Coping With Cancer-A Family View
An often forgotten feature of dealing with cancer is what I
call 'after the event'. That is, when your loved one has
passed on. The coming months are a particular difficult time
for such people.
There is a real danger that during this time the grieving
person resorts to addictive substances to get through the
trauma. This is understandable but not always the best
course of action. You can find myself drinking far too much
alcohol (a lot more than the recommended amount per week)
for the months following the death.
My experience is that you will then gradually come down to a
reasonable level. I'm not advocating drinking as a way of
coping. But I'm realistic in that some people will go down
this root, so be aware of such behaviour. [I found myself
going this way after my father's death in February 2005.]
Being angry and crying, even at the same time, are very
common emotions following the event. Don't feel embarrassed
by this. It is perfectly normal. Just try to avoid hurting
yourself and others! I found that walking in the countryside
was helpful, especially up and down hills. The physical
effort will make you feel better and get rid of some of that
pent up emotion.
Family & friends should keep a close eye on each other if
possible. Following such a trauma it is often the case that
people will shut themselves away and shun any social
contact. Pick up the telephone and call each other. Keeping
in touch with someone who has lost a husband, wife or
partner is very, very important.
They have been used to being with a particular person, often
for decades, so try to imagine the shock when that person is
taken away from them; especially if it is sudden. Try to
arrange some event (the theatre, a film etc) so that they
will still feel part of the 'family' and it will get them
socialising again.
It is natural to be more attentive immediately after the
event but don't let it slip into long periods between
contact in the future.
They say 'Time Heals'. I say that 'Time makes it hurt less'.
At the end of the day death is part of life. We just need to
learn to cope with it.
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Maximum Cardio Part I
Cardiovascular exercise is an important component of
general health. While certain people may require different amounts and types of cardio, everyone should engage in at least a little cardiovascular activity each week. There are many methods for training which all have their advantages. You should learn what works for you and what you truly enjoy so that you will continue to perform cardio and reap benefits of good health.
Depending on your goals and body type, different amounts of cardio may be required. A lean "hard-gainer" trying to add mass may benefit from only one or two cardiovascular sessions per week. On the other hand, someone like myself who is extremely prone to storing fat and sensitive to carbohydrates may require 3 or more sessions in order to maintain peak physique. Since you can only get better at a particular exercise by performing it, those interested in running marathons or participating in endurance events such as a triathlon must increase their frequency of cardio in order to prepare for the event.
MAXIM 1: Your body type and goal for training will dictate
the type, frequency, and length of your cardio
When your goal for cardio is general health, you have a few decisions to make about what type of cardio you will perform. Many people enjoy taking long, slow runs. Enjoying cardio is important, so if you find an enjoyable method of cardio, there is no reason why you should discard it. The same decision should influence your choice for timing. Many people claim that you must perform cardio first thing in the morning and/or on an empty stomach to see maximal benefit. I disagree. If you have trouble waking up or putting a full effort into morning cardio, and will get a much more vigorous workout in the evening, then why not do it then? Perform cardio when you feel the best, when you are ready and know you will stick with it and give it 100%.
MAXIM 2: Find cardio that you enjoy, and do it when you
feel you have the most energy
There are many styles of cardio. There is some debate about what cardio is best for you. People preach about training in the "zone" of a particular heart rate for maximum fat burning benefit. While it is true that your body will utilize more fat for energy during this period, this is not the entire picture. Moderate cardio means your body will recover quickly - your heart rate will return to normal within a short period. Intense cardio, which elevates your heart rate beyond the "zone", may not burn as much fat during the exercise, but your body will take longer to recover. Your body must process waste and your heart rate will remain elevated for hours after the bout of exercise. You will burn more calories throughout the day, and therefore you will receive a superior benefit.
To better understand this, let's consider a situation where
you burn 200 calories during exercise. You have a choice:
you might burn those calories walking at a brisk pace and reading a book, and it will take you 1 hour. Or, you might burn those calories performing short sprints followed by periods of moderate jogging, and you will burn those calories in 20 minutes. While the "hour" cardio kept you in the "zone" for fat burning, guess what? The 20-minute cardio elevated your heart rate and took you into an anaerobic zone where your body accumulated an "oxygen debt"
- a need for oxygen and fat burning to help flush waste
from your system and recover from the intense exercise. So during a 24-hour window, you will burn MORE than the 200 calories, and therefore be closer to your fat loss goal.
While there is no hard, scientific evidence to support this next maxim, I truly believe in it. I have witnessed this not only in my own transformation, but also with countless others as well.
MAXIM 3: The less time it takes to burn the same amount of calories, the more calories you will expend later that day
This maxim may seem confusing, but it's very simple. It
means that if you are going to burn 200 calories, when you
burn that 200 calories in 20 minutes instead of 1 hour,
your metabolism will increase throughout the day and you'll
end up burning MORE than 200 hours when that day is done.
This is why high intensity interval cardio, like that recommended in David Greenwalt's book, "The Leanness Lifestyle" or the "20-Minute Aerobic Solution[tm]" which is recommended by Bill Phillips in Body-for-LIFE is so effective - it burns the most amount of fat in the shortest period of time.
Just because high intensity cardio may burn more calories doesn't make it superior to moderate cardio except with respect to calories burned. There is some evidence that you may improve your cardiovascular health more quickly with high intensity cardio, but this is no reason to discard your long runs. If you have a busy schedule and wish you fit 3 short, 20-minute sessions, then intensity is the way to go. If, however, you truly enjoy your long bike ride or jog on the weekends, then go ahead and do it - you will still be improving your health and burning calories, and if it is something that you enjoy, you will stick with it! Remember, too, that if you are training for a marathon, all of the 20-minute high intensity cardio in the world will not prepare you fully to run 20+ miles. You must perform the moderate, long duration cardio to prepare your body for the event.
This leads us to another maxim. Your heart rate can provide
you a lot of information about your training. Over time,
your resting heart rate should decrease. Mine went from the high 60's to a current value of 48 due to my cardiovascular conditioning. When you train with weights, you can use a heart rate monitor to see what your target heart rate is (weight training will take it to the anaerobic levels, or about the maximum heart rate you would want to train at) - this will provide much better feedback than a generic formula. By tracking your heart rate, you can monitor your effort. If you train today at 160bpm then have a lousy day and don't feel like you're receiving any benefit, use your heart rate as a guide. As long as you are pushing hard enough to hit that 160bmp mark again, you know you are getting at least the same intensity from your training as the time before.
We will cover this next maxim and more in Part II.
Early Menopause Symptoms - Are You Suffering From First Symptoms Of Menopause?
Early menopause symptoms - every woman at some point in her thirties or forties will wonder if what she is experiencing is really the first symptoms of menopause. Menopause is defined as the cessation of menses or the end of menstrual cycles for a period of 12 months or more. Menopause is a natural process for a woman, not an illness. It is quite common for a womans hormone balance to begin shifting in her early thirties to forties, resulting in early menopause symptoms. Why? There are several reasons why.
Women often demand much of their bodies. Stress exists in many forms for an active, involved woman today. Women have demanding and stressful careers. Women have family responsibilities. The relationship with the spouse or partner may not be the best. Aging parents can add to the burden. These and other responsibilities add up in the toll they take on the body, health and well-being of a woman.
And at the same time, the womans body may not be getting the support it needs to function as it was designed. Obesity, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, excess caffeine and alcohol add to the problem instead of helping the body cope with what is demanded of it. This stressful lifestyle, coinciding with inadequate support given to the body, contributes to experiencing many of the early menopause symptoms.
Common first symptoms of menopause for women are:
Irregular menstrual cycles
Light or heavy menstrual flow
Lumpy or tender breasts
Fibroid tumors
Endometriosis
Mood swings
Water retention and bloating
Sleep problems
"Foggy, fuzzy" thinking and memory lapses
Anxiety and depression
Inability to handle stress
PMS
Hot flashes and night sweats
Vaginal dryness
Weight gain
Then there are the hormones, the menstrual cycle and hormone production in the body. In the normal menstrual cycle and a healthy woman, estrogen is the dominant hormone that is produced for the first 10-12 days following the previous menstrual flow. Ovulation then signals the female body to produce progesterone, which happens for the next 12 days or so. If there is no pregnancy, progesterone and estrogen levels will drop at around day 28, allowing menstruation to begin.
However, if there is no ovulation, progesterone will not be produced by the body that month. This event, called an annovulatory cycle, is a typical occurance today for women in their thirties and forties - no ovulation, no progesterone. This leaves the woman with an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of the hormone progesterone.
Many women in their thirties and forties are actually having fewer ovulations which creates hormone imbalance, resulting in many of the early menopause symptoms. And once ovulation ceases at menopause, progesterone levels fall to virtually zero. At the same time, estrogen is still being produced, again leading to hormone imbalance and the resulting first symptoms of menopause. If a hysterectomy has happened, surgical menopause means the woman no longer produces progesterone.
Besides the problems created by missed ovulations or hysterectomy, excess estrogen is regularly obtained from other sources. Birth control pills, household chemicals and pesticides, certain foods that have been sprayed or given chemicals and many construction materials used in homes are all sources of estrogen which leads to excess in the body.
Doctors call this hormone imbalance condition of excess estrogen in the body "estrogen dominance". What are the symptoms of estrogen dominance? The symptoms include low sex drive, bloating and weight gain, headaches before the menstrual period, mood swings, irregular periods and excessive menstrual bleeding. If the amount of unbalanced estrogen in the female adult increases beyond what is desirable and healthy, you will definitely experience early menopause symptoms. On the other hand, when your hormones are balanced, you feel more alert, energetic and ready to take on the challenges of life.
How can a woman tell if the first symptoms of menopause being experienced are because of hormone imbalance? An easy and effective way is to take the online test provided by a leading womens health clinic for early menopause symptoms. It takes just a few minutes and the test is free. Find out more about your health, premenopause and menopause symptoms, what the symptoms are telling you and what to do about it based on your answers to important questions. Read more about hormone imbalance, estrogen dominance symptoms, side effects of a hysterectomy and physician-recommended natural treatments for eliminating the early menopause symptoms.
Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing
About The Author: Olinda Rola is President of InfoSearch Publishing and webmaster of http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com - a website of physician-recommended natural treatments for health problems.
Visit the website and learn more about early menopause symptoms and ways for improving your health.
