Chuck Norris begChuck Norris began using the Total Gym over 20 years ago. He decided to become a Total Gym endorser because he has seen first-hand what a tremendous difference this machine makes to anyone who wants to build muscle, lose weight, boost cardio endurance, and increase overall fitness. The Total Gym is the only piece of home fitness equipment Chuck Norris uses! 

Christie Brinkley has developed a Pilates regimen for Total Gym that helps her stay in shape and feel great.

Every year thousands of women or just people want to loose weight, but can't or won't or don't know how to loose those pounds.  A person has to realize and recognize their own desire to loose weight and more importantly you have to be focused every day and please have a daily plan on what you will eat, how you will exercise, and how many glasses of water or fluids you will partake of.  Drink plenty of water!

Great bodies take great work, changing your destructive eating habits and loosing weight is a continous work in progress until you achieve your goal.

Question:  Can I eat peanut butter every day as a breakfast substitue?

Answer:    Just eating peanut butter every morning is not nutritious, peanut butter and peanuts are healthy foods and provide protein and healthy fat.  Eating peanut butter every morning does not provide variety, and is not balanced.

         EXERCISE !   

Pink Breast Cancer Ribbon

Artist: Don Romero

What is the breast comprised of?

The breast is a collection of glands and fatty tissue that lies between the skin and the chest wall. The glands inside the breast produce milk after a woman has a baby. Each gland is also called a lobule, and many lobules make up a lobe. There are 15 to 20 lobes in each breast. The milk gets to the nipple from the glands by way of tubes called ducts. The glands and ducts get bigger when a breast is filled with milk, but the tissue that is most responsible for the size and shape the breast is the fatty tissue. There are also blood vessels and lymph vessels in the breast. Lymph is a clear liquid waste product that gets drained out of the breast into lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small, pea-sized pieces of tissue that filter and clean the lymph. Most lymph nodes that drain the breast are under the arm in what is called the axilla.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control and can then invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body. Large collections of this out of control tissue are called tumors. However, some tumors are not really cancer because they cannot spread or threaten someone's life. These are called benign tumors. The tumors that can spread throughout the body or invade nearby tissues are considered cancer and are called malignant tumors. Theoretically, any of the types of tissue in the breast can form a cancer, but usually it comes from either the ducts or the glands. Because it may take months to years for a tumor to get large enough to feel in the breast, we screen for tumors with mammograms, which can sometimes see disease before we can feel it.

What are the signs of breast cancer?

Unfortunately, the early stages of breast cancer may not have any symptoms. This is why it is important to follow screening recommendations. As a tumor grows in size, it can produce a variety of symptoms including:

• lump or thickening in the breast or underarm
• change in size or shape of the breast
• nipple discharge or nipple turning inward
• redness or scaling of the skin or nipple
• ridges or pitting of the breast skin

If you experience these symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean you have breast cancer, but you need to be examined by a doctor.

In the United States, the rate of new cases of breast cancer has been increasing by a little over one percent a year since the 1940’s. In the 1980’s, the rate of new cases rose markedly (likely due to increased screening) and has since begun to level off . An estimated 212,920 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2006 alone . In 1975, the incidence (the number of new cases) of breast cancer was 107 per 100,000 for white women and 94 per 100,000 for black women. Twenty-seven years later in 2002, the number of new cases per year had risen to 138 per 100,000 for white women and 120 per 100,000 for black women .

Even though incidence increased during that 26-year period, mortality (the rate of death) for white women decreased. In 1975, 32 per 100,000 white women died of breast cancer, but by 2002, the figure had declined to 25. For black women, though, mortality increased over the same period, rising from 30 per 100,000 black women in the population in 1975 to 34 per 100,000 in 2002.

TIP:  EXERCISE DAILY, EVEN AS YOU SIT IN YOUR CAR - RAISE THOSE LEGS, STRETCH THOSE ARMS EXERCISE AT WORK UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS FLEXING YOUR CALVES, FINGERS, AND ARMS. AT HOME RUN IN PLACE TO A COUNT OF A HUNDRED, BEFORE YOU GET OUT OF BED EACH DAY DO LEG LIFTS AND SITUPS, JUST PROMISE YOURSELF AND ME TO DO A LITTLE SOMETHING.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR OTHER HEALTH INFO)   

OCTOBER IS NATIONAL BREAST CANCER MONTH !

Rejoice in who you are, Start by taking care of you, Emotionally, and Physically, You can't replace you...So make the most of who you are .

There are approximately 34.7 million African Americans in the United States—Blacks thus comprise about 12 percent of the total U.S. population.

There are 11.9 million Asian Americans (including those of mixed race). They comprise  4.2 percent of the total U.S. population.

Mexican Americans number more than 20 million and represent more than half of the Hispanic population in the United States.

BreastCancer.Org  

What is menopause? Menopause occurs when menstruation ceases for a period of one year; the ten to fifteen years prior to menopause are called perimenopause. Surgical menopause occurs when the ovaries are removed usually during hysterectomy.

• Menopause happens in life, to women, it is the slow end to your ovaries changing.
• Menopause can come early in women between the ages of 15-44, something called "estrogen crash", which is a sudden drop in estrogen levels, can leave a women in its clutches.

Some Sympthoms: Hot Flashes, hot, hot, you just break out in a sweat, this hot heat comes from where, it is unknown but here are somethings that can contribute to an outbreak of "hot flashes":

• Hot weather
• Hot or spicy foods
• Alcohol
• Caffeine

Ladies, did you know that, wow, so after you have had that morning cup of coffee, and you have that extra hot flash you know that it is bought on by caffeine.  So if you want to decrease the "hot flashes" decrease some of the above mentionables. Also you may experience a loss of sleep, going to bed at the normal time but finding yourself waking up several times during the night, rising early the next morning feeling groggy, and irritable.  You may want to speak to your doctor about sympthoms.

FYI

Puberty

This is the age when body changes begin and breasts develop. A young girl begins to have a monthly period, often around 12-1/2 years of age.

Perimenopause

This probably begins about 3 to 5 years before your last menstrual period. It lasts until 12 months after your final period. Some signs or symptoms of menopause may appear during this time.

Menopause

The event that marks menopause is your final menstrual period. You will know for sure that you have experienced menopause when you have not had a period in a year. Only then can you be sure that you are no longer able to get pregnant.

Postmenopause

Because this time follows menopause, it begins with your final period and lasts the rest of your life. Like menopause, you do not know you are there until 1 year later. The signs of menopause usually go away in a few years. You no longer have to worry about periods or getting pregnant. You are, however, at greater risk for some health problems.

Have you had your yearly breast exam and the other exams listed below?  A well-woman check is just what your Doctor would order, and what you would need for your own peace of mind.  If you are over the age of 40 a breast exam is required yearly.

• Clinical Breast Exam by your Dr. 
• Mammogram
• Blood Tests
• Pelvic Exam and Pap Smear
• General Physical Exam
• Follow up exams after six months and one year

En Espanol - Es tiempo de que se haga un examen depapanicolau y una mamografia? Tiene usted 40 anos o mas?

• Examen de los senos
• Mammography
• Examen vaginal y un examen papanicolau
• Examen fisico
• A los 6 messes se repetira un breva examen y al ano se repetira el examen completo

Cancer Surpasses Heart Disease as Number One Cause of Death

 in Americans Under Age 85