by B.J. Armstrong

Is your health a trick or treat? Don't trick yourself into thinking you are okay without a doctor's yearly check-up. Take a moment, put your hand on your heart. Think about its beat...how important is your health to you and your loved ones? Commit to making your life a healthy one.

Exercise. Start by getting regular moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.
Nutrition. Healthy food choices can help reduce many things. Just to name a few: Stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and excess body weight.

Let's go over just a few, simple things that we can do for a treat to our body.

Laughing aloud can boost your metabolism by 20%. Laughing also increases blood flow and may reduce the risk of heart disease. No one to talk and laugh with...read some funny jokes and laugh out loud!

Vacuuming gives muscles in your upper body a good workout. Include stairs and tone the lower body as well. A cleaner house controls asthma and allergies, dust mites, and pollen.

Walking, bending, stretching, and lifting is very good exercise. Include all of these into cleaning up trash and litter around your neighborhood. Collecting recyclables (bottles, cans, etc.) makes the roadway look better, plus helps to get in your exercise for the day.

Do you like pretending? Well, then pretend that you are conducting an imaginary orchestra. The gestures and body movements of conducting will boost your pulse rate and, over time, strengthen your heart.

Remember the 1950s Hula-Hoops? Well, this exercise-oriented hoop gives a good cardiovascular workout. It also builds stamina and improves agility and strength.

Halloween costumes can be scary, but even more scary is some disease lurking inside our bodies. More than 1/3 of Americans with diabetes and high blood pressure are unaware that they have these killers.

The Halloween treat to our tricky problems is regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and a visit to the doctor. 

Also, keep your pets inside, away from trick-or-treaters. You might consider keeping them in a separate room so they'll feel less frightened by the noisy, costumed children.

Treat yourself to better health today.

It's Fall. Time for the flu shot. And, perhaps a swine flu shot also. One thing is for certain, shared telephones and computer keyboards are among the most germ-laden things there are, among others. Doctors are stressing that you need to keep your hands clean!

Washing hands will help to lower common viruses that cause stomach upsets and diarrhea getting an upper hand. Also, carry a hand sanitizer with you whenever you go out. Stay Healthy!

"I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween!" - Unknown