Amy Rushlow

Is your tummy hurting again? Understanding your gut type can be the first step to feeling better.

Excerpted from Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It by Dr. Josh Axe.

We know that the body’s organs and systems are inextricably linked — the health of each is dependent upon, and affects, all others. When it comes to leaky gut, multiple systems throughout the body are involved. Following every thread of this delicate web is part of the diagnostic process that helps us identify leaky gut. Once we have that diagnosis, we can turn our attention back to the web that created it and address each individual thread in our treatment.

Treating thousands of patients over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how unique every person’s health story really is. For some, the root cause of their leaky gut might be candida overgrowth. For others, it might be immune system dysfunction. When specific body systems are not functioning optimally, the path may require a slightly different approach to healing. If you can zero in on what’s going awry in your body and identify the weakest link, you can begin to fix systemic problems at their source. 

Related: Leaky Gut: What It Is and How to Heal It

To learn your personal gut type, take my 30-second quiz at isyourgutleaking.com. This quiz can help you to determine which gut type best reflects your situation. Once you have your gut type, type‐specific modifications detailed in my book Eat Dirt may help. If you’ve been hoping for more dramatic results, you may find these specific guidelines are just what you need. 

The Five Gut Types

Read through the following list to see if any of the gut types seem similar to your individual health status. Do you see yourself in any of these descriptions?

1. Candida gut, related to yeast overgrowth, is often caused by birth control pills and a diet high in sugar and foods that cause “dampness,” such as cow’s milk dairy, bananas, and wheat. Candida gut is related to the earth and fire elements in Chinese medicine. 

   
2. Stressed gut happens when emotional stress, excess sugar, and carbohydrate consumption stress the adrenals, kidneys, and thyroid, which then cause leaky gut. Stressed gut is related to the water element in Chinese medicine. 

   
3. Immune gut is triggered by taking prescription antibiotics and medications, consuming a diet high in inflammatory foods, and going through emotions of grief, depression, and disappointment. These issues can cause weakened immunity, food sensitivities, and inflammatory bowel disease. Immune gut is related to the metal element in Chinese medicine. 

   
4. Gastric gut comes from chronically poor digestion, antacids, and a lack of nutrient absorption that prevents the gut from maintaining healthy organs, which often results in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), acid reflux, bloating, or gas. Gastric gut is related to the fire and earth elements in Chinese medicine. 

   
5. Toxic gut develops when a diet high in bad fats and toxins overworks the liver and gallbladder, and often results in toxicity, gallbladder disease, and skin issues. Toxic gut is related to the wood element in Chinese medicine. 

   

Does any one gut type immediately leap out at you? Normally people get a “gut reaction” (ha!) to the one that fits them best. To help you further determine your particular gut type, take the quiz at eatdirtbook.com/whats-your-gut-type.

What You Need to Know about the Gut Types

Now that you know your gut type, it’s important to understand how to use this information. Keep these key points in mind:

• The gut type quiz tells you what you likely are, but it’s important to listen to your body. Pay attention to how you feel after you eat, and note which foods make you feel good, and which foods seem to be a problem. I recommend starting a food journal to track your reaction to different foods and supplements. 

  
• Your results could change over time as you improve or face different stressors in the future. The body is constantly reacting and changing, so it’s possible to be one gut type now, but a different gut type a year from now when you’re under a new type of stress. As the body changes, you need to change your protocol to support specific organ systems in a different way. 

  
• Be aware that emotions cause organ dysfunction. Everyone experiences multiple emotions daily, but if you’ve recently experienced a major trauma — a death in the family, a serious accident, getting laid off at work — it’s not surprising that you could be experiencing leaky gut. Focus your efforts on relaxation and stress relief first, and be patient with yourself — it may take some time for your body to rebound.
  

Dr. Josh Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine and clinical nutritionist with a passion to help people get healthy by using food as medicine. Dr Axe also has a doctorate in chiropractic. In 2008 he started Exodus Health Center, which grew to become one of the largest natural healthcare clinics in the world. Visit his website at www.DrAxe.com. 

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Celebrity trainer David Kirsch with his daughters, Emilia and Francesca. (Photo courtesy of David Kirsch)

Excerpted from David Kirsch’s Ultimate Family Wellness.

I had always wanted to be a father, but having devoted my entire adult life to my career, I saw little time or opportunity to realize that dream. When the right time came, I did what I always do when I have a goal in mind: I set out with steely-eyed determination on my path.

That process started in 2008, and on August 25, 2009, Emilia and Francesca were born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with my mother at my side in the delivery room. My gestational carrier, Michelle, delivered my two angels. Emilia weighed seven pounds, two ounces, Francesca, six pounds, eight ounces. Michelle remains a part of our lives today. I’ll never forget the feeling of holding my daughters for the first time. My guardian angels — the people no longer here with me, but I know, spiritually, are omnipresent — helped me realize my greatest dream. I held new life in my arms.

Their birth strengthened and enriched my life and gave me new purpose. Being a loving, single father brings me more joy and happiness than I ever before realized. And lessons I have learned as a single parent have helped me evolve as a fitness and wellness professional, too. Healthy living and healthy eating are not just “hashtag” phrases; they are a regular part of my life and my daughters’ lives.

Related: After Kids, Fitness Guru David Kirsch Changed Everything

As a single dad, trainer David Kirsch has found ways to keep his family healthy even when life becomes busy and stressful. (Photo courtesy of David Kirsch)

In the twenty-five years that I have been part of the fitness industry, I have watched many trends come and go. I realized that the myriad resources out there addressing weight loss, body transformation, and diets from fasting to juicing put us on information overload. It is very confusing. What I offer is a single voice, from a single parent, to give you a simple, easy-to-follow wellness guide for you and your family.

FIVE RULES TO LIVE BY

These rules will help you learn how to live in the moment, be accountable, avoid — or at least deal with — stressful situations, believe in yourself, and incorporate healthy living, eating, and exercise into your daily routine. I cannot stress enough the importance of incorporating movement and exercise and making healthy food choices. Make these as much a daily ritual as washing your face and brushing your teeth. When looked at that way, healthy living — through eating and exercise — is hard to live without.

RULE 1: Live in the moment.

We all know people stuck in the past or planning for the future. I’ll often sit with friends and clients, stalled in their wellness programs, mired in the past. To live a healthy, balanced, productive life, you need to live in the present and say to yourself, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” The saying isn’t “Tomorrow is the first day…” I like to look at the past as a series of teaching moments that guide us to where we are and should be in our lives. Carrying the past around like a ball and chain serves no one, least of all, you. While living in the future, “I’m going to start eating better and exercising tomorrow,” opens up that procrastination box. There are so many tomorrows and only one today. Seize the moment now — be all that you can be this very moment.

As I’ve often heard and said, there is no better time than now. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, so, as the proverb says, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Related: 6 Shortcuts to Win at Weeknight Dinners

RULE 2: Be accountable.

It seems like a simple concept yet it often eludes us. How many times do we say to ourselves, “If only he didn’t stress me out so much, I wouldn’t have eaten the pint of ice cream,” or, “I would’ve worked out, but the kids had a rough night and kept me up.” Look, I’ve been there. As a single father of five-year-old girls, I have had my share of sleepless, restless nights, stressful, shortened workdays, and too little time for a proper workout.

As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I often get pulled in so many directions that finding “me time” seems an impossible task. I don’t always have the answer, nor do I always do the right thing, but I refuse to be a passive victim. I own and try to learn from my mistakes.

As parents, we raise our children to be accountable, tell the truth, know right from wrong, and when necessary, have the courage and strength to apologize. As a parent, I like to lead by example and hold myself up to an even stricter standard. There have definitely been times when I’ve said to Emilia and Francesca, “Daddy was wrong for saying or doing _________, and he’s sorry.” You’ll find that accountability is ultimately empowering as it will give you a higher sense of self, which will help enable you to stay the course on your health and wellness program.

Set an example for your family: Hold yourself accountable for your own actions. (Photo courtesy of David Kirsch)

RULE 3: Believe in yourself.

“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” —Christian D. Larson

I am raising Emilia and Francesca with these invaluable tenets. I take great pride and pleasure in listening to my daughters speak Mandarin to each other, ski, play tennis, chess, and piano, and handle difficult situations with grace, poise, and confidence. They are far from perfect, but they do their best, and in so doing, embrace the power of possibility. We can accomplish anything we set our minds and hearts to.

I try to instill that same level of confidence in my clients in our initial consultations and throughout our work together. Successfully completing this program will instill a renewed self-confidence and belief in your abilities.

RULE 4: Don’t let stress sabotage wellness goals.

Stress has been the undoing of many diets and exercise plans. In the name of transparency, I must say, that being a single father of twin girls, though immensely rewarding, can be incredibly stressful at times. I’d like to share with you some of my stress-busting tips:

Five deep breaths. The power of five deep breaths will help diffuse even the most stressful moments. Trust me, I have those days when the stars are not aligned anywhere in my life. It took me a while to learn how to deal with really stressful situations and realizing the power of breathing—allowing that moment to collect yourself—helps immeasurably. I found a quote from a Chinese adage that I really love and want to share with you: “If you know the art of breathing you have the strength, wisdom, and courage of ten tigers.”

Visualization. Find that happy place. When something is stressful, try to remove yourself mentally and physically. Whether it’s the tender moment you had with your partner, child, or friend, a special place you visited and loved, or something extraordinary you did, call upon those moments when you need a mental or spiritual lift.

Exercise. There have been times, too numerous to recall, when a simple set of pushups helped me reconnect to my inner self, calm, and ground me. I learned this from my father, as he would often descend to his “inner sanctum,” his makeshift gym in my childhood home, at the end of a long workday or after a stressful moment in the house. Well, the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Exercise has been the prescription for most that ails me. It has de-stressed me, healed me, and empowered me. Remember, pushups aren’t for everyone. Don’t underestimate the power of walking and moving your body. I watch the effect it has on Emilia and Francesca when, after a long day at school, they head (rather sprint) to gymnastics or soccer. We can all learn from our children; running around and “letting off steam” is good and healthy.

RULE 5: Connect mind and body.

The final rule to live by applies to the exercise we do and the foods we eat. Being mindful of how and what you eat and whether and what you do  for exercise will help guide and enlighten you on the path to total wellness. What goes on inside your head is just as important as the food you eat and the exercises you complete. To maintain the results you get with this or any program, you must make a deep internal change that will flip your motivation switch, helping you stay on your wellness program for the rest of your life. That change will involve, among other things, sound thinking.

For example, do your emotions affect your eating? Do you eat when you are angry, sad, frustrated, or stressed? Do you get so stressed out at work that you have no energy to exercise afterwards? Are you sometimes so depressed that you can’t motivate yourself to get off the couch? If you don’t address the reason you eat the way you do or the way you live your life, you won’t be able to maintain your results.

Read more in David’s latest book, David Kirsch’s Ultimate Family Wellness.

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At The Den in Los Angeles, you sign up for a group meditation session just like you book a SoulCycle class. Bonus: celeb sightings! (Photo courtesy of The Den)

If you can’t remember the last time you actually unplugged and relaxed — or if you aren’t sure you even know how to anymore — then we’ve got good news. Drop-in studios offering both classes and open space for self-guided practice and pop-up meditation events are cropping up across the country.

The rising trend is evident at the new breed of meditation studios now open in New York City and Los Angeles. At The Den in Los Angeles, which just opened its doors this January, classes include a prenatal/fertility option for those trying to conceive or who are already pregnant, 30-minute lunchtime detoxes, candlelight evening sessions and sound baths, which incorporate sound waves produced by creating vibrations on gemstone bowls. At LA’s Unplug, there are also family classes plus those just for kids/teens to help them learn effective coping skills.

Related: The Daily Habit That Can Improve Both Sleep and Sex

Boutique meditation studio MNDFL has a minimalist feel that’s apropos to its hip New York City location. (Photo: Claire Esparros for Homepolish)

Meditation for the Busy Person Who Needs It Most

A more accessible way to meditate makes total sense since the evidence proving meditation’s ability to foster happiness, improve relationships, slow aging, lower blood pressure, and improve immunity continues to pile up. Throw in the fact that many of us are working longer hours than at any time since labor statistics have been kept, and that we actually check our phones twice as often as we think we do — and yeah, figuring out a way to chill sounds like a good idea.  

“We’re burning out from technology overload and constant digital contact,” says Jesse Israel, 30, founder MediClub, a New York-based monthly meditation group and The Big Quiet, a roving mass meditation meet-up that has happened in locations including an urban farm lot in Brooklyn, and a boat that held 700 guests. “As a result, we’re finding ourselves with less time to just be, so we’re craving quiet and introspection,” he tells Yahoo Health.

Related: Want to Keep Your Brain Sharp? You Need to Challenge It

The meditation studio at The Den in LA has a warm, cozy ambiance. (Photo courtesy of The Den)

Today’s “modern meditation” movement, as Israel calls is, blends contemporary lifestyle activities with conscious living. “At our events, we pair meditation in fun, social spaces with DJs and great food to create experiences that are culturally relevant, conscious and accessible,” he explains. In other words, the focus at most of these new events and studios isn’t on meditation’s deep religious roots (at least not in the beginner classes) nor is a particular style of meditation pushed. The point is to learn how to let the mind go and get centered.

Boutique Fitness Influences Meditation Studios

With airy, minimalist spaces that more closely resemble a hip spinning studio or a high-design coffee bar, these places aim to welcome meditators of all levels and backgrounds. “So many people want to try meditation but can’t carve out the time at home—or just don’t know how to get started,” explains Ellie Burrows, co-founder of MNDFL, a New York studio that offers 30- and 45-minute classes in various meditation techniques. So she and her partner Lodro Rinzler modeled MNDFL after a gym or yoga studio, where you can book a cushion, drop in, and breathe the same way you would reserve a bike and work out.

The design of MNDFL meditation studio in New York City is inspired by boutique fitness and yoga studios. (Photo: Claire Esparros for Homepolish)

But even in cities without dedicated studios, modern meditation opportunities are on the rise. Just before Christmas, Social Yoga in Vancouver, British Columbia, organized a pop-up meditation space in a funky Airstream trailer parked smack in the middle of the city’s busiest shopping district. Its founder Anita Cheung also partners with hip independent local businesses (like a minimalist Japanese rare tea bar) to hold meditation events after hours.  

And in San Francisco, yoga and meditation expert Ritu Riyat offers a monthly Pop Up Meditation Lab at Mission District businesses to inspire people to use meditation in their daily lives—and to make it accessible to those who can’t afford to pay studio fees. “At the beginning, people often cringe at the thought of sitting still for five minutes,” Riyat tells Yahoo Health. “But they leave in awe of how quickly the times passes and impressed by their capabilities.”

Celebrities attend an opening party at The Den in Los Angeles this January. (Photo courtesy of The Den)

Ultimately, we’re living in an era that’s requiring us to be plugged in to our devices and obligations in unprecedented ways. And something’s got to give. “Ironically, being so connected is making people feel completely disconnected to who they are and the world around them,” points out Tal Rabinowitz, owner/founder of The Den. 

The antidote, it seems, is finding quiet in a world where it’s becoming increasingly rare.  And luckily it’s becoming easier than ever to do just that.  

Read This Next: 7 Foods That Boost Your Mood

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

What New Year’s resolution? (Photo: Getty Images)

The start of a new workout plan starts with a burst of energy: You hit the gym thinking, “Yeah, I got this! Bring it!” But after a few weeks, the initial excitement starts to fizzle. Be honest: Have you even thought about your New Year’s resolution lately?

Turns out, there’s a specific day when this waning motivation starts to happen. Today, Feb. 9, is the day gym check-ins begin to steadily decline — known as the “fitness cliff” — according to an analysis of check-in data from corporate Gold’s Gym locations across the United States.

There are a few reasons motivation starts to wane in February. “People think of ‘motivation’ as a strategy, but really it’s an emotional state,” explains Jessi Kneeland, certified personal trainer and founder of Remodel Fitness. And since motivation is an emotion, ultimately it’s a fleeting feeling, she says. 

“Motivation tends to be high around New Year’s, because people get filled with hope and excitement and visions of ‘a new me!’ They ride that emotional state until it ends, which is … usually right about now,” Kneeland tells Yahoo Health.

Related: When #Fitspiration Turns X-Rated, Who Wins?

In addition, a visible change in your body takes time. It’s easy to think “this isn’t working” and quit. “Most of us don’t structure exercise to fold into the habit cycle of our psychology,” Emmett Williams, president of the heart-rate-tracking system MYZONE, tells Yahoo Health. “We don’t reward ourselves quickly enough, and the payoff — weight loss in three months, lower blood pressure in six months — is just too far away for it to be motivating,” Williams says.

So how do you keep from falling off the fitness cliff? “Today is the day when you have the choice to make it or break it,” strength expert Holly Perkins, CSCS, creator of The GLUTES Project, tells Yahoo Health. “The difference between success and failure here is simply action,” she says. “Don’t think about it, just go to the gym. Don’t negotiate, just do your workout!”

If the “just do it” philosophy still isn’t enough to get you moving today, tomorrow, and all month long, bookmark these tips from five top fitness experts.

How to Avoid the Fitness Cliff and Stay Motivated to Work Out

The expert: Nick Tumminello, CPT, strength expert and author of Building Muscle and Performance

The advice:

• Be honest with yourself. Most people start off doing too much because they’re so motivated, but it’s unrealistic and unsustainable. For example, if you hate getting up early and are the type of person who hits snooze until they absolutely have to get up, it’s unrealistic to say “I’ll get up two hours early to work out and shower.” You’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead, look at your history of behavior and find what’s most realistic — not necessarily what you’d like to do or what you think is ideal.
  
  
• Do something that you like. We all know exercise is medicine, but we don’t like to take medicine when it doesn’t taste good. If you like weight machines, use machines. If you hate machines, don’t use machines. Make the medicine taste good. 
  

The expert: Jessi Kneeland, certified personal trainer and founder of Remodel Fitness

The advice:

• Acknowledge that motivation is an emotional state and thus, by definition, a fleeting plan. Have compassion for yourself when you run out of motivation. It was nice, but it was never meant to last, so don’t let yourself feel guilt or shame when it’s gone.
  

• Put into place a real plan by looking at your goals and working backward to break it into daily tasks. For example, if your goal was to be able to run three miles nonstop, instead of running whenever you’re motivated, work out how long it would take you to build up to your goal if you consistently run three days a week.
  

• Be generous with your plan; make it easier than you think you need. Set yourself up to experience tiny victory after tiny victory. Feeling like a success will help you stay in a long-term state of motivation.
  

Related: Sculpt a Ballet Body — Without Ever Touching a Barre

The expert: Mike Ryan, Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute expert trainer

The advice:

• Add some “class” to your routine. Whether it’s functional training like TRX or moving to the beat with a Zumba class, group exercise is a great way to inject some energy into a stale routine and will help you with your pledge to get back in shape.
  

• Use technology to keep you on track with your goals. It will add a whole new dimension to your workout, helping you pump up your fitness slump. (For ideas, check out Yahoo Health’s 8 New Ways Technology Is Making Your Workout Better.)
  

• Enlist a trainer. Even if it’s just for a few sessions, working with a certified personal trainer who can design a program that’s tailored to your body is the big step to transforming your body and reaching your goals
  

The expert: Adam Rosante, celebrity trainer and author of The 30-Second Body

The advice:

• Find a deeper reason to work out. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a hot body, but your impulse to sit on the couch and binge watch a season of Empire is going to overrun your six-pack fantasies. Ask yourself why it’s important to work out. Once you have an answer, ask why again. Repeat that five times and you’ll come up with something truly impactful. Now you have real ammo to help you get your butt up and moving.
  

• Take a single step. Most people fail at their fitness goals because they try to overhaul everything at once. It’s just not sustainable. You wind up burning out and quitting completely. Take a second to evaluate your plan and focus on just one thing. Those small daily steps are what add up to massive change.
  

• Just freaking do it. Sometimes the best strategies in the world fail to motivate us. Here’s where you need to force yourself to do something, however small. Ten bodyweight squats. A few jumping jacks. Whatever. You’ll find that this simple act ignites the desire for more movement. 
  

The expert: Harley Pasternak, celebrity trainer and nutritionist, author of 5 Pounds: The Breakthrough 5-Day Plan to Jump-Start Rapid Weight Loss and Never Gain It Back

The Advice:

• Make your goals actionable. Think: Walk 10,000 steps a day, sleep at least seven hours a night. Don’t make it about a dress size or a weight.
  
  
• Set empirical (number-based) goals so that you can actually count them and push yourself to hit that number. For example, eat protein five times a day, unplug for at least 20 minutes, or do at least five minutes of strength exercises each day.
  

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Refine Method founder Brynn Putnam has discovered the secret to building a dancer’s body — no tutu required. (Photo courtesy of Refine Method)

At 16, an age when most teens are laser-focused on getting their driver’s license and scoring some independence, Brynn Putnam was committing to the captivity and discipline required of being a dancer with the prestigious New York City Ballet. When she retired from dancing in 2009, Putnam realized that she’d again need to summon discipline — this time in order to figure out how to work out on her own. “Barre, Pilates, and yoga promised a ‘dancer’s body’ and seemed less intimidating than the world of treadmills and dumbbells, so I started there,” Putnam tells Yahoo Health. 

Taking classes soon turned into teaching at some of the top boutique fitness studios in New York City. But something wasn’t quite right. “I watched my students logging hours doing hard workouts, yet making little progress,” she says. “I started to wonder how much of what I knew about fitness was fact and how much was misinformation.” 

So Putnam decided to travel across the country, meeting with athletic trainers, coaches, and scientists, many of whom had experience with professional athletes. The journey was eye-opening for Putnam, who began lifting much heavier weights than she ever had before.

“I performed squats and dead lifts instead of pliés and leg lifts. I struggled at times to figure out if I was doing it right,” she explains. “But I also felt challenged, both mentally and physically, and my body finally felt ‘dancer fit’ again, with a fraction of the time spent working out.”

Related: Boost Your Energy Level and Mood in Just Minutes

Drawing upon the lessons learned from her time as a professional dancer, boutique fitness instructor, and student of some of the top minds in sports, Putnam founded Refine Method. The New York City studio, opened in 2010, uses high-intensity interval training to deliver the results her clients want in minimal time.

“The qualities many admire in dancers — leanness, strong and proportional legs, balance and coordination and good posture — can all be trained as part of a smart program that is tailored to your body and goals, no barre involved,” Putnam says. 

The workout

With this exclusive workout created for Yahoo Health, you can experience a taste of the Refine Method right from your living room or local gym. 

How to do it: Perform each exercise in order for the allotted time, going from one move to the next with minimal rest. Once you’ve finished all five exercises (one round), repeat the sequence for two to three rounds total. 

Note: Although these photos show kettle bells, you can also do the workout with dumbbells. 

Related: Lose One Pound a Week (Without Losing Your Mind)

1. Reverse lunge touchdown

Stand with your feet under your hips, abs braced and spine neutral. Step your right foot back and bend both knees, lowering your hips down. 

All photos courtesy of Refine Method

As you lower down, hinge forward at the hips, reaching your hands toward the ground. 

Drive through your front foot and use your front hip to “pull” yourself to standing, while keeping your torso tight and tall. 

Alternate legs for 90 seconds.

2. Crawl

Come to all fours and lift your knees off of the ground. 

Step your right hand and left foot forward, then switch, crawling forward. Repeat four times. 

Next, reverse the crawl. Step your right hand and left foot back, then switch. Repeat four times. 

Repeat the entire sequence (crawling forward and backward) for 60 seconds.

3. Bottoms-up lunge into single-leg dead lift

Come to a kneeling position with your left foot forward. 

Push down into your left foot to come to a standing position on your left leg. 

Bend your left knee slightly. Keep your back straight as you hinge forward at the hips, extending your right leg straight out behind you and reaching your arms toward the floor. 

Lower your leg and return to a standing position. Then, switch legs.

Alternate sides for 90 seconds.

4. Suitcase swings into farmer’s walk

Stand with your feet together and a kettle bell or dumbbell in each hand. 

Bend your knees and hinge at your hips as you swing the weights back. Then, in a fluid motion, stand tall and use momentum to swing the weights up to bellybutton height. Brace your abs and engage your glutes (butt muscles) as the weights come forward. Repeat, swinging the weights back and forward.

Complete 10 swings. Then walk for 100 meters holding the weights at your sides. 

Continue to alternate exercises (10 swings, walk 100 meters) for two minutes.

5. Wall slide

This exercise will give you some active rest before you start the next round.

Stand with your back against a wall, feet hip width apart, knees slightly bent. Reach your arms out to the side and bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so the backs of your hands and forearms are touching the wall. 

Brace your abs and maintain contact with the wall as you slowly slide your arms up toward the ceiling. 

Once you reach the point where your ribs flare open or your shoulders start to rise toward your ears, slowly return to the starting position.

Repeat the exercise for 60 seconds.

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The Zika virus, which is spread by mosquitos and linked to serious birth defects, has been transmitted within the United States. (Photo: Getty Images)

A person in Dallas County, Texas, has contracted the Zika virus through sexual contact with an infected person who had visited a country where an outbreak has been identified. Local health officials confirmed via the Dallas County Health and Human Services Twitter account, writing “Dallas County’s 1st case of #Zika thru sex was acquired from someone who traveled to Venezuela, confirmed case did not travel.”

Several cases of Zika virus had been confirmed across the United States, but only among people who were believed to have contracted the virus while traveling abroad in countries with active Zika virus outbreaks. The case in Dallas is the first time that experts believe a person with Zika symptoms contracted the virus within the United States.

Related: Four Zika Cases Found In New York Among Returning Travelers

Prior to the case in Dallas, experts did not know whether the virus could be spread through sexual contact. “Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others,” Zachary Thompson, Dallas County Health and Human Services director, said in a statement.

Experts expect the Dallas patient to recovery fully. “Only 1 out of 5 people is going to exhibit symptoms, and for most of them it’s going to be extremely mild — a little fever, a little rash, a little joint pain,” says William E. Schweizer, MD, MPH, clinical associate professor and medical director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center, in an interview with Yahoo Health.

What You Need to Know About Zika

Fever, joint aches, a mild skin rash, and reddened eyes (similar to pinkeye) are the key symptoms. “It’s the conjunctivitis, the red eyes, that I think is a little more unique than what you see with the flu or a cold,” Schweizer tells Yahoo Health.

“What we know about the virus so far is that it’s a mild, short-lasting virus. Some people can actually have the virus and not even realize it, or not get very sick at all,” says Angela Vassallo, MPH, MS, director of infection prevention and epidemiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, in an interview with Yahoo Health.

The symptoms can be similar to the flu, Vassallo adds. “Fever is very common, a mild and simple rash in the beginning, itchy eyes, and joint pain are the main symptoms,” she says. “What’s difficult about some of these symptoms when they initially present is that they can seem like another virus or illness.” 

As for a U.S. outbreak, Vassallo says, “Because Zika is a mosquito-borne disease, it’s very unlikely that we’ll have high numbers of transmission within the U.S. However, we know that the mosquitos that transmit the virus have been seen in the southern U.S. where it is hot and humid. I do not expect it to be as widespread as what we’ve seen in Brazil.”

Birth defects associated with the Zika virus. (Image: Graphiq)

The Zika virus has been linked to serious birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition where infants are born with abnormally small heads. The disease has not been proven conclusively to cause microcephaly.

“I think we need more research, especially in regards to pregnant women and women who are thinking of getting pregnant,” Vassallo tells Yahoo Health. “We don’t know enough yet to make definitive statements. There’s a whole lot more we need to know.”

Related: Brazil Is Struggling with Children Born with Microcephaly

Schweizer says that doctors are already screening pregnant women for the disease using ultrasounds and other technology. “Currently our recommendation is that if a pregnant woman has been to an exposed area, we’re going to be doing sequential ultrasonography evaluation of the baby, specifically looking at the brain, the head circumference, and calcifications that may be indicitave of a supposed Zika infection,” Schweizer tells Yahoo Health.

A blood test is available to screen for Zika, but it is controlled through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Schweizer explains. The blood test is limited, though, because it can only detect the Zika virus during a window of three to seven days after the onset of symptoms.

What Is the Zika Virus?

More on the Zika virus on Yahoo Health:

Is the Zika Virus Contagious?

Zika Virus Symptoms: What Are They?

Do Pregnant Women in the U.S. Need to Worry About Zika Virus?

What to Know About the Zika Virus If You’re Trying to Get Pregnant

U.S. Issues Treatment Guidelines for Infants Exposed to Zika

10 Essential Facts About the Zika Virus

What Happens When Countries Without Abortion Advise Against Pregnancy?

Can Brazil ‘Zika-Proof’ in Time for the Olympics?

A total lifestyle turnaround starts with small changes. (Photo: Kevin Kozicki/Image Source/Corbis)

My New Year’s resolution was to bike to and from work Monday through Friday. It lasted three days, until El Nino storms hit Los Angeles, and I ended up spending half the day at the office soggy and miserable. Willpower is one thing, wet pants are another.

Like me, many people set big, optimistic goals that motivate us strongly at first, and then wane just as quickly. “How many people have tried to become a vegan, go gluten-free, or commit to daily spin classes only to burn out two weeks later, despite our best intentions?” asks fitness and nutrition expert Harley Pasternak, author of 5 Pounds and trainer to numerous A-list celebs.

The answer? I can’t count that high. 

Thankfully, Pasternak has a better approach — one that is simple and sustainable. He calls it “Gain One, Lose One,” as in “gain one new habit, lose one pound or inch.”

Gain One, Lose One

The basic premise of Gain One, Lose One, is to introduce one new thing into your lifestyle every week. To work best, these should be tiny shifts that you know without a doubt that you can achieve. 

For example, Pasternak says, for the first week, skip the free cookie sample you always grab while visiting your favorite coffee shop. “While this is a small step, it’s still a step in the right direction and one that I know I can actually stick to,” he reasons, adding, “It symbolizes my effort to get leaner, fitter, and healthier.” 

And skipping cookie samples is much more doable than, say, committing to cook a full breakfast at home every single day. Over time, these tiny changes add up.

Related: 30 Healthy Habits Fit People Live By

During the second week, Pasternak suggests taking a walk around the block before having breakfast. “Again, it’s a small, four-minute exercise commitment,” he says. But consider the cumulative effect: Taking 800 steps around the block adds up to nearly three miles a week, or about 150 miles per year. 

Set Yourself Up for Success

Every week, the changes can become more difficult or build upon the habits you’ve adopted in previous weeks. Your personal plan might include drinking more water, having a healthy snack in the afternoon, or doing 10 push-ups every day.

Here are some more of Pasternak’s suggestions — use them to spark ideas for your own small, sustainable changes.

Week 1: Cut out one stealth snack, like the candy you grab after lunch every day (even though you’re not still hungry).

Week 2: Walk around your block once before breakfast or after dinner. Choose a time that you know you can do it, and link it to an existing habit (i.e., a meal) to make that your cue to get outside.

Week 3: Commit to a better breakfast. “I make the apple pie smoothie from my The Body Reset Diet book. It has apple, almonds, cinnamon, plain yogurt, a frozen banana, and organic milk,” Pasternak says. “It’s easy to make — if it wasn’t, I probably wouldn’t stick to it — and it tastes like heaven.”

Related: Make These Oat Pancakes with Apple and Cashews

Week 4: Add in a second walk around the block — boom — that’s another five miles per week.

Week 5: Build a satisfying salad for lunch every day that includes lean protein, such as shrimp, shredded chicken, or salmon. Then pile on as many vegetables as you like, plus a healthy fat such as roasted almonds or avocado slices.

Week 6: Start tracking your steps with a FitBit or Jawbone. 10,000 steps a day is a good goal, but again, start with a challenge that you know is within reach. Add 10 minutes to your morning or dinnertime walks, or start taking a 15-minute walk around the office to ward off the afternoon slump.

Read This Next: Banish Stress and Tone Your Whole Body with a Foam Roller

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The benefits of strength training go far beyond a hard body. (Photo: Mike Raabe/Corbis)

By Holly Perkins, as told to Amy Rushlow

Fitness, in many ways, is the ultimate metaphor for life. When you start strength training, you feel stronger not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually.

But this powerful transformation, which I’ve seen hundreds of times during my 30-year career as a fitness trainer and women’s strength expert, cannot be explained by metaphors alone. There are several aspects unique to strength training that make it an extremely powerful force of change — for your body, soul, and mind.

What to Expect When You Start Strength Training

For women especially, strength training can be an eye-opening experience. Physiologically, women are predisposed to be not as strong as men. That’s a result of low levels of the muscle-building hormone testosterone and high levels of estrogen. It doesn’t have to do anything with spiritual or mental strength. But biologically, it’s just a fact that we are made differently.

So when you take a woman of any age who has lived most of her life not feeling physically strong, and she experiences what it’s like to feel strong for the first time, it opens up a whole new world. That’s when the switch flips. In that moment of lifting weights and experiencing physical strength, you understand that you’re capable of more than you ever imagined.

Related: 3 Strength Moves That Will Make You Feel Invincible

Feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Start strength training. (Photo: Blend Images/Corbis)      

Strength Training Boosts Confidence

A sense of accomplishment comes from when you’ve worked through a moment that is difficult for you, and you get through it. When that happens, all of a sudden the spirit feels a sense of achievement, and that feeling cannot be substituted.

You’ve probably felt this before when you received a well-deserved promotion, aced a difficult test, or successfully assembled a piece of Ikea furniture. In the case of strength training, that sense of accomplishment is physical, and it happens right away.

Say, for example, that your training plan calls for a challenging set of leg presses. You don’t think you’ll be able to finish every rep of the final set, but you give it a try — and you do it! In that moment, there’s an immediate change in how you feel about yourself and what you believe you can do.

Related: Anyone Can Do a Pull-Up — With This Plan

Immediate Results = Major Motivation

Many people are focused on weight loss, which is a long and often mysterious process. We have all known a friend who has been trying to lose weight for so long, but still the scale won’t budge. Or she’s been dieting and doing her cardio for weeks and weeks, yet nothing has changed. How frustrating is that?

With strength training, however, progress comes almost immediately. Within seven to 10 days after beginning a strength-training plan, you’ll start to notice changes. You might be able to lift more weight, the exercises may start to feel easier, or perhaps you feel less sore after workouts.

This is what makes strength training so unique: The results are tangible, obvious, and immediate. It’s hard to find a weight-loss plan where people consistently see results seven to 10 days later. But with strength training, that’s not the case. Strength training is a positive, clear, specific formula that produces results very quickly.

Smile, you did it! (Photo: BUCK Studio/Corbis)

How are such quick results possible? It’s because the initial adaptations happen in your nervous system, which is very responsive to strength training. Even though your muscles themselves are not stronger (that takes at least six week, research shows), your neurons begin to fire more efficiently, resulting in rapid strength gains.

When It’s You vs. Yourself, You Always Win

Comparisons can kill your fitness mojo. When you’re in barre class staring in the mirror at a line of svelte ex-ballerinas, it’s hard not to think about your body insecurities. Same with running (“How is everyone passing me?”) and plenty of other fitness pursuits. Competition is just a given in a lot of sports. 

But that’s simply not the case with strength training. When you’re sitting on a lat pulldown machine and adjusting the pin on the weight stack, or doing a set of lunges, you’re not competing against anyone. No one is looking over your shoulder, trying to lift more weight than you on their next set. It’s you against you, and that’s it.

Strength training builds focus, discipline, and confidence. (Photo: Ben Welsh/Corbis)

In addition, every person is built differently, which makes a big impact on your strengths and weaknesses in the weight room. Someone who is short, for example, will be stronger (relative to his or her body size) simply because of physics. Therefore, there’s absolutely no reason to compare yourself to anyone else, especially when it comes to strength.

In the weight room, it’s you against your own demons. It’s you against your own strengths and weaknesses. It’s about personal discipline and goal setting. Again, fitness is the ultimate analogy to life — and competition and comparison are usually futile, both in the gym and out in the world.

Related: Body Peace Challenge: Write Down 5 Things You Truly Love About Yourself

The Benefits of Strength Goals

Some people think that working out in order to look good is “vain” or “shallow. Some women have even told me they feel guilty because they supposedly “shouldn’t” be so concerned about their appearance.

There are many benefits of strength-based goals, but that’s not to say you can’t have an appearance goal, too. If you want to change how your body looks, embrace it! There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good. However, know that appearance goals alone are most likely not going to be enough of a motivator for you.

Weight loss also takes time, and the path isn’t clear for everyone. Some people respond better to certain diets, for example. But everyone becomes stronger with strength training!

By having a goal to improve strength, you’re putting yourself three or four steps ahead. It’s easier to find success in strength improvements than it is to find success in weight loss. With strength training, you’re setting yourself up for success — and a better life.

How Your Workout Can Balance Your Hormones

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Body-Peace Resolution is Yahoo Health’s January initiative to motivate you to pursue wellness goals that are not vanity-driven, but that strive for more meaningful outcomes. We’re talking strength, mental fitness, self-acceptance — true and total body peace. Our big hope: This month of resolutions will inspire a body-peace revolution. Want to join us? Start by sharing your own body-positive moments on social media using the hashtag #bodypeaceresolution

A doctor examines an infant born with microcephaly. (Photo: Getty Images)

Angela Rocha, a pediatrician in northeastern Brazil, measures the head of a child born with microcephaly, a tragic neurological complication linked to Zika, the mosquito-borne virus sparking a health scare across the Americas.

Outside the room, seven mothers cradling infants with abnormally small heads line up for hours for tests. More than 1,000 cases of microcephaly have been reported in just a few months in Pernambuco state, the epicenter of the Zika outbreak.

“We were taken by surprise,” says Rocha, a veteran infectious disease specialist at the Oswaldo Cruz University in the state capital of Recife, where doctors are struggling to care for 300 babies born with the condition.

Surprise is an understatement.

For a country that for years has battled the Aedes aegypti mosquito - responsible for previous epidemics of dengue, yellow fever and other tropical diseases - the outbreak of Zika has caught the government, public health administrators and doctors entirely off guard.

Related: Zika Virus Expected To Spread Throughout Americas

A tropical climate, dense cities, poor sanitation and slipshod construction provided ideal conditions for mosquito breeding grounds and the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil’s northeast, across the country and to more than 20 others throughout the Americas.

“We just didn’t have the conditions or resources necessary to stop the mosquito or the virus,” says Maria da Gloria Teixeira, an epidemiologist in the neighboring state of Bahia and a director of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, a grouping of public health professionals.

Amid warnings from governments and multilateral health agencies, pregnant women in Brazil and beyond are now seeking to avoid exposure to the mosquito, at least until contagion is contained or scientists develop a vaccine, which could still take years.

Brazilian health officials this week said they plan to reach an agreement with the U.S. National Institutes of Health to work on a vaccine. Some Latin American countries have advised women to delay getting pregnant.

What is the Zika Virus?

OVERWHELMED

Although a cause has not been proven, microcephaly has been clinically linked by scientists to mothers believed to have been infected with Zika while expecting.

Pernambuco has more than one-third of the 3,700 cases of microcephaly reported in Brazil since September, and its hospitals have been overwhelmed.

Health officials say the number of newly reported cases is falling in the state even as it rises in other areas.

But the crisis will demand special care for hundreds of deformed or neurologically damaged children for years to come, a new burden on already deficient hospitals in a public health system suffering from budget cuts because of government shortfalls and an economic recession.

Every day, about five new cases arrive at the Recife hospital, compared to 18 at the peak of the crisis in late November, says Rocha.

She and her colleagues are hoping the decline means the worst is over, but they cannot be sure because so little is known about the virus and its complications.

There is no cure at present for Zika, which usually appears as a mild fever with temporary body aches. These symptoms can be easily mistaken for a mild case of dengue, a fever that infected 1.6 million Brazilians last year and killed more than 800.

To step up its fight against the mosquito, Brazil has deployed thousands of municipal, state and federal workers, including soldiers, to scour cities for mosquito breeding grounds, fumigate and educate residents on the dangers of still and stagnant water, where the female insects lay their eggs.

On Feb. 13, the government will deploy 220,000 troops in a one-day mobilization to hand out leaflets and help identify potential trouble spots.

Related: 10 Essential Facts About the Zika Virus

LONG STRUGGLE

In Recife, Brazil’s seventh largest city, officials are digging in for a long struggle.

“We are just getting a glimpse of the dimension of a problem likely to remain with us for years to come,” said Recife’s health secretary, Jailson Correia.

In November, Recife asked Brazil’s federal government for 29 million reais ($7.18 million) in funding to deal with the crisis, and so far has received only 1.3 million reais.

Rocha said the emotional and economic cost of the avalanche of handicapped children is incalculable.

The babies, many of whom will eventually suffer convulsions, need brain stimulus therapy promptly to improve their chances of survival. As many as 12 babies have recently died in the state because of the condition.

Other complications are appearing among some, including impaired vision and hearing, and badly deformed limbs.

Some cannot swallow and the most critical ones have serious breathing problems, said Vanessa Van der Linden, one of only five child neurologists in the state.

Van der Linden was the first doctor to notice the alarming rise in microcephaly cases last September, alerting public health authorities. The defects surged in November, when three babies were born with microcephaly on the same night at the dilapidated Barão de Lucena children’s hospital where she works.

“There was panic,” Van der Linden said.

Things have calmed some.

Only 29 new cases of microcephaly were reported last week in all of Pernambuco, compared to a peak of 196 in late November. After selling out of insect repellent during the two most critical months, the product is once more on drug store shelves.

For many, of course, the improvements come too late.

Gleyse Kelly da Silva, a 27-year-old toll booth worker, recalls having a rash, a light fever and a back ache for three days last April.

Her daughter, Maria Giovanna, was born in October with microcephaly. Silva still hopes Maria Giovanna will learn to speak but she is frustrated with the public health system, which has yet to provide any therapy.

“The quicker therapy starts, the better for my child,” she said. “They should bring more doctors here, because there are so many babies. Their mothers can’t get appointments.”

More on the Zika virus on Yahoo Health:

• Zika Virus Symptoms: What Are They?
  
• Do Pregnant Women in the U.S. Need to Worry About Zika Virus?
  
• What to Know About the Zika Virus If You’re Trying to Get Pregnant
  
• 10 Essential Facts About the Zika Virus
  
• U.S. Issues Treatment Guidelines for Infants Exposed to Zika
  

Read This Next: Do Pregnant Women in the U.S. Need to Worry About Zika Virus?

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Approximately 2 million middle school and high school youth have used electronic cigarettes. (Photo: Michal Fludra/Corbis)

Teens who try electronic cigarettes may be more than twice as likely to progress to traditional cigarettes as their peers who haven’t used the devices, a recent U.S. study finds.

The results from surveys following more than 2,300 high school students in Hawaii mirror findings from a separate analysis of smoking habits among about 2,500 Los Angeles teens published in JAMA last August, adding to evidence that using e-cigarettes may be a gateway to smoking tobacco.

“The question of whether e-cigarette use will operate to prevent smoking or promote smoking is the number one public health question of our time,” said lead study author Thomas Wills, interim director of the cancer control program at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu.

Related: E-Cigarette Ads Target Millions of Teens, Govt. Says

“Now we have evidence from longitudinal studies that e-cigarette use increases the likelihood of starting to smoke among adolescents,” Wills added by email. “This matters because increased smoking could lead to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer - not just lung cancer but also the 16 other cancers smoking has been linked to.”

About 2 million middle- and high-school students tried e-cigarettes in 2014, triple the number of teen users in 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last April.

The data sparked alarm among tobacco control advocates who fear e-cigarettes will create a new generation of nicotine addicts who may eventually switch to conventional cigarettes.

Big tobacco companies, including Altria Group Inc , Lorillard Tobacco Co and Reynolds American Inc, are all developing e-cigarettes. The battery-powered devices feature a glowing tip and a heating element that turns liquid nicotine and other flavorings into a cloud of vapor that users inhale.

Related: Teenagers Use E-Cigarettes to Vape Marijuana, Study Says

An international review of published research by the Cochrane Review in December concluded that the devices could help smokers quit but said much of the existing evidence on e-cigarettes was thin.

In the latest study, Wills and colleagues surveyed teens once when they were about 15 years old and again a year later.

At the start of the study, 31 percent of the adolescents had tried e-cigarettes at least once, and 15 percent had smoked regular cigarettes. A year later, 38 percent of the teens admitted using e-cigarettes and 21 percent smoked.

Among adolescents who had never smoked at the start of the study, those who had used e-cigarettes at that point in time were about 2.9 times more likely to report smoking traditional cigarettes in the second survey.

For teens who confessed to smoking cigarettes at the start, using e-cigarettes, also called vaping, didn’t appear to influence their smoking habits by the end of the study.

Limitations of the study include a lack of data on other forms of tobacco products and the possibility that some types of e-cigarettes now available may not have been covered by the survey, the authors note in the journal Tobacco Control.

Related: Do E-Cigarettes Really Not Have Any Secondhand Effects?

Even so, the results solidify the evidence connecting e-cigarettes and future smoking found in previous studies of adolescents and young adults, noted Adam Leventhal, director of the Health, Emotion and Addiction Laboratory at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“I am increasingly convinced that vaping’s link with later smoking is a general phenomenon that is relevant to many youths,” Leventhal, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

Nicotine addiction may fuel this transition from vaping to smoking, said Dr. Brian Primack, assistant vice president for research on health and society at the University of Pittsburgh.

“One property of highly addictive drugs like this is that the body gets used to them and needs more over time,” Primack, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “After someone has gotten used to some nicotine in the form of an e-cigarette, they may ultimately transition to traditional cigarettes to get nicotine more efficiently.”

By Lisa Rapaport

Your Body Immediately After Vaping an E-Cigarette

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