Steps to better health:

Step 1: Balance - Too much of anything can be bad for your health.  Eat in moderation, exercise in moderation, and rest in moderation

Step 2: Water - Drink several glasses of pure water everyday.  Drink it an hour before and after meals to prevent dilution of your stomach acids, which enable proper digestion

Step 3: Clean air - Get fresh air outside everyday.  Breathe deeply to take oxygen deep into your body.  Go for a walk with a friend everyday.

Step 4: Sunlight - Just fifteen minutes of sunlight on your skin gives your body the essential vitamin D it needs.  Vitamin D helps ensure strong bones with the proper amounts of calcium and phosphorous.

Step 5: Exercise - Exercising in fresh air helps your body cleanse itself of poisons and wastes.  Fresh air fills your cells with oxygen. Exercise in a way that makes you happy and fits naturally into your day, such as biking or walking to work and walking or running with a friend.

Step 6: Rest - Your body and mind need enough rest to function at peak efficiency.  Get plenty of rest every night.  Everyone needs a break from work and time to relieve stress. Give yourself some downtime and try to get as close to eight hours of sleep every night as you can.

Step 7: Nutrition - We are only as healthy as what we put into our bodies.  According to current medical information, most of the degenerative diseases that plague modern America, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancers, and stroke, are primarily the result of improper diet.  Every cell in our bodies is created from the nutrition we consume.  Superior nutrition can make all the difference.

The Next Steps to better health should be the following:

Make your heart a healthy heart. Unfortunately, many of us don't think about heart problems until we are already in danger. Cardiovascular disease is a major problem. So why don't we learn how to prevent it and live a more heart healthy lifestyle?

A healthy heart continuously pumps blood through the body without effort. The blood moves from the heart into the arteries, then into the small tubes called capillaries, then into the veins which lead back to the heart. This process brings nourishment and oxygen to the cells, organs, muscles and bones.To help reduce some of the risks, we need to start developing heart healthy habits now, before we have to hear it from our Doctors mouth, that we are in danger of this terrible disease. Let's begin a list of things we should do to help prevent this and jumpstart our hearts!

• No Smoking
• Keep our Cholesterol down- see below for more details on cholesterol
• Limit stress
• Control Blood Pressure
• Eat Healthy
• Exercise regularly
• Watch our weight
• Celebrate when we achieve new goals, like doing something for yourself that we normally would not do. So when we set more challenging obstacles for ourselves we will be more apt to focus on it than to fail. Then we will see the prize at the end, that leads to a new and inviting path, not a dead end!

Then you want to keep your Cholesterol levels healthy.

Refer to this page when you go and get your CHOLESTEROL levels checked and be sure to ask your Doctor about anything you do not know:

CHOLESTEROL- This soft, waxy substance is found in your bloodstream and cells. Your body needs some cholesterol, too much of this substance can lead to heart disease.

LDL - "BAD" cholesterol... too much LDL can cause plaque to form, which could clog your arteries. Antioxidants can help keep your arteries supple and strong.

HDL- "GOOD" cholesterol ...higher levels appear to help protect us from heart attacks.

TRIGLYCERIDES(TG)-This is where the body stores our fat. Low levels of TG is best.

Where does your Cholesterol fall? See our chart below.

                            Best Level          Borderline Risk          High Risk

Cholesterol #     Less than 200            200-239           240 And Above

LDL mg/dl       Less than 130            130-159           160 And Above

HDL mg/dl       More Than 60            40-59              Less Than 40

TG mg/dl          Less than 150           150-199            More Than 200