How to Design a Fitness Plan

If you’re serious about losing weight, feeling better, and living longer, you can’t approach getting fit without a plan. Vague generalizations about eating healthier foods and exercising more can only get you so far. To truly get fit, you’ll need to design a fitness plan based on your goals, diet, and schedule.

The first step to designing an effective fitness plan is setting realistic goals. If you’re new to the world of fitness, it wouldn’t be realistic to target winning a strongman competition within the first year of your fitness journey. Internet personality and fitness trainer Wesley Virgin recommends, “Decide which parts of your body you want to strengthen or what you want to achieve by exercising. This will change your meal plan, which exercises you do, and how much time you spend exercising.”

Second, you’ll need to choose the right foods for your fitness goals. Wesley Virgin explains, “Someone who’s trying to put on muscle mass should be eating differently from someone who just wants to detox or slim down. Different foods have unique nutritional benefits that serve different purposes.”

Lastly, you’ll need to work around your schedule. If you are a student or full-time employee working many hours, you may have a rigorous schedule with less free time. In these cases, something is better than nothing. “The key is consistency,” Wesley Virgin commented. “If you can only work out 30 minutes a day, it’s better than nothing. If you maintain a disciplined routine and challenge yourself with a healthy amount of intensity, you can still get more fit than you were a year ago.”

What is Pu-erh tea?

Most people would have come across the most popular tea in the world: black tea. Then due to its many health benefits, Green tea became equally, if not more popular, especially in health circles. However, on sites like GenerationTea.com, there are many more varieties of tea in the market, like Sencha, Oolong, and Pu-erh tea.

Pu-erh tea is from the same Camellia Sinesis plant that is the origin of the other teas. However, it is grown exclusively in the Yunnan province of China and gets its name from the county in which it is grown.

In terms of flavor the tea has a mildly sweet taste and comes across as smoother than some of the other teas. Pu-erh contains caffeine and so is consumed mostly in the morning for a quick burst of energy.

Pu-erh is also brewed differently to other teas. The water is hotter at around 212 degrees and the steeping time differs on the vessel, with the traditional Gaiwan yielding more cups with incremental steeping times of 10 seconds, and the more modern teapot with a three to four minute steeping time.

Pu-erh tea has been revered in the traditional tea societies of Asia for centuries, with some of the rare age Pu-erh tea as old as 50 years. While none of the benefits are guaranteed, you can Buy Aged pu-erh tea knowing that it is great for your body and your mind.

How Patient Engagement Can Improve Your Hospital’s Quality STAR Score

Quality STAR scores are quality ratings released by the government agency CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). These scores use several criteria to determine the quality of a healthcare provider’s service. The criteria include mortality, safety of care, effectiveness of care, and patient experience.

Since these ratings are issued by a government agency, they can speak a lot about the quality of your hospital’s healthcare services. A poor reputation can ruin business and cause patients to look elsewhere for health and medical services, so it’s important to strive for perfect Quality STAR scores.

As founder and CEO of EasyHealth, a 400-person Medicare platform, serial entrepreneur David Duel knows a thing or two about succeeding in the healthcare industry. He remarked, “If your hospital or healthcare service is rated low in an area, the best people to ask for feedback are the patients. Engaging patients and asking them about their experiences will help you pinpoint what to fix.”

Healthcare providers have learned many valuable lessons by fostering engagement through targeted patient campaigns and other personalized interactions with patients. David Duel also said, “Patient segmentation can help you tailor your services to patients’ specific needs, especially if they have been non-compliant in some way. Patients who refuse to take medication or perform procedures usually have a reason why they don’t want to comply.”

Once you know how to address a specific demographic’s needs, your healthcare services will be rated higher as you take appropriate measures.

“At the end of the day, healthcare is about meeting people’s needs, no matter who they are. It’s not just about Quality STAR ratings; it’s about helping people,” David Duel stated.

For More info on David Duel, see https://angel.co/u/david-duel-1 and read this recent press release: USC Alumni David Duel Endows Scholarship Program to Brings Jewish Alums and Students Together

How to take care of your teeth after your braces are removed

Article written by Elite Dental Group

Getting fitted with braces can be a life-changing experience for some as it provides patients with a beautiful smile that boosts their confidence which enhances social interactions. However, after removing dental braces patients must follow proper post orthodontic hygiene habits to maintain a healthy smile and to keep their teeth in place.

The following recommendations will help patients to maintain a healthy smile after removing their braces: 

Book a professional cleaning exam – When a person wears braces especially those with brackets, it can be difficult to brush and floss properly. Patients who have had their braces for a long time will notice that their teeth are whiter where the brackets were positioned in comparison to the rest of their teeth. To even out stains and to remove plaque build-up, it is important to book a professional dental cleaning after removing your braces.

Try a teeth whitening treatment – To brighten a smile, dentists may recommend a professional whitening treatment. Often professional whitening treatments will offer 3-5 shades of whitening with just one procedure.

Wear a retainer as advised – After removing their braces a patient’s teeth have the natural tendency to move back into their original position. For this reason, dentists will recommend wearing a retainer for a few months after braces have been removed.

Take good care of your retainer – Clean retainers at least twice daily or as advised by your dentist. Putting an unclean retainer into a freshly cleaned mouth will only put back bacteria which can cause decay and bad breath.

Dr. Andre Eliasian is one of the leading dentists in cosmetic dentistry in Glendale CA. His clinic offers several services using modern dentistry procedures which are non-invasive. If you are looking for tooth whitening in Glendale or oral surgery in Glendale call for an appointment.

Dealing with Dental Anxiety

Article submitted By Remarkable Smiles Orthodontics.  

If you get a little anxious at the thought of going to the dentist, then you are not alone. About 20% of Americans admit that they avoid dental visits because of fear and anxiety. In fact, dental phobia is a very serious problem that can leave people panic stricken at the thought of sitting in the dentist chair.

Many patients say that they only go to the dentist when they’re in pain because of dental anxiety. Below are a few signs that you may have this phobia:

Intense anxiety at the thought of visiting the dentist

Trouble sleeping the night before your visit

Feeling physically ill or crying at the thought of visiting the dentist

Nervousness and sweaty palms that escalate while waiting in the dentist’s office

Causes of Dental Anxiety

There are a number of reasons why people have dental anxiety or phobias. In many cases those who experience intense fear about going to the dentist had poor experiences as children. Going to the orthodontist is much less problematic. Though some of the procedures can be uncomfortable, people generally do not associate pain with their orthodontal visits.

Speak to Your Dentist or Orthodontist

Let your dentist or orthodontist know about your fear of dentists and asked them to recommend some exercises that might help. A few simple biofeedback or breathing exercises can help you to relax. If your fear is especially strong, your doctor might suggest taking a muscle relaxer before your visit.

Ask your dentist to explain what’s happening at each stage of the procedure. This can help you better prepare. You can also establish a signal system with your dentist where you will raise your hand if you’re feeling uncomfortable or need a moment to catch your breath.

Article written by Remarkable Smiles Orthodontics.  Dr. Mark Rashidi at Remarkable Smiles is a highly experienced orthodontist in Irvine, serving Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel areas. Types of braces offered include traditional metal braces, ceramic braces and Invisalign. Call to get more info.

CBD as a treatment for epilepsy

Article by Express CBD Store.

One of the most discussed benefits of CBD is its ability to treat epilepsy or seizures. Multiple studies and experiments have explored this topic and have found support for CBD’s capacity to prevent seizures. But is there more to the story? Is CBD reliable enough to be a primary treatment option for patients suffering from epilepsy?

As far back as 2014, researchers have run studies in which CBD was shown to prevent seizures in the test subjects. In the succeeding years, researchers have found even more evidence that CBD helped epilepsy, along with other benefits such as improved mental and emotional functioning.

These benefits are so well documented that the FDA has approved Epidiolex, a CBD oil product, as a legal treatment for two serious types of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. One of the most well-known cases of Dravet Syndrome is that of Charlotte Figi, a young girl who went from having 300 seizures a week to having none after being treated with CBD.

However, there appears to be one caveat to these compelling discoveries. A recent medical study on epilepsy patients found that one-third of test subjects developed a tolerance to CBD after around seven months. As a result, doctors had to increase the CBD dosage, or these patients would begin to have seizures again. This is unfortunate, as a clinical trial found that lower doses of CBD were preferable, because higher doses made patients feel more of CBD’s negative side effects, such as fatigue and digestive issues.

CBD can do wonders for epilepsy, but it is not a miracle drug that will automatically work for everyone. That’s why it’s best to do your research and observe its effects carefully, even if you find that it works for you.

Express CBD store  offers CBD and Hemp based products such as CBD Oil and Hemp Water. CBD has been shown to have many health benefits