialist. I have read somewhere that letting mold build up in your bathroom can cause serious health risks. Some of these include allergic reactions, irritation, invasive disease, asthma attacks and sinus infection.

Naturally, most people don’t let mold build up to the extent where it will cause these side effects, unless of course you are my 20 year old son who lives in an apartment with his mates. What a sight! I went over to his place a few weeks back and was disgusted by the site I saw in his bathroom. And to think I thought I raised a clean boy. Oh well. After my little lecture about the health risks I am hoping he will get out the rubber gloves and clean up that filth.

Well, I’m not bragging or anything but the past 6 months I have been working out to a Billy’s Boot Camp DVD and let me tell you I have lost over 20kgs in that short time. That’s right I have gone from a hideous 75kgs down to 55kgs! My husband is just absolutely thrilled. He even bought me some sexy lingerie last weekend which he has never dared do before. God I feel like a woman again. There is nothing like wearing some nice lingerie to make you feel sexy again. My husband was completely shocked when he came home from work to find me cooking in the kitchen in only the g-string and bra he had bought me.

But it wasn’t all Billy’s Boot Camp that help. I must admit, I have been eating really healthy food and following a strict no carb diet. At first I was like, I am so not going to get through this program, but I stuck with it and the results have been amazing. All of my girlfriends can’t believe there eyes. I am even planning to hit the beach this summer with no fear of being stared at (well for the wrong reasons of course). I know most women will say just love the body you’re in, but I totally disagree. Eat healthy, exercise and soon enough you too can have the happiness and self-esteem I have been so high on recently.

Last weekend I had some friends come over for dinner who are all very health conscious eaters. At first I was a little confused as to what I should cook, until I checked out this chefs site. Wow - what an amazing collection of recipes to choose from. I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to pick anything with so many delicious food ideas on offer. In the end I decided to go with seafood and salad as my main course meals. Being summer here I thought these would be nice and light and of course very healthy.

I made a beautiful salad with egg, bacon, avocado, pine nuts, mango and the usual lettuce, tomato and cucumber. I topped it off with a nice light olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sweet mustard dressing. For the seafood I made prawn skewers marinated in chili sauce, garlic and continental parsley. They were quite a hit with the guests. These days I really think you can still eat great food without all the calories. Most of the diets that people go on tend to offer really crappy food and it’s no wonder why people end up failing. They inevitably go back to eating their usual unhealthy food. All it takes is a bit of recipe research on the net and ta da you have found some great healthy recipe ideas.

You know I’ve been searching for years to find a hobby that is not only fun but also great for your health and fitness. Well, I think I have finally discovered it - dirt bikes! About two weeks ago I was invited by some friends to go away on a camping trip. Along with us came two dirt bikes. Once we got to the camp ground the first thing we did was go for a ride around the surrounding bushes. Well, what fun. Zipping in and out of the trees, going off jumps, riding through little creeks, it was amazing.

You’re probably wondering what this hobby has to do with fitness. Well, after about 1 hour of riding I was absolutely exhausted. All my muscles were aching. I think the fact that you are pretty much using all of your muscles to control the bike makes it a good sport to work all your muscles groups. In terms of health, what better a way to stay healthy than to breathe in the fresh air and eat some nice fresh meat and vegetables over the BBQ. I plan to do this again and would highly recommend anyone else out there looking for a new hobby to take it up.