Everyone snores occasionally but it’s a problem if you are disturbing yourself, your sleep partner or your neighbors. Snoring interrupts sleep patterns which can lead to sleep deprivation. The effects of deprivation can include low energy, foggy thinking and daytime sleepiness. The lack of oxygen flowing to the brain that occurs when someone snores can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

With all that could go wrong from your snoring, which could include sleeping on the couch, here’s a few tips that might help you out.

1. Lose Weight - if you are overweight, lose it. Excess fat around the neck can cause the airway to block so exercise regularly to develop good muscle tone.
2. Sleep on your side - most people snore less or stop snoring if they sleep on their sides. There are gadgets made to prevent you from rolling onto your back but the simplest is to sew a tennis ball into the back of your pajamas.
3. Elevate the head of your bed 4″ - This will force your tongue and jaw into proper position that can reduce snoring.
4. Stop smoking - smoking damages the respiratory system.
5. Don’t eat before bed – especially dairy products as they build up mucus that can obstruct airflow.
6. Don’t drink alcohol before bed - Alcohol will relax your central nervous system and cause the muscles of your throat and jaw to relax.
7. Avoid sedatives - for the same reason as avoiding alcohol.
8. Fresh air - keep the room well ventilated and at least 3 degrees cooler than you do during the day. If the air is very dry use a humidifier to add some moisture back into the air.

One small tip for the person being subjected to the snoring…Go to bed before the snorer. Go early enough so that you have the chance to get into a deep sleep. Usually a deep sleep will prevent you from hearing the noise.

If these tips don’t help the next stop is the doctor’s office. There are medical gadgets that might be useful or there are medical procedures that can be done to eliminate snoring. However, if you or your partner stops breathing while sleeping, this is a sign of something much more serious. Make an immediate appointment with your doctor to discuss and be tested for sleep apnea.

You thought that training, no matter how hard or in any conditions, is good? You have it wrong because your body will not think the same and you may end up exposing yourself to accidents. You should also understand that without a proper diet, fitness is nothing and you are not going to get the results you want. Here are our tips for better fitness.

1. Adapt the program to your needs. You can browse the web for fitness programs and rest assured you’ll find a lot, but keep in mind that those are general training ideas which you should improve just by making it very personal.
2. Too much of a good thing is never good. Think wisely because too much training is not going to give you any healthy benefits but more stress to your muscles. Don’t stay longer than 90 minutes at the gym and try not to exceed 4 days a week, because you will end up exhausted and set yourself up for accidents.
3. Change routine. How would you react to eating exactly the same thing every day? The same can happen with your exercise. If you have a good program and alternate group muscles, cardio exercises and maybe swimming you’re going to be much more motivated. Another reason is that our body has a very good memory, and will not improve much because it already knows what you’re going to.
4. Secret revealed for six-pack abs. Sit-ups, crunches, lifting legs are all good but for strengthening your ab muscles. Those kind of exercise are not going to take the fat away because you need to change your diet and to start some cardio training on the thread-mill. This is only way to lose fat.
5. Stretching is good. Everyone stretches even if it’s involuntarily. In theory it’s said that when you stretch your muscles gain flexibility and mobility so you should do it not only before you start training but even at home. My advice: don’t stretch for more than 7-10 seconds if you’re young and still growing, otherwise try not to stay longer than 30 seconds. Benefits of stretching are better mental health, less painful menstruation for women and less accidents if you do it before training.
6. Cardio is good, but diversify. If you are more or less over-weight then I am sure your first pick was cardio exercise, which in fact is good, but you should think that the biggest “factory” that is going to consume fats are your muscles. Why do you need those fats “eaten”, because this is how you lose weight. Cardio training will not get you muscles, therefore you should include weights in your program.
7. Proper breathing helps. Many will say that I have an addiction with breathing because I always advise to breath properly, but I do not. Breathing is extremely important to concentrate and for bringing oxygen to your blood, so you should do it the right way, if not each and every minute, then at least when you train.
8. Protect your heart. No one will give you any medals or build you a statue if you will run on the thread-mill hundreds of miles in just a few hours. Our heart is not designed to run full speed for a long long time, therefore make sure you take breaks when you’re training and make sure your not lifting excessive weights. Remember you’re going to the gym to train not to win the marathon.
9. Remember your friends. How can this be called advice you ask? If you are going to train every day just to lose those 5lbs that you want gone, I am almost sure there will be less time for going out, fun or for meeting friends. They may feel neglected and hurt which you don’t want. Remember to make time for a coffee with your best friend or a movie with your beloved. Why not get a friend with you at the gym, this way you can talk while you exercise.

These are a few tips that will make you achieve what you thought of. Hope they help.

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Last time I covered choosing the size of your head. I talked about ego and how to not let your managerial head get too big.

Choose to Seek Out and Accept Criticism

Seeking out other people’s opinions on your performance is not a sign of weakness but one of confidence. Obviously, you should not be running around saying “How’d I do? Did I do OK? Am I good?” every 5 minutes but regularly asking for feedback offers several opportunities.

Firstly, it makes you approachable. If you are open to criticism, the team members won’t feel threatened to approach you with their comments and ideas. Nobody is perfect and open, honest communication can only be of benefit.

Secondly, the hardest personnel evaluation you will ever have to perform is of yourself. It is easier to see the strengths and weakness in others than oneself so having other people’s perspectives gives you more information.

As a result, a third benefit is that this new information will, or at least should, force you to use that information in your self-review. Evaluate the criticisms, as well as the praises, for validity. If you find that there is something that is adversely affecting your leadership ability, find ways to change. Do not make it a self-esteem issue, stick to viewing it as a performance issue. Everyone can improve themselves and denying or ignoring that fact will not only limit your leadership abilities but will also, over time, erode them.

Check back in next week when I will talk about the importance of commitment to your company.

For most of us going to the doctor is a tough choice. You need to get the family yelling at you for being irresponsible and that you could die, before you make a visit to the hospital. This could be the sign of a bad communication between you and your doctor or maybe just being afraid of finding out your problems. So here is what I could think of, when it comes to your doctor.

You have a great doctor if …

1. He is easy to be found. I am not only talking about finding him at the office during working hours, but mostly outside those hours. Getting a “phone-consultation” for your urgent issue would be really helpful if the problem is not a matter of life and death. It can spare you a trip to his office if he can help you out on the phone.

2. He is friendly. A real doctor should know how to make you feel comfortable no matter what problem you experience. A real doctor has his ways of making you come to a check up. He should be a medical specialist and a human specialist, too.

3. Knows how to listen. I’ve been to a few doctors that always jumped to conclusions when I had to tell the story of why I am in their office. They always stop you when talking and they always know better what really happened. A real doctor won’t make you feel unpleasant with the problem you’re presenting, because he knows how to listen.

However not all people are good, so neither are all doctors. Therefore, you should know when a doctor is not good for you anymore and you should change him as soon as possible because it’s not in your best interest.

You should change your doctor when …

1. He only talks super technical terms. The common person, that has little experience with hospitals or doctors, won’t understand those super tech terms that describes illness. Unless your doctor gives details in “earth-terms” you will not really understand what’s wrong with you without the use of a medical dictionary. You and your doctor should speak the same language.

2.You’re buried with medical treatments. That’s not a good sign. It’s either that you’re extremely sick or you doctor doesn’t have the time to listen to your problem and a mishmash of medical treatments is the easiest way to kick you out of his office. If you get pills for those 3 headaches a year you’re having, that’s not a sign of a good doctor.

I hope you will give it a good thought of how good your doctor is and how much he can help you from now on. Stay healthy!

Eating healthy these days can be pretty hard, not only because you like meat and deep fried foods so much but because healthy foods are hard to find and hard to prepare if you don’t have the time. Since you’ve mandated yourself to give your body better fuel I am going to give you 4 things you should eat more often and 3 that you should keep out of your meals.

Almonds are rich in B6 vitamin, Calcium and Magnesium that will give you a peaceful state of mind and will keep blood pressure balanced. Almonds are considered very good for women because it will help during the period and can prevent osteoporosis.

Onions, which give taste to your foods is very rich in fibers, that will boost your digestive system functions, vitamin C which is considered (exaggerated) the universal panacea and contain folic acid, which is necessary for the maintenance of the new cells.

Peppers, contain more vitamin C than oranges and favors collagen formations. If you wonder what is collagen good for, then you should know is widely used in cosmetic surgery because it keeps your skin elastic or used for surgical purposes. I am not talking about those hot peppers here.

Nuts, are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids and fibers. If you are a vegetarian that does not eat fish or sea food, which are also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, you should know that nuts are a great substitute. Sprinkle a few nuts in your salad every day, or when you’re hungry grab a few and eat them. They are great for your body, with no cholesterol, but don’t abuse eating nuts because you’ll get more calories than you want, and you’ll gain weight.

Rice cookies. I wonder how many of you will say something to me for telling you that you should avoid rice cookies but here is the truth. The rice contains sugars which will go directly to your blood and increase your sugar levels, which will give you a saturation sensation, that will go away soon.

Diet cream cheese. Again I’m making enemies, but you should know that cream cheese has lots of sugar added to make it taste better. I know it’s tempting but why not choose some fruits instead?

Juice is one thing you should avoid, mainly from the supermarket. That is because with the added sugar it has a lot of calories, not to mention those added ingredients that make it last on the shelves 4-6 months in case no one buys it. Make your own juice. It’s cheaper and healthier.