Best Health & Wellness Blogs

Fantastic Health & Wellness Blogs Friday — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted to BlogHer)

Since I decided to start blogging much more, and one of the things I like best about blogging is featuring links to other bloggers — I am starting a weekly series called Fantastic Health & Wellness Blogs Friday.  Hope you will take some time and check out these wonderful blogs.

Here are some blogs I featured  way back in  2009, and they are still going strong…

A Merry Life

Hi! I’m Mary. Welcome to my blog.  I lost 40 pounds, fell in love with being active, and learned how to cook healthy food, all in the pursuit of being healthy and happy.

Cranky Fitness

Cranky Fitness is a health blog, sort of. It was started by Crabby McSlacker in 2007, and has also featured co-bloggers Merry, Gigi and Jo. Regular publishing ended in March of 2010, but the blog has been semi-resurrected!  New posts come out approximately weekly, but there are over 1,000 posts in the archives, so feel free to browse.  There’s a search bar on the right sidebar that may come in handy.

Blog topics at Cranky Fitness include general health, fitness, nutrition, personal development, disease prevention, aging, and whatever else the authors happened to feel like whining about on a given day.

Fit & Inspired Living

After losing all of my blog content from 2011, and a lack luster posting schedule in 2012 (I did manage to post more regularly on my other blog),  I’ve decided that 2013 is going to be a great year for Fit & Inspired Living.  I have already taken a few steps towards that end – updated my blog design, created a content schedule and most importantly, made up my mind to make it happen.

Raise Healthy Eaters

After having my first child in 2006, I found feeding to be one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. Much of the struggle I felt — and still do sometimes — comes from the modern-day pressure we all face to get our children to eat a certain way.

As a registered dietitian and family nutrition expert, I’ve come to realize this view of “getting-children-to-eat-healthy” not only leads to feeding mistakes, it leaves parents in a constant state of guilt, blaming themselves when their child eats less than perfectly. And worst of all, children eat less well with this kind of approach.

Hungry Hungry Hippie

Hi! I’m Elise. I’m a nurse. An exercise lover.  A whole foods connoisseur.  A health enthusiast.  And I have IBS.  No need to cue the sappy violin music yet…

I’ve found that eating a low FODMAP, mostly plant-based diet has allowed me to continue to live and love life to the fullest.  Although moderation isn’t something I do well, I’m 100% devoted to giving my body pure, wholesome, quality food. Nutritious and delicious, all the time.  Hungry Hungry Hippie is a way for me to share my daily dealings with food, fitness, and everything in between.

Fit Mama Eats

I counsel and teach about 100 people every week, which is rewarding hard work. My greatest hope is to make a difference in people’s lives and motivate them to live strong and be healthy no matter what life’s challenges are. My work isn’t all roses as I often connect with discouraged and very ill people and sometimes there is only so much help one can offer. But if I’ve convinced someone to take one positive step forward that forever changes their path, I’m satisfied.

I don’t live to eat but I cook and eat to live vibrantly. FitMamaEats offers my two cents on Boston-area restaurants, new food products, easy healthful recipes, and general health trends. You may also see product and book reviews related to food and fitness or a write-up about a health-related business that I strongly believe in.

Girl Get Strong

My name is Melanie (aka Crazy Legs) and I have been friends with Sian (GoGo Girl) and Susan (Pink Panther) since our eldest children were all in kindergarten together. I hope I’m not dating myself too much here, but it has been a few years and 11 kids later (between the three of us) since we first met! That kindergarten year was the year we each decided it was time to reclaim a bit of “me” time to shred the weight and get in shape (and perhaps it was also an escape from the craziness of mommy life!).

Broccoli Cupcake

I began blogging in 2009 to share our family’s journey to overcome a host of health issues including anxiety, allergies, eczema and chronic upper respiratory infections. By changing our lifestyle, we’ve improved our health and overall quality of life, but the journey is far from over and we’d love for you to join us.
Since launching Broccoli Cupcake, I’ve worked with leading brands including Seventh Generation, Applegate, Nintendo and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. I’m a former healthy living expert for FOX 17 Tennessee Mornings and have been a freelance writer for outlets ranging from Yoga Journal to SavvySource.com.

These are just some of the blogs I featured back in 2009, I have many more that are still going strong, and I will feature more of them in upcoming Fantastic Health & Wellness Blogs Friday.

Now here are a few I just happened to come across this week…

The Happiness Project

In just 21 days, you really can take steps to make your life happier—without spending a lot of time, energy, or money.  I’ve created four premium 21 Day Happiness Projects for you to follow, if you want to tackle one of these common happiness challenges.

Sodium Girl

Faced with kidney failure and a handful of other medical complications, I decided that nothing would stop me from having a full life and a full belly.  I discovered that a well controlled, salt-free, low-sodium diet was key to staying healthy and active. But it took time and years of experimentation to achieve the delicate balance of eating well while maintaining a busy schedule and a budget.  With a few years of salt-free cooking, eating, and living under my belt, I started this blog to give others a jump start in their own journey.

Healthy Food For Living

I am a 30 year old living outside of Boston with my wonderful husband, beautiful baby daughter, playful dog, and cuddly cat.  I have degrees in both psychology and guidance counseling, and have worked in a variety of school settings.  I strive to find a balance between the two basic food philosophies of “eat to live” and “live to eat“.  I believe that food should be (and is!) one of the great pleasures of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Marc and Angel Hack Life  –Practical Tips for Productive Living

Marc and his Angel both share a great passion for inspiring others to live to their fullest potential, and they honestly feel best when they are inspiring others to be their best. They started their blog with the goal of inspiring as many people as possible, and they work passionately every day to fulfill this goal through the thoughts and ideas they share online.

oh she glows – vegan recipe blog

I’m Angela. Welcome to Oh She Glows – an award-winning vegan recipe blog featuring over 400 healthy recipes! For the past 5 years, I’ve shared wholesome, energizing recipes that I eat on a day to day basis as well as oodles of drool-worthy photographs. My goal is to inspire others to embrace more plant-based foods in their diet without feeling deprived. Get ready to glow!

So, there you have it, my first list of Fantastic Health & Wellness blogs.  Come back every Friday to see more health & wellness blogs that I think are pretty fantastic.  

If you have a health & wellness blog that you would like to have featured here — please leave your link in comments, and I will check it out. 

Link Wrap-Up of BlogHer Good Health-A-Thon

The BlogHer 2009 Good Health-A-Thon is coming to an end, but your good health choices can still continue. I hope we’ve been able to help you get on the right track to better health in 2009, I would love to hear how you’ve been doing in comments.

I thought I would take this opportunity to do a little wrap-up of our Good Health-A-Thon…

We started off talking about setting goals. Did you set any? Have you stuck to any of them?

Did You See Mama Mia The Movie? It’s the best ‘feel-good’ movie I have ever seen.

Can a good movie reduce stress? I’ve always believed that smiling and laughing is healing in some way. And, there is a lot of evidence that supports that theory. I also know that for me, music can deeply affect my mood. Some songs are sad reminders of the past, and others are happy reminders of experiences I never want to forget. Seeing the movie Mamma Mia with my daughter, and listening to all the music, is definitely going to be a lasting and happy memory for me.

This is what happened. My daughter has been wanting to see the movie Journey To The Center Of The Earth in 3-D, and we’ve also both wanted to see Mamma Mia. So, on Thursday, we decided to see Journey To The Center Of The Earth. But, when we got to the theater we found out it was only in 3-D at “selected” theaters, and we weren’t at one of those. Mamma Mia was showing in the same theater about 15 minutes later, so we decided to see that instead.

To tell you the truth, I really didn’t think that either one of the movies was going to have much of an impact on me. I was feeling quite depressed, and was only taking my daughter to the movies because I thought that was what a good mother would do.

So, since I was feeling like a failure as a mother when it came to my son, I thought I shouldn’t let my anxiety affect my daughter. However, I didn’t think anything, much less a movie, would be able to take my mind off of my troubles.

Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.

Are You Stressing Over Money? It Could Be Making You Sick.

Stressing Over Money Can Make You Sick — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

Do you stress over money? I do. With the way the economy is going, if you’re not stressing over money now, you sure could be in the near future. Gas prices are going up, home values are going down, and what money we do have is buying less and less. The thing about stressing over money is…It doesn’t pay the bills. What it can do is make you sick.

Yes, stressing over money (or anything for that matter) can and does make you sick. How sick? Here is an excerpt from an article at About.com, that addresses Health Problems Associated With Stress…

Science is constantly learning about the impact that stress has on your overall health. Stress is or may be a contributing factor in everything from backaches and insomnia to cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (many people believe that CFS and fibromyalgia are the same illness).

Stress is often a key factor when women experience either absence of menstruation or abnormal bleeding. Hormonal imbalances caused by stress may proliferate the symptoms of fibroid tumors and endometriosis, as well as make pregnancy difficult to achieve for couples with fertility problems.

Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. High blood pressure, heart attacks, heart palpitations, and stroke may be stress related cardiovascular conditions. Some women experience changes in their sexuality and encounter various sexual dysfunctions such as loss of desire and vaginal dryness as a result of stress.

Often people feel the effects of stress as fatigue, various aches and pains, headaches, or as emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Stress affects others by causing gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcers, lower abdominal cramps, colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Frequently people under the effects of over stress will have more colds and infections due to lowered immune system responses. Stress can initiate dermatological conditions such as itchy skin and rashes.

Wow. That’s a lot of problems. So, what is a person to do? Well, learning to control the things we can control, and letting go of the rest, is a good first step…and potentially, the hardest step. Maybe we can find something that will help…

Here is a post from ChEsKa’S pRiDe — The 10 Essentials for Relieving Stress

Also check out WebMD’s Letting Go of Stess.

Everyone feels stressed these days. But do you really know what that means? Do you understand what daily stress does to your body, mind and spirit? Over the next four weeks, you’ll learn to identify exactly what causes you stress. Equally important, you’ll find out how to manage your stress and become more relaxed.

From About.com — Money, Stress, and Happiness

If you stress about money, you’re not alone: a significant amount of Americans are deeply in debt, living beyond their means, don’t have a clear plan to solve their financial problems, and stress about it quite a bit. The fear, stress and conflict associated with money issues can also impact your personal happiness. The following resources can help you to create a plan for yourself to get out of debt, if necessary, make your money go further, and plan for your future. Once you have a plan, you should feel significantly less stressed about money. When money is less of an issue, rather than being enslaved by it, you can use it to do the things that make you truly happy.

Also See:

Your 6 Biggest Money Problems, Solved.

Are you stressing over money? Is it making you sick? Is there something special you do that helps reduce your stress?

Four Health Tips To A Longer Life

Four Tips To A Long Life — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

I was surfing the health and wellness news trying to decide what to post on tonight, and I came across this Reuters article… Four Health Changes Can Prolong Life 14 Years. Who wouldn’t want to prolong their life by 14 years?

So, would you make a “resolution” to make four lifestyle changes, if it would increase your life by 14 years? Better than a New Years Resolution, this would be a “Life Resolution”.

What are the four changes to a longer life?

1) Stop Smoking

2) Eat Five Servings of Fruits and Vegetables a Day

3) Exercise

4) Limit Alcohol Consumption

The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was giving up smoking, which led to an 80 percent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by eating fruits and vegetables. Moderate drinking and keeping active brought the same benefits…

Well, that seems pretty simple. While we’re on the subject, why not surf around for some other ways to live longer?

Reducing Stress is a good place to start…

There are few things that cause you more stress and worry than your weight. If you gained a few pounds over the holidays, don’t panic…..yet. According to an article (reprinted below) about a study published last November, people who are a little overweight actually live longer.

Could you live longer if you walked faster? Apparently so…

New research following 500 older people for nearly a decade found quicker walkers were less likely to die. Nine years after initial gait speed was measured, 77 percent of slow walkers had died, compared to only 50 percent of medium speed and 27 percent of fast walkers.

Here are Ten Tips For Aging Consciously and Successfully…

As our population ages, our society is finally recognizing that old age is a gift. Despite some of the negative images in the media, it really is possible to embrace our elderhood as a creative and spiritual journey.

People who have aged successfully share common characteristics.

There is no question that most of our lifestyle choices are what will determine whether we age in good physical and mental health or fall prey to sickness and disability. Although it may be a cliché, moderation is the key in everything. By practicing moderation and following these ten tips, you too can be a “long-liver” and, more importantly, enjoy your elder hood in the process.

See the Ten Tips For Aging Consciously and Successfully

If those ten tips weren’t good enough for you, here are ten more — 10 Tips on How to Live Longer and Happier

Well, there you have it.

No excuses for not living longer now.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

Care2 Launches An Election Blog – Bush Vetoes SCHIP Again

 

Hi everyone. I want to take this opportunity to tell you that I am helping to launch a new blog by Care2. It’s called the Care2 Election Blog, and I will be the primary blogger. I hope you’ll stop by and check it out. THIS IS A LINK TO MY FIRST POST. Todays post is on…Another veto by Bush for SCHIP.

I’ll be here at the Care2 Election Blog each day with posts on the latest election news, political commentary and, of course, will address campaign issues that are especially important to the Care2 community, with an emphasis on non-profits. Since this is Care2’s first blog, I hope to get as much feedback from the members of the community as possible…and I look forward to hearing all of your comments and suggestions (so please…don’t be shy). — read my full first post here

If you are not already familiar with Care2, you should go over and check them out. It’s a site that makes it easy to take action on issues that are important to you.

Laura’s Twenty Five Days To Make A Difference

A ten year old girl named Laura has started a blog for the purpose of making a difference, it’s called “Twenty Five Days To Make a Difference“.

Sometimes it takes a child to show adults the way, here are some of her wonderful ideas for making a difference.

You can read more about Laura’s project here.

*I also just came across a beautiful post by Jen Lemen in support of this young girl and her Twenty Five Days To Make a Difference.

Top Ten Health & Wellness Gifts: For The Body, Mind, and Soul.

MY TOP TEN PICKS FOR THE BEST HEALTH AND WELLNESS GIFTS FOR THE BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT

Originally posted at BlogHer, under Health & Wellness, and BlogHer Holiday Guide.

SEE MY TOP TEN PICKS FOR THE BEST HEALTH AND WELLNESS GIFTS FOR THE BODY, MIND, AND SOUL.

New Study: The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

Quite Smoking…If not for yourself then for the ones you love. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

Recent studies show that about one third of non-smokers who are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke, have similar damage to their lungs as actual smokers. It shouldn’t really come as any surprise that secondhand smoke is bad, it only makes sense that if smoking is bad for you, than secondhand smoke can’t be too good. Right?

To give you an example…Over 15 years ago I had a patient who was dying of lung cancer and had never smoked a day in her life, her husband was the smoker. It was very sad.

I’ve been hearing a lot today (CNN) about two interesting studies on the subject of secondhand smoke. One shows actual MRI images of smokers and non-smokers, with an image of a non-smoker that was exposed to secondhand smoke in the middle. The other was a study out of Indiana, that shows a 70% decrease in heart attacks of non-smokers admitted to the ER, that directly coincides with a smoking ban that was put in place at the same time.

It’s not a smoking gun, but it’s smoking-related, and it’s there in bright medical images: evidence of microscopic structural damage deep in the lungs, caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. For the first time, researchers have identified lung injury to nonsmokers that was long suspected, but not previously detectable with medical imaging tools. — From Science Daily

Have A Happy Thanksgiving.

BlogHers Act on Maternal Health

The new BlogHers Act site is LIVE. Check out this post by Lisa Stone explaining the goals of this new site.

The site before you is the result of terrific work by a great team. Maria Niles, Denise Tanton and Web Producer Julie Douglas led a significant production, design, and project management effort, working with the insight, connections, passion and original concept of Contributing Editors Emily McKhann and Cooper Munroe of The Motherhood, whose blogging on this essential topic we can now enjoy in its new home. Thank you, wonder women. — read full post

This years commitment is to Maternal Health…

Are you aware that maternity is a leading killer of women worldwide?

It’s true. Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world a woman loses her life because of issues related to pregnancy or giving birth. In 2007-2008, BlogHers Act is committed to saving some of these lives by harnessing the power of women online and our blogs to address maternal health, the global health issue recommended by this community.

This is a very important issue, and a great way for women to help other women. I hope you’ll get involved. Just go to the New BlogHers Act Site, and see what you can do to help.

How To Find The Candidate That Works Best For You.

If you want to just quickly and easily find out what candidates best reflect your opinion on the issues, then you are in luck.  There are many of these types of sites now available, and the newest to the political quiz arena is GlassBooth.  I came across this link at Political Safari, while researching for a post on my newest blog The Political Voices of Women (if you haven’t already, I hope you’ll check it out).

This is from the GlassBooth.org Blog…

There are over 3,000 pieces of information about candidate stances spread across 90 questions in the Glassbooth back end. To create any one question, every single candidate needs to have made a statement or vote on it in the public record. Thus, while it might be easy to find out what Barack Obama thinks about universal health care, it is much more difficult to find what Duncan Hunter thinks about the Alternative Minimum Tax. Basically, assembling the back end was no small task.

–

Working with On The Issues and a research team of a dozen volunteers, I figure the breakdown is as follows:

-Each question takes about three hours to research
-90 questions multiplied by three hours is 270 hours.

–

So ask yourself: Do you have 270 hours to find out where every single candidate stands on today’s important issues?

–

Read more from the Glassbooth Blog Here.

One Lap Top For Every Child: See how you can give one and get one.

See how you can help to give every child a laptop…

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. If you’re interested in Give 1 Get 1, we’ll be happy to send you a reminder email. Just sign up in the box to the left and you’ll receive your reminder prior to the November 12 launch date.

This Holiday Season…Give The Gift of Green

This is a post from Izzy Mom about giving reusable shopping bags as gifts…I think that sounds like a great idea. And if you are going to do it on a large scale (and buy more than 100), you can even have them personalized just like the supermarkets do (for as little as $0.99 each).

You know the holidays are coming up, right? And you KNOW what that means, right? Yep, shopping. Lots and lots of shopping. And lots of bags. Paper and plastic.

The paper bags from everyone in America buying groceries for Thanksgiving alone will probably set us back a few frillion trees and a lot of oxygen, ya know?

And then Christmas and Hannukah…more bags. Especially plastic ones from malls, department stores etc.

So I have this idea!

I’m suggesting that instead of, or perhaps in addition to a regular gift, that you give the gift of re-usable bags to your friends, family, kids’ teachers, the mailman, the lawn guy — anyone! Everyone!

READ FULL POST

New Blog: The Political Voices of Women

Hi Everyone. This weekend I decided to put together a new blog…The Political Voices of Women. It will be all women blogging about politics, all the time. I’ll be using the recently compiled list of over 200 women political bloggers, to find posts to feature on this new site. I hope you’ll get a chance to check it out, and please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

Take A Quick Survey To See What Presidential Candidate Is Right For You

My mother sent me an email with a link to this site (Select A Candidate Survey), I think this is GREAT! In this day and age when we are all so busy, and debates tend to be quite boring…Now you can find out in about a minute, what candidate agrees with you most on the issues. I love this idea, and I recommend everyone check it out.

Instead of making your decision on a candidate based on how much money they have to make annoying commercials, or how much attention they are getting in the media…You can just ignore all the political “Bull Sh#t”, and find out who actually would be the best candidate for you, based on the issues that matter most to you.

Go HERE and give it a try. Can’t hurt?

Also See:

What is a political blogger? Can a women be a political blogger?

and

A list of over 200 Women Blogging on Politics

Catherine’s Top Three Tips For Healthy Living

Hi everyone. I was honored to be asked to write a guest post for Life Learning Today, and this is what I came up with.

Catherine’s Top Three Tips For Healthy Living

1. You are what you eat, and it is never too late to start eating healthy. Every day, try your very best to put healthy foods and plenty of water into your body. When you have a choice between something healthy and something not healthy, go with the healthy choice. But, don’t be too hard on yourself on the days you fall back into old habits. There is no rule that says, to be healthy you have to be perfect. Even if you are eating healthy 50% of the time, that is still better than none of the time.

If you are one to never go for the healthy choice, then start today with a commitment to eat one thing that is good for you (just one thing that you would normally not eat), and do that for a week. After a week, start eating two things that are good for you, and so on, and so on. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthy half the time…And that’s a great start.

You can start today, loving yourself and your family enough to stop poisoning your body with unhealthy foods. Heart disease is the number one killer in our country. And 80% of heart disease is due to eating an unhealthy diet that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Start today, and take a bite in the right direction…Your heart will thank you.

Are You Or Someone You Know In An Abusive Relationship? With 20/20 YouTube Video

image from

Abusive Relationships: Are you or someone you know in one? How can you tell? What can you do? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

How do you know if you are in an abusive relationship? Do you know someone who is? What warning signs can you look for?

Since nearly one third of American women have been in some sort of abusive relationship, chances are that one of these women may be you or someone you know. So, what do you do? How do you help? I think having as much information as possible is a good place to start.

From the Family Violence Project…

Abuse is a pattern of coercive behavior (physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, financial, and spiritual) used by one person to control another’s actions and feelings. One way to think of these behaviors is as tactics, actions which are chosen and planned. An abuser is not “out of control” — the abuser is trying to control the victim.

Bugs Creep Me Out — And the vampire bugs (a.k.a. mosquitoes), also carry the West Nile virus.

By Catherine Morgan — cross posted at BlogHer

I hate mosquitoes, doesn’t everyone? These buggers can really get big too, and I’m pretty sure they are bigger here in Florida than they were in Pennsylvania.

Last year one got in my house that was the size of a small bird…yuck, yuck, yuck. Bugs really creep me out. O.k. – before I give myself a bug anxiety attack, let me get to the point of this post. West Nile virus and how to prevent it.

West Nile virus is mainly transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito.

Mosquitoes transmit the virus after becoming infected by feeding on the blood of birds carrying the virus.

Most people infected with the virus either have no symptoms or they have flu-like symptoms. Sometimes the virus can cause severe illness, resulting in hospitalization and even death. — read full article

Officials Warn West Nile Is Back

In 2006, 33 West Nile human fatalities were reported, and since 2002, 71 fatalities due to the virus have been reported in Texas, Schuster said, quoting state health service figures. — read full article

How do you know if you have West Nile Virus? The good thing is, 4 out of 5 people exposed to the West Nile Virus will not become ill. But for the 1 of 5 that will, here are some of the sypmptoms to look out for…

Why is Autism so controversial?

image @ Kid’s Health

Autism: The Disease, The Debate, and The Devastated Families – by Catherine Morgan

This week in a New York Times article, the debate continued over the cause and treatment of Autism. A family once united is now divided.

A year after their grandson Christian received a diagnosis of autism in 2004, Bob Wright, then chairman of NBC/Universal, and his wife, Suzanne, founded Autism Speaks, a mega-charity dedicated to curing the dreaded neurological disorder that affects one of every 150 children in America today.

The Wrights’ venture was also an effort to end the internecine warfare in the world of autism — where some are convinced that the disorder is genetic and best treated with intensive therapy, and others blame preservatives in vaccinations and swear by supplements and diet to cleanse the body of heavy metals. — read full article,

But for those of us who don’t know too much about autism…What is autism? What are the sypmptoms of autism?