Health Redesigned Blog

Why 10,000 Steps Doesn’t Work For Weight Loss

There’s a belief that by taking 10,000 steps per day, you’ll lose weight and stay in shape. Taking 10,000 steps per day can get you closer to meeting exercise recommendations. You should get 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity per week. Getting your steps in does not ensure that you’ll lose weight.

You may be meeting your exercise requirements. This doesn’t account for all the other factors related to weight loss. Other factors include your stress level, blood sugar regulation, diet, and the quality and quantity of your sleep. It’s important to address all these factors when you try to lose weight.

Helen started walking for weight loss. Her goal was to get at least 10,000 steps each day. She was doing a great job of increasing her activity and yet she was gaining weight. Why?

After going through her routine, I found out that she was using a coffee shop as...

Did You Check Your Blood Pressure Today?

Checking your blood pressure may be one of the most important things you do today. As a nurse who works on an acute stroke unit, I see the impact of prolonged high blood pressure or hypertension, firsthand. It’s not pretty. The saddest part is that the damage from uncontrolled blood pressure is very preventable. Hypertension Canada states that 50% of Canadians stop taking their blood pressure medication within the first year of therapy. Unfortunately, high blood pressure often has no symptoms, so it’s difficult to know when you have it. It can slowly creep up over time and you have no idea it’s been there. Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. So what can you do to prevent irreversible damage?

Identifying Hypertension

The most important part of treating hypertension is knowing that you have it. “I feel fine,” is NOT an ok assessment of how your blood pressure is doing. Ever hear of the frog in the boiling pot of water? He...

Tricky Treats- Four Ways to Control Your Cravings this Halloween

It’s that time of year again. When the candy producers pull out all their marketing tricks to make you want to buy more treats. It’s all in the spirit of Halloween, but it’s gotten out of hand.

To start off- who’s got leftover candy from last year? Raise your arm high. Shout out loud and proud. I know you’re out there. What I want to know is, how much candy did you start with if you still have candy left over? And what do you plan to do with all of that candy? If you haven’t already bought your new stash for this year, consider giving it all away. Or throwing away your stale candy. But does it really go bad? Probably not for many years.

Consider that every treat or candy that you buy is just that. A treat. It’s not meant as an everyday indulgence. It’s not meant to be eaten all year. And what are you really eating? Wax. Food coloring. Sugar. Definitely not part of a healthy diet. Don’t be fooled by words like natural, fruit juice...

Thinking of Going Vegetarian? Think Again!

An article on the Forks Over Knives website talks about becoming a vegetarian. I couldn’t resist going through it. It’s called Things That Happen When You Stop Eating Meat. It describes the seven amazing benefits that you get when you give up meat. Read it first and then pop back here! At least once a week I hear someone say, “I’m giving up meat to be healthier.” I love trying to understand why women are ready to give up meat forever, in the interest of better health. I’m going to offer my thoughts about their comments in favor of a vegetarian lifestyle.

At least once a week I hear someone say, “I’m giving up meat to be healthier.” I love trying to understand why women are ready to give up meat forever, in the interest of better health. I’m going to offer my thoughts about their comments in favor of a vegetarian lifestyle.

1. You’ll reduce inflammation in your body.

This point suggests that you will...

Three Easy Ways to Ward Off Depression After Athletics End

Athletic careers can end due to illness or injury. This sudden change often turns into a downward spiral in health. Pain leads to inactivity, with weight gain quickly following. Depression is a common symptom in this negative spiral, leading to more pain and illness. You are not alone in this situation and there are many things you can do to help yourself.

Change up your exercise

There are very few conditions that prevent you from doing every single exercise. There are thousands of different exercises to choose from. You’ve got almost no excuse for not doing something to keep you active. In initial phases of illness or injury, it might be more important to focus on rest. At some point, you’ll need to focus on activity again. The biggest mistake I’ve seen athletes make is to stop doing exercise altogether. Exercise is your stress relief, your pleasure, and your passion. Cutting it out completely has a huge negative impact on your mental health. Focus...

Improve Your Posture to Prevent Injuries- Part Two

Last week I pointed out how important it is to focus on good posture. How did you do? It’s easy to slip into habits that are harmful over time without realizing it. I’m sure that you found many times when your posture was less than ideal. With intentional focus, you’ve become more aware of what your body is doing.

You now have a better idea of how your muscles, nerves, and tendons can get angry from poor positioning over time. It’s not just your habits during the day that matter. It’s also what you do with your body while you sleep that counts. If you’re sleeping for 7-9 hours of sleep each night then that’s a lot of time to reinforce poor posture.

Think about that little ball that you snuggle into before you fall asleep. You are reinforcing a forward head position, shoulders that roll in and a forward curve to your spine. All bad things. While I want you to be comfortable, I’m more concerned about your...

Improve Your Posture to Prevent Injuries- Part One

I saw what you did. You just stat up and straightened your back. Right? It’s like I’m watching you! That’s because I know how this works. I’ve been down this road myself. It’s super comfortable to prop yourself up on one leg, to cross your legs or to lean against a wall. I know that you carry your purse on the same side all the time. You lean one arm out the car window on sunny days and curl up on one side when you read a book. Your head juts forward when you work on your computer or check your phone. Despite being automatic, these habits are not good for your back.

They are also not good for all the other small stabilizer muscles in your body. Muscles can get shortened and tight on one side, and stretched out on the other side. You can compress or stretch nerves. Tendons can have unnecessary torque or strain placed on them. This is not a good situation. As you repeat poor posture over time, you reinforce these imbalances even...

Get Real With Your Goals For Better Results

We all have goals of accomplishing things over our lifetime. Some of them are small. Some of them are big. Some are even bigger than you realize. Like writing a book- so I’ve come to learn.

Anyone who knows me well will know that I’ve been talking about writing a book for a really long time. Like, 10 years long. It’s finally coming together and I’m gearing up for my launch on September 19, 2017. I really thought all the hard work was over once I had finished the editing process. I had no idea that there was so much involved in coming up with a cover design, marketing material and developing a launch strategy. I didn’t realize how much work it is to promote your own book, because that’s what you’ve got to do if you want it to sell.

But this post isn’t about me writing a book or going over all the things I need to do before September to make it a success. It’s about setting realistic expectations. How many...

10 Ways to Get More Fiber in Your Diet

You’ve probably heard that you need to eat more fiber but you may not even know where to start. How much do you need? What foods have fiber? What is fiber? There’s so much to know! Let me help clarify things for you:

What Does Fiber Do?

Decreases blood cholesterol, slows glucose absorption (keeping blood sugar lower)
Eliminates waste products
Keeps the “trains” running on time. Just make sure that you drink plenty of water with your increased fiber load or you’ll end up even more constipated. Think of what happens when you put only a bit of water into cement- it forms a giant, solid plug. Fiber is the same way. Thin it out with lots of water!

Types of Fiber:

Soluble Fiber: Dissolves in water, broken down in digestion/absorbed (eg. Legumes, fruit, vegetables)
Insoluble Fiber: Attracts water, adds bulk to the stool (Eg. Bran, beans, flax)

How Much Fiber Do You Need?

Men: 38g/day
Women: 25g/day
Many people only get less than 10g/day (That’s not...

Five Key Steps to PREVENT Chronic Diseases Before They Start

Managing diseases has become the staple of our health care systems. You get sick, you go to the doctor, they treat you, and you get better, right?

Disease management is so much more than that. Unfortunately, with our deteriorating health, our health care systems are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. Regardless of where you live, trends are showing that health care costs are continuing to skyrocket.

This increase in diseases could be from a number of different factors. We have increased longevity due to medical advancements, so by living an extra thirty to fifty years, we are more exposed to opportunities to become sick or injured. In addition to living longer, we’ve experienced a lot of changes over the past several hundred years. We are now exposed to more refined foods, chemicals, pesticides, excessive fats, sugars, salts, increased use of feedlots, and GMOs. To add to that, we have increased stress, less sleep, artificial light exposure, decreased activity, and...

1 2 3 4 5

Affiliate Disclosure

healthredesigned.com participates in various affiliate/referral programs. If you click on a link and end up making a purchase from that site, I may receive compensation, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I only share products I truly like and/or believe will be beneficial to you. The affiliate commissions help to cover the costs of running a website so that I can keep paid advertisements off of my page.

Health Redesigned Blog

Identifying Hypertension

1. You’ll reduce inflammation in your body.

Change up your exercise

What Does Fiber Do?

Types of Fiber:

How Much Fiber Do You Need?

Affiliate Disclosure

Find Out the Shape of Your Health