You, Your Health and the Whole Health Education

Did you ever stop to think why you are not able to take complete control of your health? The answer to the question can be found in the fact that most of us are, so to say, "health illiterate". In spite of the wealth of information available about the ways to improve our health by changing our present lifestyles, we do not know how to put them to our use. Plainly speaking, most of us do not even know that such information is available.
It has been established that approximately 70% of the deaths attributed to cancer could have been avoided by some simple changes in our life style and that the main cause of our illness or disease (dis-ease) is due to stress, junk food, the environment and our very attitudes. Even those of us who are aware of these facts choose to ignore them and continue to lead a lifestyle destined to send us to the vagaries and ravages of disease.
The situation is such that, in a world bursting at its seams with health related information, we are caught in a dilemma of not knowing how to use it for our personal health. But there seems to be a ray of hope. Whole Health Education is now providing us with a perspective on all aspects of our bodies from the physical to the mental and the spiritual to help us to stay healthy.
For instance, diabetes affects nearly 18 million Americans; there are 240 million people suffering from diabetes all over the world and one person is dying every ten seconds due to diabetes. This is a leading health concern. Health education can restore the health of people with such chronic diseases.

Safety and Health in the Workplace - Physical, Mental and Social

Safety and Health in the workplace is more than just accident prevention. A good safety program needs to look at and address all aspects of working conditions. When looking at safety and health in the workplace, we refer to the conditions as occupational in nature. So to identify just what occupational safety and health is, we break it down into separate components. The three overall bomponents to address in your successful program are physical, mental and social safety.
Physical Safety
Maintaining the well-being and physical safety of all workers and building occupants is the physical aspect of a program. Physical safety is critical in the occupational setting. There are hundreds of standards and publications to describe and define how to keep people physically safe at work. There are also hundreds of ways that employers train and educate employees on workplace safety. Physical safety is the first aspect that comes to mind when referring to a safety program. There are many other areas of well-being that need to be incorporate into a safety plan. Ones mental safety is also important.
Mental Safety
Workers mental well-being must not be excluded. If people are physically safe, but mentally unhealthy and exhausted, problems are sure to arise. If you were to ask your employees just what is mental safety? you probably would be surprised at the lack of awareness in the area. In fact many employers are unaware of the importance. One of the best ways for an employer to access the workers mental stability is to review the call-ins or absenteeism rate. Sometimes a lack of respect for ones job will result in a lack of caring. When people don't care, they could put themselves or others at risk for physically injuries.
Another area of mental safety at work is mental health of workers. Be aware of people and the anxieties that they face or are facing. Depression is on the rise and you may have workers that are battling stress and burnout situations at and away from work. Other serious mental health such as bi-polar disorder can negatively impact your work place and put workers in danger. Make sure that employees that may have a mental health condition manage it with a doctors approval. The next area of safety is that of ones social environment.
Social Safety
Some examples of an employee being socially unsafe is that of a hostile work environment. This takes on many forms. A hugely growing social environment is now online. The amount of time that workers spend online is huge. Although we think of online bullying as a teen problem, your company should enforce rules when it comes to just how much access workers have to internet resources. Passing on inappropriate content through emails or other electronic means can become inappropriate and led to socially unacceptable behavior. This topic should be addressed in yearly training.
Another socially unacceptable behavior is harassment. Harassment takes on many forms. Either physical or sexual in nature. Either way, if people feel uncomfortable around others in the work environment, then they are not in a socially safe place.

FREE safety information and articles delivered directly to your inbox. Join our online newsletter and receive offers, tips and safety advise regularly! Sign up at http://www.training-for-safety.com Keep current on safety trainings with Training-For-Safety.

At Training-For-Safety you will find safety programs, written safety plans, videos, training and compliance kits. New Information is added regularly.

The World's Greatest Diet For Weight Loss And Health

Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as the world's greatest diet. Allow me to explain.

First of all, what would be the attributes of the world's greatest diet?

1. It would be comprised of easily available foods.

2. It would NOT require any fancy measuring or fixing.

3. It would be easy to follow at a friend's dinner party, a fine restaurant, or Mickey Dee's (McDonald's to old fuddy-duddies like me).

4. It would not just help with weight loss and weight management, but with health in general.

5. It would be made up of our favorite foods.

HMMMMMMM! TEACHER! I SEE A PROBLEM!

Okay, you can put your hand down. I see it too. It's that "favorite foods" thing, isn't it?

Everybody has different "favorite foods", and we won't even get into gourmet, regional, or ethnic cooking. I'll leave that to my daughter and her husband. (Psst! Seen the pictures of my grandkids?)

Anyway, let's see if we can put together the world's greatest diet for health and weight loss...for you!

You see, there's the rub, as my good friend, though somewhat older than me, Billy Shakespeare would say.

We are all different. We are different ethnically, environmentally, educationally, genetically (ran out of e's), and, dare I say it, sexually. All of these things are important, because they exercise an influence on the results of any diet that anybody tries out.

Hey, there's a good word, "try". How many people do you know who actually stay on a diet...especially for the rest of their lives? I guess we need to add another attribute. The world's greatest diet would have to be one:

6. You could and would stay on for the rest of your life.

WHY THE REST OF MY LIFE?

Simple. I don't care what diet you go on and how well it works. If it does work and you stop eating according to that diet, over time you will find yourself right back where you are now and wondering where you put this article.

So, to build your "world's greatest diet" we have to go back to the title of this article, "The World's Greatest Diet For Weight Loss And Health". I put "weight loss" AND "health" in there for a reason. There are diets that don't really help you lose weight, there are diets that are not good for your health, and weight loss does not automatically equal health...particularly if that weight loss is accomplished through dieting.

Here we go. It doesn't really matter what foods you eat. You like apple pie, have some apple pie. You like popcorn, have some popcorn. Filet Mignon? Sure, why not.

Let's back up for a minute. A "diet" is simply a list of the foods you eat. In the last few decades, the word has gotten loaded down with all kinds of extra stuff like the pancakes at IHOP. A doctor can give you a "diet" to help you avoid hives, get over a stomach upset, or even to gain weight if that is what is needed for your health.

If that doctor gives you a "diet" that says you can only eat seven foods, he or she would be doing you a grave (pun intended) disservice. In order to get the nutrients your body needs for health AND for weight loss, you need a diversity of foods...and that diversity can range from soup to nuts...or Filet Mignon! You don't have to JUST eat cabbage. You NEED to eat cabbage, hamburgers, biscuits, broccoli, apples, apple pie, chicken, fish, carrots...you get the idea. You can deny yourself a lot of the foods you like, take a lot of enjoyment out of your life, and even damage your health without even losing any weight by trying weird fad diets and strange pills that cause your body to act in an unnatural manner.

Your personal "greatest diet in the world" is going to be the foods you normally eat and enjoy eating.

THERE'S GOT TO BE A "BUT" HANGING AROUND SOMEWHERE!

Absolutely. It's not about WHAT you eat. It's about two other things:

1. How MUCH you eat, and

2. How you live the rest of your life.

You see, weight loss and health is about balance. The weight loss balance has been known for years. Eat more calories than you use, the excess gets stored as fat. Attempt to use more calories than you eat, your body burns the available fat and abracadabra you have weight loss. However, simply cutting calories down to the bone denies your body nutrients necessary to health and does not allow for the activity that helps keep a body healthy. Exercising (the way we most commonly burn extra calories) while continuing to eat excess calories not only makes it harder to lose weight, but still creates a condition in which our health can be threatened by that excess anyway.

A balanced program for health and weight loss does not deny you the foods you like to eat, it merely tasks you to realize what you are doing to your body and use some self control and limit yourself when food is offered or available. As far as the exercise side of the equation is concerned, "exercise" scares people, so let's just talk about activity. Your exercise program can be gardening, swimming, bicycle riding, yoga, tai-chi; or gardening on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, bicycle riding on Wednesday, yoga on Thursday, and tai-chi on Friday!

There is an old saying: Keep doing what you have been doing, and you will keep getting what you have been getting.

Makers of diet pills and sellers of diet books know that you realize this, so they offer you something that seems to change that no-win equation. The problem is that without actually creating an actual change of the manner in which you eat and exercise, these diet pills and fad diets at best will only temporarily seem to change the actual equation and allow you to lose weight for a short time if at all. They will not make a permanent change in your life or your health, and their "weight loss" effects, if any, will wear out quickly, often leaving you in a worse situation than when you started.

An article such as this is much too short to get into all the various aspects of weight loss, diets, exercise, and health, but the basic equations are simple. Too much weight can adversely affect your health in a multitude of ways. Losing weight in an unhealthy manner may leave you in as bad a state as you were in when you started...or even worse. Combining formal exercise or enjoyable physical activity with a sensible enjoyment of food so that calorie intake and calorie use can be balanced will result in weight loss, health and a lifestyle that will continue to bring benefits for years.

Gyms and Health Clubs - 5 Pitfalls To Avoid

If you are contemplating joining a gym or health club, you probably have many choices. Here are a few of the secrets you should consider when narrowing down your list and finding the one most beneficial to you. In one sense, I hate to cover these points because they do not apply to all gyms and health clubs - but I have experienced enough of these over the years to know that they are a major concern for the novice getting ready to join.

1. Overcrowding As with almost all US businesses, gyms and health clubs operate with the sole purpose of making a profit. Unfortunately, many businesses take this to excess so that it conflicts with the health/fitness and safety of its members. One sad statistic that most gyms and health clubs operate from is that only 10-20% of it's membership uses the facilities on a regular basis (3-5 times per week). Thus memberships and profitability are based on totally unreasonable membership enrollments of 1000-5000. Can you imagine if/when large numbers show up at the same time? The risk is total chaos - not to mention the lack of adequate instruction, etc. So ask how many members the gym has and whether they work on the 10-20% rule.
2. Inadequately Trained Staff Another issue arising from the focus on profitability is that many owners hire sales oriented staff that look good, and can talk anyone into a membership, but when it comes to a true working knowledge of fitness and health safety, they fall alarmingly short. Be sure to confirm that the instructor that works with you has a minimum of a national certification from a respected association such as the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) or the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association). Ideally they would have a 4-year B.Sc. in Physical Education from a good college or university.
3. Appearance Versus Ability Beware of placing your health and fitness routine/instruction in the hands of the best looking champion bodybuilder/athlete. Most of us automatically assume that, if someone excels in his sport or looks like a champion bodybuilder, he can help us to achieve that kind of shape also. In many cases this is not true. Some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable experts that I met looked nothing like athletes. One in particular was one of the most dedicated exercise physiologists I ever met. She worked in research at a medical center and spent most of her time studying the impact of exercise on diabetes. She ran marathons and weighed all of 90 lbs. In fact she was probably anorexic. If you met her at a gym or health club you would almost certainly choose the other instructor (you know, Bruno the Greek god, who just won Mr. Olympia). But in reality the 90lb marathon runner/researcher has probably forgotten more than Bruno will ever know or understand about how to set up programs for the average person. The main ingredient that sets an elite athlete or bodybuilder apart from the average human is genetics. They were born with a superior set of genes for their given sport or competition. So although all competitors have to work hard, if you have the genes to begin with, you progress and achieve at a much higher level. Does that mean an elite athlete won't be a good instructor to the average member? Not at all, but the instructor will have to step outside of what and how they trained themselves and individualize a routine that works for you. Nothing is more disappointing to me than seeing an out of shape middle aged man or woman trying to keep up with a routine designed for them by an elite athlete or competitive bodybuilder that is probably more harmful than beneficial - not to mention that it greatly increases their chance of injury or cardiovascular accident.
4. Hygiene Most gyms and health clubs are conscientious about maintaining and sanitizing their equipment. But, to be safe, when you take a tour of the facilities before you join observe any pieces of equipment that look old, broken, or really dirty. Ask how often the equipment is sanitized and maintained. Watch how the members treat the equipment. Do they carry sweat towels to wipe up after they get done on a piece of equipment? Are there signs reminding members to put their weights back after use, and toweling off sweat when they are finished with a piece of equipment? A good gym or health club will not tolerate sloppy members that don't do their part to keep the equipment clean and in its place. Ideally there should be bottles with sanitizing solution at various stations so that members can wipe a machine off before they use it as well as after. Staff should be seen wiping down and sanitizing equipment at least once a day. Likewise, check whether the restrooms and showers are clean.
5. Long Term Contracts If a gym or health club pushes you toward a contract of more than 1 year there is a very good chance that they are cutting corners in many aspects that will affect the quality of your experience and instruction. When a gym or health club sells you a 2-3 year membership, they put it on a finance contract. And guess what they do with that contract? They sell it! If it totals up to $1500 for 3 years they will probably sell it at 80 cents on the dollar. This means they get their money up front. And rather than put this money in a savings account and pull out your monthly fee each month and apply it to their operating expenses, they put the whole amount in the operating expenses. Now guess what the incentive is once they have your money up front? They go on to the next unsuspecting prospect and work on selling them a 3-year membership. The focus moves from getting you in shape to making the most money that they can in the shortest period of time. So, logic would tell you to sign up for a minimum term (1-3 months), to see how you progress. Anything more than a year membership and in most cases you are asking for trouble. Many things can happen in 3 years e.g. you can relocate, the gym or health club can go out of business, etc, etc.

I hope that, equipped with some of these secrets, you can find a gym or health club that meets your health/fitness needs and gives you the positive experience that you seek!

Chris Poff develops personally tailored programs of health/performance enhancement for people at all levels of ability and ambition using a unique approach that combines his three levels of experience. These three levels comprise: academic research (via his B.Sc. from Ohio State University and his Master of Education, School of Health Physical Education and Nutrition); the practical experience of training himself to compete in sports; and the training of thousands of other individuals from beginners through to professional executives and athletes. Take a look at [http://www.man-health-and-fitness.com] for more help and advice put together by Chris.

Health Educator Jobs - Are You Interested in a Career in Health Education?

Health educators have the responsibility of encouraging individuals to live healthy lifestyles and to promote habits, which will prevent disease and other nutritional problems. They will commonly address such subjects as proper nutrition and the importance of exercise, in addition to safe sex and screening.
After assessing the needs of their clients, health education workers will then determine how best they should present the necessary information, which may be in a lecture, classroom, health screening, or video format, and they will usually promote ideas which are compatible with a government or their employers.
Health educators will then implement their plan which may require funding or grants, and after the completion of this program, they will then evaluate the success of it. In a hospital or medical care facility, they will usually work one on one with patients, educating them about their diagnoses and the steps that they should take to improve their lifestyle. These professionals will frequently help patients find resources which can help them with their illness, which can include brochures and classes, in addition to extracurricular educational programs.
In colleges and universities, they will work with students in order to prevent risk factors such as smoking, poor nutrition, and dangerous sexual activity. A health educator may also be found in secondary schools where they will teach about the dangers of alcohol and drug use, in addition to how to practice safe sex.

Safety and Health in the Workplace - Accident Prevention

Safety and health in the workplace is just as, if not more important, as staying safe at home. Employers are mandated under OSHA or other federal and state agencies to keep workplaces as safe as possible. Having an accident prevention plan is one way to monitor and prevent workplace injuries. In this article we will look at four of the most often occurring accidents and how to prevent them.
What types of accidents are happening?
1. Slips, Trips, Falls
This category is by far the most commonly occurring accident when it comes to safety and health in the workplace. Employers should make preventing slips, trips and falls a priority because it is the most occurring and can be a very costly type of accident. There are hundreds of ways to prevent slips, trips and falls, so it is impossible to cover every scenario in a short article such as this. Keeping walking and working surfaces clean, dry and uncluttered is a definite start. In addition, awareness training should be taught. Employees should not be under pressure to work too fast that they make careless mistakes when it comes to safety. Lastly, make sure that every engineering and work practice control has been put into place. For example, OSHA requires hand rails on stairs with four or more risers and guard rails and or protective barriers on certain elevated surfaces to prevent falls.
2. Lift, Move, Carry
This category is self explanatory. People tend to injure their back or other body parts like wrists, neck, or ankles when they lift, move or carry objects incorrectly. Safety and health in the workplace discourages people asking more of their body than reasonably acceptable. In most general industry, as well as construction work environments, proper lifting techniques should be taught. This training should include how to move and carry loads either by hand or by using a mechanical method.
3. Push, Pull
The push, pull category seems similar to lift, move, carry, but it is not. I like to keep it separate so that when I am reviewing accident reports, it becomes obvious hat the accident occurred due to incorrect work habits. There should be no reason for a person to put strain on their body by pushing or pulling when there are mechanical methods to do almost every task. A good employer will stress the importance of safety and health in the workplace and always discourage pushing or pulling on an object if it means putting excessive strain on the body.
4. Repetitive Motion Injury
Repetitive motion injury occurs when pressure is exerted on a person's nerves or muscles in a way where the motion is repeated over and over. Most people have heard the term ergonomics. This is a very important concept when it comes to preventing repetitive motion injuries. Basically ergonomics is the study of how the work environment affects the body. For example, a person develops carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrists. What has happened is that the same motion has been repeated so often with the wrists that the median nerve in the wrist is damaged. The ergonomics of the work situation was not correct. A correct ergonomic approach would be such that the wrist would be kept in a more natural or comfortable position while still getting the work done.
These are just four of the main accident prevention categories. Safety and health in the workplace does not just happen. Employers have to train, teach and educate to make it happen.

FREE safety information and articles delivered directly to your inbox. Join our online newsletter and receive offers, tips and safety advise regularly! Sign up at http://www.training-for-safety.com Keep current on safety trainings with Training-For-Safety.

At Training-For-Safety you will find safety programs, written safety plans, videos, training and compliance kits. New Information is added regularly.

Free Online Health Education - The Answer to Optimising Health Worldwide

In my eight years experience as a health professional I truly believe that our health is the number one asset that anyone can possess and free online health education is vital. Sadly, we often take it for granted until it is compromised, whether that be developing back pain, feeling exhausted, or a suffering a significant health event like a heart attack.
While genetics and other factors we can't control have their part to play, we have a huge amount of control over our energy and health. Here are some interesting statistics; heart disease is 60-70% preventable (Koop, 2002), strokes are 80% preventable (Michel/ USC 2001), cancer is 60-80% preventable (Rosenthal 1998), and type 2 diabetes is 90% preventable (Hu, 2002).
The main factors that we can control include what we take in to our bodies- what we eat and drink, what we think, how we move, how we rest and recover. Prolonged stress, toxins in our food and home, lack of exercise and relaxation, poor food choices, disturbed sleep, lack of education and motivation are common factors leading to poor health. Free online health education can address many of these issues.