Tag Archives: bob greene

Click and Connect: 3 Ways to Stay in Touch with Your M.D.

by Bob Greene for The Best Life.com

The routine goes something like this: You decide you need to see your doctor so you make an appointment. You show up at your scheduled time and wait in the waiting room. You get called into an exam room and wait some more. Someone—a nurse or PA—eventually stops in to do some routine checks. After some more waiting, you finally get to see your doctor. The visit lasts all of about 10 minutes, during which time you try your best to ask all the questions you have (hopefully you’ve remembered to write them down) and share information about whatever issue has brought you into the office.

Bob Greene Click and Connect

Doesn’t exactly seem like the best use of your time—but what other options do you have? Plenty—and many of them can be found online. Over half of Americans are interested in their doctors taking to Facebook and Twitter so they can interact with them via social media.

Facebook: Almost one-third of doctors have accepted friend requests from their patients on Facebook, says research from George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences. It’s also possible that they have a professional “page” instead of a personal one that you can access.

(more…)

Bob Greene’s Six No-Cost Workout Items

by Bob Greene for TheBestLife.com

Bob Greene playground swingSix No-Cost Workout Items

Think you need a pricey gym membership or fancy gear or gadgets to get a good workout? Think again. You can work your muscles and challenge your cardio using things you already have around your home or office. Check out these six household, office or everyday items that can double as workout equipment:

1. Stapler/Tape Dispenser
Use these office staples as weights to do arm exercises, including a lat raise: Stand straight up and let your arms hang at your sides. Slowly lift your arms up and straight out from your sides, stopping when your hands reach shoulder height (your arms will form a “T” with your body). Slowly lower your arms back down and repeat 10 to 15 times.

2. A Kitchen Drawer 
Strengthen arms with a cabinet curl, a move similar to a bicep curl, using an open (and sturdy) kitchen drawer. To learn how, click here.

3. Your Desk
Lean against it to perform a standing pushup. To do it, put your hands shoulder-width apart on the edge of the desk so your thumb is under the desk and your fingers are on top. Walk your feet back away from the desk about two feet to form a straight line from your shoulders to your heels. Keep your core tight and your head in a neutral position. Lower your body toward the desk, then push back up to start. You can do it every time you stand up from your desk, or do a set of 10.

(more…)

Chef Sebastien Archambault’s Toasted Farro Recipe Offers DC’s Blue Duck Tavern Diners More Whole Grains

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., Best Life lead nutritionist

Ever notice how hard it is to find a whole grain in a restaurant? That’s why I was surprised—and thrilled—to see “Toasted Farro” on the menu of Washington D.C.’s highly acclaimed Blue Duck Tavern. Farro is an ancient form of wheat grown in the Middle East and Italy; it’s a wild ancestor to the cultivated wheat we use now.

farro blue duck tavern

I loved the dish—it was both chewy and hearty. The mild-tasting grain was infused with flavors of lemon and herbs. I managed to wrangle the recipe, below, from Chef Sebastien Archambault. A stickler for using fresh, local ingredients, Archambault grew up in France and Texas and has worked with world-famous chefs such as Alain Ducasse. I guess that unusual upbringing is what it takes to put whole grains on the menu! (more…)

Your Dusk-to-Dawn Guide to Weight Loss

By Team Best Life

The simple choices we make day in and day out—such as when to exercise or what time to hit the sack—can have a huge effect on how many calories we burn, and thus, how much weight we lose. Read on to learn how to get the most out of your day.

alarm

Start your day with a healthy breakfast. Eating breakfast within an hour of waking will help jump-start your metabolism and sets the stage for a day of healthy eating. Get bonus points by pumping up the protein at your morning meal: Research from the University of Missouri showed that the more protein you consume at breakfast, the fewer cravings for processed foods you’ll have throughout the day. Even better? People who have a protein-packed breakfast (which increases levels of leptin, the hormone that triggers feelings of fullness) eat an average of 200 calories less during the day. (more…)

4 Good Reasons to Have Sex Tonight

By Team Best Life

Too busy to get busy? There are some pretty impressive health benefits associated with regular rolls in the hay that make it well worth incorporating sex into your life as frequently as possible. It turns out, getting lucky can help you get healthy! We’ll explain how.

couple sex

It’s heart-healthy. A Scottish study found that couples who had sex more often over a two-week period did their heart a favor by lowering blood-pressure levels. Blood pressure was monitored during stressful situations, and those who got it on regularly showed their heart didn’t have to work extra hard to move blood around their bodies.

It’s a stress-buster. When your brain registers that you’re having an orgasm, it releases the hormone oxytocin (also called the “love hormone”), which has been shown to have a role in reducing stress. And even just physical contact, without doing the actual deed, provides benefits; A study out of Northwestern University showed that couples who kiss and hug are far less tense and have more elevated moods than those who don’t. (more…)

Just Start Saying ‘No’ to Get More Time to Build Healthier Habits

By Team Best Life

The people-pleasers and overachievers among us are always told that we need to get better at saying no—but sometimes deciding what you say no to is more challenging than actually saying the word. Check out these suggestions for taking back your time in a smart and efficient way.

Say No (Thank You) To…

fitness time
Excess meal prep and cleanup. Try lining your pans with foil for easy cleaning, or buy pre-cut veggies and fruits for various meals to limit preparation time. Love gadgets? From immersion blenders to hand choppers to slow cookers, there are myriad ways to save time and sanity in almost every step of the meal-prep process.

Daily TV time. Save up your must-see shows and watch a few together, bypassing commercials. Why? It condenses your TV-watching time while opening up other time slots. It also helps build anticipation—you’ll feel rewarded for the time you’ve earned. (more…)

Berry Bliss: 4 Ways to Boost Your Antioxidant Intake

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., Best Life lead nutritionist

My phytonutrient intake is pretty good year-round, but it skyrockets in the summer thanks to strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. That’s the time these antioxidant-packed berries are in season, and, finally, affordable!

Here’s why I love each of these berries.

berries

Blueberries. One of nature’s most potent antioxidants—anthocyanins—give these berries their purple-blue color. They’ve been shown to help fight age-related declines in memory and cognition, plus they help keep arteries clear. They’re also delicious—plain, in a crisp, or in these ultra-healthy waffles. This recipe calls for frozen berries, but now that blueberries are in season, you can sub in fresh berries, which will be sweeter and more tender. (more…)

Make “Good Enough” Your Goal

By Team Best Life

If you decided today to join a gym and workout every day, never once missing a workout, would you give up if you couldn’t stick to it? When you try to control your food intake by sticking to unrealistic rules, you’re headed for the same kind of “failure”—and that’s not fair to you.

Stop aiming for perfection. Instead, make “good enough” your goal. This approach can often mean the difference between success and failure. Here are some tips to help you part with perfection.

hip girl

Give in a little bit. Potato chips may be your undoing, but banishing them completely from your diet can be too tough to take. Instead of having to avoid the pantry because you’re afraid you’ll eat the whole bag of chips, buy individual-serving packages to satisfy your cravings on occasion. If you love chocolate or pizza, allow yourself one ounce piece per day, like these Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bars, or limit your pizza to two veggie-packed slices per week, with a homemade Whole Wheat Crust. When we’re too rigid with our food choices, we can’t help but rebel. (more…)

The Social Media Diet Can Help You Manage Your Weight Loss

By Team Best Life

Support is a huge part of the formula for weight loss success. Study after study* shows that people who have support fare better than those who go solo. But does electronic support—in the form of social media—count? Studies say it does. Learn how to take advantage of Facebook and Twitter to help meet your weight loss goals.

smartphone

Post your trials… Eaten too much today? A Facebook group can be a safe place to share a small fall off the wagon—and get motivation from others who are losing weight.

… and Victories. Have you come up with a great snack option that helps curb your appetite for the less healthy stuff? Tweet it to those who can use it—you’ll feel great to be able to share. (Use hashtag #weightloss for a good start.) (more…)

Take the Decaf Challenge and Enjoy More Health Benefits from Coffee

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., Best Life lead nutritionist

Need that morning cup of coffee or tea to “really” wake up? If so, you’ve developed a caffeine tolerance. That basically means that caffeine has lost its edge—instead of giving you an extra boost of energy, it simply brings you to the level where you’d be without caffeine. My caffeine conclusion: I have more energy overall without it.

coffee

This isn’t just my own personal observation—research backs me up. Caffeine (coffee, tea, or caffeine pills) may offer an immediate spike in mood and alertness, but it doesn’t last. In fact, caffeine could make you feel little more tired and moody later in the day, according to research at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. (more…)

Experts Agree, Sitting in a Sunlighten Sauna Offers Vast Health and Weight Loss Benefits

Is it possible to sit perfectly still and manage to lose weight and even improve your health? A 2024 study from the University of British Columbia* says it’s so, specifically with the use of a Sunlighten sauna. This 2024 study found that when the Sunlighten sauna was used three times a week in 20-minute sessions, the user lost weight and reduced waist circumference (which is often a better determination of overall health than scale weight).

sunlighten logo

Another study conducted at the University of Missouri at Kansas City** found that 30-minute sessions three times a week in a Sunlighten sauna even lowered the user’s blood pressure. And still, more research hails the benefits of consistent sauna use.

One study showed that using a sauna every other day for two weeks was associated with increased fat metabolism and lower cholesterol,” reported Dr. Jessica Wu, Daily Glow’s Dermatology Expert. She explained that the heat produced by the sauna will obviously make you sweat, and that if you sweat enough, “you will temporarily lose water weight.” As well, since heat reduces appetite, she explained that some people may have less of an appetite after a session in the sauna.

So what is this Sunlighten sauna that seems to be changing the health of its users? It’s not your typical sauna, as the results clearly show. There are no hot rocks or steam, instead, Sunlighten uses Solocarbon far infrared heat – which is the same type of energy that is naturally produced by the sun. (more…)