In today’s fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever to get a good night’s sleep. But at the same time it’s hard for many people to get the sleep they need in order to feel well-rested and fresh the next day due to stress, worries, noise and other distractions.

If you seem to get out of bed every morning feeling just as tired and sleepy as you did when you crawled into it the night before, here are a few tips that just might help you sleep longer and more soundly:

1 – Buy a quality mattress and pillows. The leading cause of insomnia is lying on a mattress that is either too soft or too firm. Likewise, a poorly designed pillow makes it difficult to find a comfortable position for your head and neck.

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When I was a youngster I began playing Little League baseball, and during my first year I became quite a good hitter compared to most of the other kids on my team. But when the next spring rolled around and we began practicing for the new season I had all kinds of trouble hitting the ball.

My coach realized that something was wrong while watching me take batting practice one day. He noticed that my swing and follow-through were as good as ever, but I was squinting terribly in an effort to see the ball. After practice he told my dad what he had witnessed, and after a trip to the optometrist and a new pair of glasses I began hitting like my old self again.

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When it comes to losing weight, your metabolism can be your best friend or your worst enemy. A fast metabolism helps you burn more calories, but a slow one can make losing even a modest amount of weight and keeping it off seem close to impossible. But if you’re one of the many folks whose metabolism is slower than ice-cold molasses, don’t despair. Here are a few tips for helping you speed up your metabolism:

1 – Eat healthy, low calorie foods. Yes, I know it’s been repeated a thousand times over, but it isn’t really how much you eat that makes you gain weight, it’s WHAT you eat. Fruits, leafy green vegetables and lean meats are the way to go for losing weight and boosting your metabolism so that you can keep it off.

2 – Build muscle mass. While you don’t have to become the next Mr. or Ms. Universe, increasing your muscle mass in proportion to your total body weight is essential for increasing your metabolic rate and burning fat. As most everyone knows by now, muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, resulting in faster weight loss with the same amount of caloric intake. I recommend that you concentrate on your upper arms and legs since they contain the largest muscles in the body (which means they’ll burn the most calories). Abdominal exercises are fine as well, but you can forget about getting a set of “6-pack abs” with abdominal exercises alone.

3 – Get plenty of exercise. When muscles work, they burn calories. Even better, they continue burning calories for some time even after you have finished your exercise routine! What kinds of exercise is best for weight loss and control? Well, some experts claim that a  cardio routine such as walking or biking several times a week is well worth the time invested. Others insist that a strength routine such as lifting weights is best. So which group of experts is right? The answer is BOTH of them! Building muscle mass is essential for boosting metabolism and controlling weight (see #2 above), but a disciplined cardio routine will keep the rest of your body healthy and help those calorie burning muscles work their magic even faster.

4 – Keep at it. Healthy living isn’t a short term proposition. To the contrary, for it to be effective you must make it a lifetime endeavor. Studies have shown that yo-yo dieting and weight loss/regain cycles are actually more detrimental to one’s health than simply remaining a little overweight in the first place.

In summary, boosting metabolism and losing / controlling weight can only be achieved long-term by making a lifetime commitment to eat right and exercise. There are no shortcuts (at least there are no safe ones).

About the author: Vince Tappert rode the weight loss roller coaster for years before having a stroke at the relatively young age of 41. After his recovery he embarked on a serious weight loss and fitness routine incorporating everything he talked about in this article, and today he is quite fit and healthy even as he approaches his 67th year on planet earth.

Getting older can be traumatizing for both men and women alike. When you start to feel like you have less energy and look more tired and ragged, it is enough to bring on an emotional crisis.

Due to the increasing focus on youth and looks within the media, it is hard to turn on the television or read a magazine and not to feel like you could look a little bit better than you do. Women are most directly affected by the messages in these forms of media, but men also experience negative thoughts about how well they are aging.

If you feel less vigorous and more haggard than you once were, you have plenty of options to get back on track. One of the most important ways to feeling more youthful is taking care of your body from the inside.

Exercise is vital to those that wish to live long and stay healthy. Cancer, heart disease, and hypertension are only some of the factors that affect middle-aged men and women today.

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It is estimated that 25% of women and 8% of men will get a migraine headache at some point during their lifetime. It therefore stands to reason that migraine headache relief is foremost in many people’s minds.

Migraines are a serious problem not only in the United States, where over 29 million people are affected, but throughout rest of the world as well. Many often wonder if there is any way to alleviate their distress once an attack is underway, but this article will look at some alternatives.

To put it mildly, migraine headaches are very painful and severe. They usually occur on one side of the head and are accompanied by several symptoms including sensitivity to light and noise, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms can last a few hours or for as long as two to three days.

Some over-the-counter medications such as aspirin and ibuprofen have been found to give temporary migraine relief. The good thing about these is that they can be obtained without a prescription, however you will still need to monitor your intake of them in order to prevent becoming over medicated.

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