How to Beat the Economics of Staying Well

Do things that will make you healthy and keep you healthy. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Eat smaller portions of meats, chicken and fish, filling up on good green and bright colored vegetables.

Remember to fit exercise in. You don't have to go to the gym or spa to do this. Walking is free. Walk for 60 minutes a day without stopping. Practice Yoga at home. You can get a DVD to help you begin, or find a program on the TV. Jump rope, any piece of rope will do, you don't have to go buy a special jump rope.

Laugh every day for 10-15 minutes. The earlier in the day you do this, the better, but any time is better than not at all. See my previous posts in April regarding laughter.

Laughing and Calorie Burning

Most of us don't associate laughing with burning calories or losing weight. But in fact, laughing can help. You can burn as many calories with 3 minutes of laughing as you can with 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

Laughter has been shown to boost the immune system in general as well as specific areas like the mouth where antibodies increase which in turn fight off upper respiratory infections and infections in the mouth.

Laughing also increases endorphins from the brain which make us feel good. This is what many runners call the "runner's high." Most important here is the fact that laughter decreases stress - it is one of the best stress relievers.

If you are having trouble laughing, look at children. Children laugh about 400 times a day on average. Adults on the other hand laugh about 5 times per day on average. So increase your laughter each day and improve your health, your emotional balance, and your life.

Instead of Crying, Laugh

Right now with the economy as it is, many of you may "feel like crying." But the healthier thing to do is to laugh. If you get what you think about, if your thoughts are sad and you're crying you will get more of it - or more reason to do it. If you are laughing and seeing the positive, you will get more of that too.

You don't need humor to laugh. How many times have you laughed because someone else was laughing. You may not even know why they are laughing, but you begin to laugh too. I'm sure you've heard the adage "Laugh until you pee your pants."

Scientific studies have shown that laughter on a regular basis lifts the mood, deceases stress, lowers blood pressure and lowers cholesterol. A 20 minute bout of laughter can actually lower the cholesterol by 6 points. This is better than what oatmeal can do for your cholesterol! The same 20 minutes can lower your blood pressure by 6 points as well. This is from a study done at Loma Linda University.

So just try saying HA, HA, HA thirty times. If you're not laughing, force it and say it 30 more times. Try it with a spouse or a friend, if one of you truly starts to laugh so will the other. Then look around and you will see more happiness around you.