Today is Melanoma Monday- prevent skin cancer by avoiding tanning beds, wearing protective clothing in the sun and seeking shade.    Remember to be especially careful at the beach: water and sand reflect the sun’s rays, increasing your chances of sunburn.

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is a very dangerous type of skin cancer.  Melanoma develops in the cells that produce melanin which is the pigment that gives your skin color.  Melanomas usually grow in unmarked skin but they may grow in a mole or birthmark you already have.  Usually melanoma is found on the upper back, face, scalp and hands in men and women, and on the legs of women.  Melanomas can also appear in the mouth, eye, esophagus, rectum, vagina, urinary tract and small intestines.

The risk of developing melanoma increases with age. However, the disease also frequently affects young, otherwise healthy people.  Melanoma can spread very rapidly. Although it is less common than other types of skin cancer, the rate of melanoma is steadily increasing. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease.

What causes melanoma?

The development of melanoma is related to sun exposure or ultraviolet radiation, particularly among people with fair skin, blue or green eyes, and red or blond hair.

Risks for melanoma include the following:

• Living in sunny climates or at high altitudes
• Long-term exposure to high levels of strong sunlight, because of a job or other activities
• One or more blistering sunburns during childhood
• Use of tanning devices

Other risk factors include:

• Close relatives with a history of melanoma
• Exposure to chemicals that can cause cancer, such as arsenic, coal tar, and creosote
• Presence of certain types of moles (atypical dysplastic) or multiple birthmarks
• Weakened immune system due to AIDS, some leukemias, organ transplant, medications used to treat illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Symptoms

The primary symptom of any skin cancer is usually a mole, sore, lump, or growth on the skin. Any change in appearance of a pigmented skin sore over time is a warning sign. Also, watch for any bleeding from a skin growth.

The ABCDE system may help you remember features that might be symptoms of melanoma:

• Asymmetry: One half of the abnormal area is different from the other half.
• Border irregularity: The lesion or growth has irregular edges that are notched, ragged or blurred.
• Color: Color changes from one area to another and is not uniform, with shades of tan, brown, or black (sometimes white, red, or blue add to the mottled appearance). A mixture of colors may appear within one sore.
• Diameter: The mole or trouble spot is usually (but not always) larger than 6 mm in diameter — about the size of a pencil eraser.
• Evolution:  There is a noticeable change in the size, shape, surface (such as itching, tenderness, oozing, or bleeding), or color of the mole or trouble spot.

The key to treating melanoma is recognizing symptoms early. You might not notice a small spot of concern if you don’t look carefully, so perform thorough self-examinations monthly, and schedule a formal skin exam with a dermatologist yearly.

Treatment

The most common treatment is surgery to remove the cancerous skin cells and surgically remove some normal tissue that surrounds the area. That is all the treatment that you may need for early-stage melanomas that have not spread to other parts of your body.

If the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, these lymph nodes may also need to be removed. Treatment with interferon after surgery may be useful for these patients.    For patients with melanoma that has spread beyond the skin and nearby lymph nodes to other organs, treatment is more difficult. At this point, melanoma is usually not curable. Treatment is usually directed at shrinking the tumor and improving symptoms.

Prevention

The American Cancer Society recommends professional skin examinations every year for people older than 40, and every 3 years for people ages 20 – 40.    Self examination is also highly recommended.  You should examine your skin once a month, looking for any suspicious skin changes.  Use a mirror to examine your entire body and check hard-to-see places.    Call your health care provider if you notice any symptoms of melanoma,
Protect yourself from the sunlight’s damaging ultraviolet rays by doing the following:

Protect yourself from the sunlight’s damaging ultraviolet rays by doing the following:

• Apply a sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher every day (during winter months as well)
• Avoid lying in the sun or using tanning devices
• Minimize sun exposure
  • Especially during the summer
  • Particularly between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
• Wear protective clothing, including a hat and sunglasses

The exact cause of all melanomas isn’t clear, but exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or tanning lamps and tanning beds increases your risk of developing melanoma. Other factors, such as your genetic makeup, climate, history of blistering sunburns during childhood, and weakened immune system may also play a role.

Limiting your sun exposure and avoiding tanning lamps and beds can help reduce your risk of melanoma. And making sure you know the warning signs of skin cancer can help ensure that cancerous changes are detected and treated before the cancer has a chance to spread. Melanoma can be treated successfully if it is detected early.

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Eating out this week?   Cut calories and fat by splitting oversized portions with a friend.   If you’re dining solo, choose a healthy  appetizer or two side dishes instead.   Your meal will be better for you and just as satisfying.

Food portions have changed over the past 20 years.  Getting fit and maintaining a healthy weight is difficult when there is portion distortion.  Anyone eating on the run or at restaurants has probably noticed that food portions have gotten larger.  Some portions are called “super size”, while others have simply grown in size and provide enough food for at least two people.

Waistlines and body weight have grown along with the increase in portion size.  The next time you eat on the run, think twice about the food portions offered to you.  A “portion” can be thought of as the amount of a specific food you choose to eat for dinner, snack or other eating occasion.

A “serving” is a unit of measure used to describe the amount of food recommended from each food group.  It is the amount of food listed on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged food or the amount of food recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The following chart will give you an idea of what one serving size looks like:

GRAIN PRODUCTS
1 cup of cereal flakes = fist
1 pancake = compact disc
½ cup of cooked rice, pasta, or potato = ½ baseball
1 slice of bread = cassette tape
1 piece of cornbread = bar of soap

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT
1 cup of salad greens = baseball
1 baked potato = fist
1 med. fruit = baseball
½ cup of fresh fruit = ½ baseball
¼ cup of raisins = large egg

DAIRY AND CHEESE
1½ oz. cheese = 4 stacked dice or 2 cheese slices
½ cup of ice cream = ½ baseball

MEAT AND ALTERNATIVES
3 oz. meat, fish, and poultry = deck of cards
3 oz. grilled/baked fish = checkbook
2 Tbsp. peanut butter = ping pong ball

FATS
1 tsp. margarine or spreads = 1 dice

Quick Recap

A portion is the amount of food that you choose to eat for a meal or snack. It can be big or small—you decide.  A serving is a measured amount of food or drink, such as one slice of bread or one cup (eight ounces) of milk.

Many foods that come as a single portion actually contain multiple servings. For example, look at the label of a 20-ounce soda (typically consumed as one portion), and you’ll see that it has 2.5 servings in it. A 3-ounce bag of chips—which some would consider a single portion—contains 3 servings.

Pay attention to your portion sizes and the servings recommended on packaging in order to maintain or lose weight.  Because portion sizes have practically doubled over the past 20 years, we have gained weight and find it much more difficult to get fit and well.  Cut those portion sizes in half and double up on the exercise routines!

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With Earth Day approaching, take time this week to get out and enjoy nature! Whether you go for a bike ride, observe wildlife or participate in a sporting event, now is the perfect time to gear up for spring and more outdoor activity.

Exercise outdoors — Save money and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine by skipping the electrically-powered fitness equipment for a walk, jog or bike ride outdoors.

Wear eco-friendly fitness gear — There are lots of recycled or renewable products being manufactured by companies that focus on offsetting their carbon footprint with eco-friendly products.

Top it off with green tea — After exercising outdoors, enjoy a copy of green tea.  Add some freshly-squeezed lemon juice and honey to your cup of tea.  The citrus juice helps bring out the antioxicant properties of green tea.

Ginger green tea is a great tea for digestion.  Ginger is a natural detox agent.

Get fresh air and exercise is very important for maintaining a healthy body and mind.  It is also good for the spirit.  Striving to appreciate and enjoy the most natural products and materials available is the purpose of Earth Day.

Get outside and make Earth Day your day to get fit and well while enjoying the natural beauty of your environment.

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To maintain your weight, it’s important to balance calories eaten with calories used. This week, keep track of the calories you consume by keeping a food journal. Try to stay within a 2000 calorie budget.

Jotting down what you eat and drink in a food journal will make it so much easier to maintain your weight. When we fail to document our daily intake of food, we lose track. We also consume too much food and tend to eat the wrong kinds of food when we don’t monitor what we eat.

A journal is a diary that reminds us of where we are and keeps us on track so we reach our goals; whether that goal is to lose weight or maintain our current weight.

You can use anything that will work for you to keep track, i.e., a sheet of paper, a small pocket-size flip-top tablet, a large spiral notebook or a leather bound journal. The key is to write it down!

When you track your calories by jotting down what you eat and drink, you will be in a better position to know if you have exceeded your recommended daily allowance. If you have, you can increase the amount of exercise you get in that day to balance things out and burn any excess calories before they turn to fat.

Start your day thinking about your daily goal and write it down. Make sure you keep track of the amount of water you drink and shoot for at least 8 glasses of water a day.

Losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight is all about maintaining balance in our lives and doing what is required to stay healthy, fit and well.

Start journaling today and keep track of what you eat, how much exercise you get, and how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally as you go about your day. What you find may be the key to helping your maintain balance in all areas of your life.

Technorati Tags: food journal, food journaling, getting fit, losing weight, maintaining wieght

Take some time this week to assess your progress on your fitness and nutrition goals. Are you where you hoped to be? If not, what steps can you take to guarantee results? Come up with a revised weekly plan that will help you achieve success.

If you embarked on a health and fitness plan at the beginning of the year and set some goals but find that you did not hit your target or reach your goal, now is a great time to re-evaluate that plan. Starting off with SMART goals is half the battle. Taking the necessary steps to evaluate your plan and make the necessary adjustments along the way will increase your chances of successfully meeting your goals.

S  – Be SPECIFIC about the goals you want to accomplish. Do you want to lose 10, 20, or 30 pounds within a certain amount of time? Do you want to increase your strength and flexibility by 30 – 50% in order to decrease your arthritic pain or back pain? These are examples of specific goals you need to have in your plan.

M  – Goals need to be MEASURABLE. Taking the necessary measurements from the start and continuing this practice as you move through the process is a critical step in determining where you are and how close you are to where you want to be.

For example, if you want to lose 30 pounds in 90 days, there are several things you need to track in order to ensure that you will successfully reach your goal. You can take measurements of your weight, body measurements, BMI (Body Mass Index / body fat measurement) distance traveled by foot or bike, length of exercise routines, reps, strength and resistance training, and amount and types of food consumed. Make it work for you by making sure you track critical aspects of your plan.

A  – Make your goals ATTAINABLE by taking ACTIONABLE steps toward reaching them. You must eat healthy, nutritious food and get enough exercise to burn enough calories if you want to lose weight. If you want to improve your strength and flexibility, incorporate the right exercise or attend a Yoga and/or Pilates class. Taking action and being consistent will help you attain your goals.

R  – REALISTIC goals set you up for success. Are the goals you set within your power to reach? Setting a goal to lose 20 pounds in 30 days would be an unrealistic goal for the average person. The level of commitment to a strict dietary plan and exercising daily would be too much for the average person to stick with in order to see those results, especially if you have some debilitating circumstances. Setting a goal of running a mile in 4 minutes is unrealistic if you suffer from arthritis. Being realistic about what you are asking of yourself and reasonably capable of accomplishing is very important. Your goal is to achieve, not overwhelm. Know what your limitations are and be realistic. You want to feel the job of reaching a goal.

T  – You must have a TIME-FRAME within which to accomplish your goal. Stating what you want without having a deadline or a time-frame is only relaying a “dream”. You must state your goal with an “end” date. It’s all relative. If you want to lose 8 – 10 pounds, then one month is a realistic time-frame within which you can accomplish that goal. If you want to lose 30 pounds, then 3 – 4 months would be a better time-frame within which to accomplish that goal. But, in order to make it a goal, you need to set a deadline or time-frame.

Revise your plan and make the necessary adjustments to reach your goals. If you have lost 20 of the 30 pounds you set as your goal, with some adjustments, you can reach your goal within the next 30 days. Take a look at what may have hampered you from achieving your goal and make the necessary adjustments. Is there anything in your routine, exercise frequency, eating habits, or emotions that may be hampering your progress?

Track and assess your progress. Make the necessary adjustments and keeping moving toward your goal!

If you want to learn more about setting SMART goals and achieving more than you ever dreamed possible, take a look at these books:

Technorati Tags: arthritis, back pain, lose weight, SMART goals

The challenge is for you to have a “Meatless Monday”.  Today, focus on eliminating all foods from your diet that are not harvested from the soil. A plant-based diet consists of foods that come out of the ground which includes vine-picked vegetables and fruit.  These plant-based foods are more nutritious if they are not cooked or have not been processed in any way.

Foods to Eat

Vegetables are the healthiest foods you can eat.  Eating raw vegetables free of pesticides and chemicals will give you an abundance of vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals.  However, steamed vegetables or vegetable soups can render very tasty meals.

Fruits are the tastiest natural food you can eat.  They contain many natural sugars that will satisfy your taste buds and sweet tooth.   Once you have allowed yourself the opportunity to enjoy the natural sweetness of fruit, you will not enjoy the taste of processed sugar.

Herbs are excellent sources of nutrients and have great medicinal value because they are loaded with anti-oxidants.  Incorporating herbs into your plant-based diet will add a lot of zest, flavoring and nutritional value.     In addition to vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, herbs contain a wealth of other healthful substances. Essential oils found in herbs produce anti-inflammatory effects, which are especially helpful for people with arthritis and inflammatory bowel conditions. Phytosterols found in herbs and all plants help your body fight germs and increase your immunity to disease. And the volatile oils in herbs may help protect against some types of cancers.

Nuts are among the healthiest foods to incorporate in your diet.  They are an excellent source of protein and are an excellent substitute for meat.   Nuts are full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.  They are also a great source of healthy fats that build a healthy immune and nervous system, reduce cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, and protect the heart.

Heart Disease — Eating a diet that consists of meat, animal proteins and other saturated fats will raise the cholesterol levels in your blood.  Heart disease is often caused by a diet high in saturated fats.  These unhealthy saturated fats clog the arteries causing the heart to work extra hard, often resulting in a heart attack of heart disease.  Plants do not contain unhealthy fats.  If you eliminate meat or saturated fats from your diet, you will drastically decrease your chances of getting heart disease.

Cancer — Consuming red meat has been widely associated with the increase in cancer.  However, if you consume the right amount of raw plant-based foods, you will get all the necessary enzymes and amino acids your body needs to boost the immune system and fight off cancer.  Most fruits, vegetables and herbs are high in anti-oxidants.  Anti-oxidants help the body rid itself of toxins that may cause cancer.

Diabetes — A diet that consists of raw vegetables will not spike your blood sugar levels like processed foods do.  As a matter of fact, you can reverse diabetes by incorporating the right foods into your diet and getting the right amount of exercise.

A meal prepared using a combination of vegetables, herbs, nuts, and fruits will provide most of the basic nutrients your body needs.  Nuts and green leafy vegetables are a good source of calcium.    A handful of whole raw almonds or walnuts contains as much as 85mg of calcium and 95mg of magnesium.     A cup of lightly steamed broccoli has about 132mg of calcium. Another rich source of calcium is fresh papaya — a medium size fruit has about 72gm of calcium and 31gm of magnesium.  Adding grains like brown rice or quinoa to the mix will really add some additional fiber and nutrients.

If you want an exotic experience and enjoy some ethnic cuisine, visit some Thai, Greek or Indian restaurants for a tasty dish that consists of only plant-based foods.  Or you may want to find some  recipes for ethnic cuisine to try at home.  Just remember to drop the meat from your meal.

You can reap a tremendous amount of health benefits from going meatless.  Choose organic over conventional fruits and vegetables, where possible, for maximum benefit.  A plant-based diet can help you to enjoy a long and healthy life.

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This week put the breaks on your usual routine and rev up your fitness goals by avoiding your car. Move it this Monday by walking, biking, skateboarding or taking public transportation. Less time driving means more time for activity!

With the rising gas prices, parking the car and covering some ground using other modes of transportation has become much more appealing. Walking and biking are my favorite exercises and my most enjoyable ways of traveling short distances. Besides, walking and biking are the best ways to gain some exercise, lose some body fat and ease our minds.

When you’re walking, bicycling, or skateboarding for fitness, your clothing, shoes and posture are very important. Comfortable, breathable, and appropriate clothing for your climate are basic essentials. You don’t have to splurge on the latest designer jogging suit or active-wear — an old t-shirt will do just fine. Just make sure you have enough clean, fresh clothing every day.

Selecting the right walking or running shoes is very important. You want to choose the best shoe for your feet. Having ample support and comfort over the long haul is what I look for in a sneaker. With all the latest technology and fashion trends, there are an overwhelming number of sneakers from which to select. But I would recommend you look for a shoe designed for either walking or long-distance running. Both types of shoes will have the support and comfort you need.   If you plan to purchase your shoes online, I would strongly suggest that you go in and get fitted so you can get a feel for the shoe. You can then purchase the shoes from a local store or purchase them online if you can get better pricing.

Walking

Walking outside on a nice, sunny day does wonders for my spirit and frame of mind and is an excellent way to get fit.  I find it to be very relaxing and energizing. Taking long walks clears my mind and allows me to think more clearly. I also get wonderful ideas and resolve a lot of issues while I’m on my long walks. So, when I take my walks, I wear my favorite walking shoes, I usually bring along a bottle of water, a little flip notepad with a pen, and my mobile phone.

Bicycling

With the rising gas prices, bikes are becoming more popular. Many cities are becoming more street friendly to two-wheeled travelers. A lot of cities are putting more money and time into developing a great network of bike trails. Riding a bike is a great way to explore your city or town and get some great exercise. However, be very careful while bicycling around on the streets and out in traffic.

Skateboarding

For those of you who grew up skateboarding, getting back on one may be a breeze! However, for a baby boomer like me, I think I’ll stick to walking and bicycling. Skateboarding can render a great workout because it really commands the use of the total body. Being comfortable with moving the skateboard along and knowing how to maneuver it in tricky situations is a key factor in enjoying the ride. Also, having the right gear, a good quality skateboard and practicing safety is vitally important. So, do your homework and get the necessary equipment and gear in place before you shove off!

Hopping on Public Transportation

Taking the bus is not as difficult as it may seem. As a matter of fact, when I used to ride the bus to work, I found it to be very relaxing — a definite de-stressor! It gave me time to read and just have some quiet time. Having a schedule of the times and routes is the key to enjoying the ride on public transportation. If you can schedule your trips during off-peak hours, you will find your ride so much more enjoyable — less noise and less over-crowding. Pull out a good book, magazine, newspaper or your iPod and have a wonderful ride.

Parking the car and using other means of getting from Point A to Point B has its benefits. You will definitely save money on gasoline. You will also help improve the environment and cut down on all those auto emissions and pollutants. Burning belly fat is also a very good benefit of walking, bicycling or skateboarding our way around instead of driving. Another great benefit derived from parking the car is bringing more calmness into your life and decreasing stress. Driving in traffic, especially rush-hour traffic, greatly increases stress in our lives. Stepping away from the car and stepping into some walking shoes is a great way to get fit, burn belly fat, and decrease the level of stress in our lives.

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I’m an emotional eater. When I’m under stress, I eat. I have a long list of foods I crave when I’m under stress, like chips, soda, cookies and chocolate candy. The more I worry, the more I eat. The more I eat, the more weight I gain because the foods I choose to eat are not the healthiest foods.

Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits but it has everything to do with gaining control over your emotions. To determine if there are stressors negatively impacting your eating habits, ask yourself the following questions:

Are you dealing with some unresolved issues in your life?

Have you recently been under any stress at work or at home?

Has anything traumatic happened in your life in the past year, like a death, job loss or break up?

Are you more emotional or sad due to hormonal changes or certain medications?

Do you suffer from hormonal changes every month where you find that you are more emotional or sad?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you may be an emotional eater. You may find yourself eating when you are not really hungry. Boredom, feelings of sadness, anxiety, and being under stress are triggers that can cause us to overeat. When these stressors or emotions kick in, you may find yourself reaching for some “comfort” food.

Here are some of the “comfort” foods I reach for when I’m under stress:

* High-fat foods like French fries, fried foods, and chips

* High-carb foods like macaroni-n-cheese, mashed potatoes and bread

* Sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies, and chocolate candy

Do you find yourself reaching for any of these foods when you’re under stress, bored or sad? Are you gaining weight as a result of consuming more fat than you are burning off through exercise?

We must eat in order to live. We get the nutrients our body needs from our food. However, we must be able to control the type of foods and the amount of food we consume in order to not exceed our daily recommended caloric intake.

We can lose weight faster than ever when we are able to manage our emotions. It all starts with knowing if we’re eating because we’re bored, sad, lonely, stressed out, or hungry.

Our emotions and our state of mind play a big role in whether or not we will overeat. Getting this emotional eating under control is of utmost importance if we ever expect to gain control of our weight and lose the excess pounds.

Some of us will readily identify these behaviors and put forth the effort to effectively overcome our emotional eating by eliminating the bad foods from our fridge and cupboards. Some of us may need counseling in order to identify the emotions that are causing us to overeat.

We may need to seek counseling to help us identify the emotions causing us to overeat. A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and family support. Visualization helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion. You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.

We can also enlist the help of our family in helping us gain more control over our eating habits. If we share with them our triggers for stress, for instance, they can be on the lookout for those triggers and help us make healthy food choices. They can also exercise with us and be our accountability partner.

Eating a proper diet full of healthy foods, along with exercise, will increase our immunity, blood flow and circulation, and stimulate positive thinking. Practicing yoga will also enhance the body/mind connection so we don’t eat when we are not hungry.

Finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation. You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food. You’ll also look good when you lose the weight and your confidence level will shoot through the roof!

If you’ve found ways to successfully overcome emotional eating, please share them with us. There are also related blog posts you will find here with helpful tips and information.

Our stress level can get kicked up a notch or two when we are at work.  Having a heavy workload, conflicting priorities, challenging deadlines, difficult co-workers, unpleasant work environments and a multitude of other work-related stressors, can really rob us of our creativity, reduce our performance, and zap us of our energy.  We find ourselves in the midst of a downward spiral feeling overwhelmed, under-appreciated, and deeply depressed.

There is one simple technique you can use to drastically decrease the level of stress in your life.  You use this technique every day but you probably never think about it.   We can eliminate stress in our lives by simply “breathing” all our worries away!

Very few of us realize the importance of utilizing good breathing techniques.   We take breathing for granted.    As a result, we feel the ill-effects of having stress in our lives.  Studies have shown that improper breathing can lead to many stress-related ailments, whether physical, mental or emotional.  Heart disease and high blood pressure are both stress-induced illnesses.  Studies have shown that deep breathing can decreased heart disease and lower blood pressure.

Apart from the health benefits, deep breathing also calms and clears the mind and results in a much better feeling of well-being. It also helps to restore creativity, stimulates memory, and increases vitality.

The act of breathing correctly is much more than inhaling and exhaling air.  It’s a conscious effort to move larger amounts of air through your body so every cell of your body will benefit from the added oxygen. You can easily curb stress by taking a few minutes for yourself this week.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, step away from the situation, refocus your thoughts and devote time to deep, meditative breathing.    Breathing correctly is very important to our overall health and mental well-being.   It’s our body’s best weapon to use against stress. There is no need to worry about stress when you can literally breathe it out of your life.

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Taking five-minute breaks every 2 hours will squeeze more exercises into your daily schedule.  Those 5-minute exercise routines will also give you a firmer and toner body.  You can exercise and get great results right from your work desk, whether at home or at the office.

The only thing you need for these basic exercises is an exercise ball (also called a stability or core ball) and a desire to exercise more!  The exercise ball is a fun, safe way to tone your abs, butt, back, and legs.

Here are a few exercises you can do at your desk to get fit, get trimmed and get back into the swing of things:

• sit up straight on your ball to work your core muscles
• do lunges
• do squats
• do crunches on the exercise ball

The exercise ball is an excellent tool to have in your fitness toolbox.  Tightening those abs and the muscles supporting your back will really help relieve back pain.  It is also a very good for improving your posture.  There are tons of exercises you can do with this ball and you will find that they’re all fun!

Performing these exercises for only 5 minutes every couple of hours will help you get fit a whole lot faster than waiting around until everything aligns up perfectly in the universe to allow you to go jogging or make a trip to the local gym. Get an exercise ball and start tightening those abs and strengthening those muscles today.

You can check out a variety of exercise balls here.  Grab one today and have some fun!

Technorati Tags: 5-minute exercises, ab exercises, exercise ball, get fit, relieve back pain