Health Highlight
Your Weekly Wellness Update
Safety Tip
Some helpful tips when choosing a password are:
1. Figure out a password only known to you
2. Your password should be long enough to be secure
3. Complicated enough that it's hard to guess - even by someone who knows you well
4. Easy for you to type accurately
For more tips on how to make your password more secure, click here!
Having trouble choosing a password? Try this free strong random password generator!
Fitness Focus
As I began to research the effects of weight-lifting, I found the benefits go beyond toning your body and increasing strength. Most adults lose between five and seven pounds of muscle every decade. The trend continues as lean body mass decreases by approximately 15% from the ages of 30-80.
Lifting weights is especially important for women, as we rapidly lose bone density as we age and after women reach 30, muscle density decreases and intramuscular fat increases. Many women are concerned they will bulk up if the lift weights but in order for a woman to develop "bodybuilder" muscles, she would need to exceed the recommended amount of strength training, take hormones and focusing intensely on increasing muscle mass - all things the average person probably won't do.
Weight lifting, or any resistance training, also increases your metabolic rate which can aid in burning fat and maintaining a healthy weight, creates non-bulky muscles that have stronger, thicker fibers that enhance endurance, improves muscle coordination and requires an upsurge in brain usage. Weight-lifting not your favorite type of exercise? Other forms of resistance training include working with resistance bands, heavy gardening, carrying heavy loads and/or doing calisthenics that use body weight for resistance.
One key thing to keep in mind is form. Without the correct form you risk injury and don't maximize your physical gains.
Money Matters
Nearly half of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and no wonder with the increased cost of living and the wage stagnation over the past few years. However, you may have a small fortune already.
Look in that basement, that attic, that storage closet. I am willing to bet the farm that there are at least 4 items in your house right now you haven't used in the past year that you could sell. I know, you keep thinking you'll use them someday. The reality is that if you haven't used it already, you won't. So why keep it? Sell it! Free up that money for paying off credit card debt, add it to your emergency fund or invest it because the further you are from financial drain the closer you are to financial independence. (For my purposes, I define financial independence as having enough money to choose whether-or-not you want to work).
For more tips on how to escape the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, click here!
DIY Spotlight
Perspective
Self-compassion involves three core components:
- Self-Kindness. Meaning, we are gentle and understanding with ourselves rather than harshly critical and judgmental
- Recognition of our common humanity, feeling connected with others in the experience of life rather than feeling isolated and alienated
- Mindfulness, or that we hold our experience in balanced awareness rather than ignoring our pain or exaggerating it.
When we practice self-compassion, we become more successful in the long run as self-compassion fosters resilience, and resilience decreases stress and increases productivity. To find out if you treat yourself with self-compassion try one of these self-compassion exercises! For more information see "The Scientific Benefits of Self-Compassion" and for more tips click here!