Aqua Exercise

Exercising in water is beneficial for obese people as well as those who suffer from arthritis or fibromyalgia. In water the stress on joints and bones is significantly less than on land and decreases the chance of injury or strain. Swimming laps is also a great way to get an aerobic workout, burn calories, and strengthens muscles in a non-impact environment.

Seated or Chair Exercises

Another great way to shape up in a safe and effective way is to shape up gently. Gentle strengthening movements can be performed in a seated position. By using alternating knee lifts, arm circles, leg extensions, and marching on your feet with arms over your head can get you going without having to strain yourself until your fit enough to really get going. Another great way to use your chair is to work out some arm muscles as well. Put your chair against a wall and kneel in front of your chair about arms length away. Then grab onto the seat and do pushups. This will also help you workout your core so you can get a head start

 Walking

In addition to swimming and chair exercises, walking is also a safe exercise. Because people in poor health condition swear more, it is important to stay hydrated well before, during, and after e, it is important to stay hydrated well before, during, and after exercise. It’s imperative to use shock absorbing athletic shoes to help adjust your joints to walking. If walking is difficult for you then hop onto an Elliptical. Ellipticals don’t require your feet to leave the tread so its very easy on the joints and you still get the workout that walking would get you.

Exercise Ball Bent Knee Crunches

The basic crunch makes an awesome workout however; it can be hard to do correctly when you first start. By using an exercise ball it can help you stay in that correct position. Not only does it help you keep the position correct it can also help out your back and neck. Many beginners strain their necks and their backs because either their back arches are too high or just improper positioning. To begin sit on the ball and roll forward until your butt is almost off of the ball. Make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground and begin your crunches. The smaller the ball the harder.

Marching

Although this seems very easy and not much like anything, this is a great entry workout for your tummy with a twist. To begin, lie flat on your back with knees bent, feet flat, toes pointing straight ahead and your arms at your sides and march! Bringing your belly button towards your spine, lift one foot off the floor, hold for a second then lowly lower to the floor and repeat with other leg. Do 8-10 Reps.

Jeff covers health and fitness topics as they pertain to term-life insurance polices and their rates. He writes for the Term Life Insurance blog.

Losing weight and getting fit is no easy task, and there are supplements available such as Green Tea Extract to give us a helping hand. Changing your lifestyle to a more balanced and healthy one can have many beneficial effects. Use these helpful hints and tips to give you the boost you need to change your life, for good!

Diet

Let Yo-Yo dieting become a thing of the past, and just focus on eating a healthy balanced diet. Changing your lifestyle rather than crash dieting is much better for your health and enables you to make long term changes.

Try and eat a healthy balanced diet by consuming five portions of different fruits and vegetables a day. You will immediately feel revitalised and refreshed, less tired and more able to go about your daily tasks.

Exercise

You don’t have to be a member of a gym to exercise, there are lots of different and enjoyable exercises you can do for free!

However busy your life is, you should always make time to exercise for the recommended 60 minutes a day, you will reap the benefits immediately. The exercise need only be moderate, but can make a huge difference to your lifestyle by giving you the ability to unwind after a hard day at the office or help you to lose weight. Why not take a walk with your walk colleagues at lunch time or with your family when you get home from work?

Exercise gives you the time to clear your head and function better throughout the day.

Family and Friend support

The people around you can have a massive influence on your lifestyle, and can therefore affect your eating behaviour and exercise level. Get your family, friends and colleagues involved with your diet and exercise plan, and you’ll be surprised at how supportive people can be. To gain the support of others, you need to inform them of your plans to ensure that they are aware of your goals and aspirations

Your family can be the support you need to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle by giving you the boost you need while you are around the home. Having company while you’re exercising and dieting can help motivate you and keep you on track to a healthy you!

About the Author:

Emily is a writer for Peak Nutrition who enjoys offering advice and guidance for Health and Well-being. Nutrition Tips for Maintaining Health & Fitness.

Cardio Workouts

You may not be an aerobics fan. However, if you’re looking to quickly drop a few pounds and shed that winter weight, perhaps now’s the time to develop a love for cardio. Cardio workouts are a perfect way to burn massive calories in a short amount of time. What’s more, these workouts include a variety of activities, such as aerobics, running, biking, power walking, swimming, dancing and playing sports. Simply decide which activity you like best and create a workout schedule. Aim for at least 30 to 60 minutes of cardio three times a week. The more cardio you do, the quicker you can burn calories and drop extra pounds.

Squats and Lunges

In addition to cardio, incorporate exercises to help tone and firm your legs. Squats and lunges work your thighs and glutes. They help slim your legs, as well as increase muscle definition. This is the perfect exercise to help reduce the appearance of cellulite as well. It’s important to start slowly. You might start with a few small reps each day and gradually increase. For each exercise you can do three sets of 10 – 15 reps each day — perhaps in the morning, in the afternoon and before bed. You can also incorporate other leg exercises, such as Pilates or leg lifts. Stick with this routine for four to six weeks and you’ll notice a big difference in firmness and muscle tone. 

Weight Training

Incorporate weight training to increase muscle tone in your arms and upper body. The type of training and amount of weight chosen depends on your goals. For example, if you’re only looking to tone your arms and increase firmness, you can stick with resistance bands and complete a few reps each day. On the other hand, if you’re looking to greatly increase muscle tone in your arms, chest and legs, you might hit the gym on daily basis and take advantage of the bodybuilding and weight equipment. If you’re new to weight training, start off with a trainer or someone who’s familiar with the exercise equipment to avoid injury.

Ab Workouts

Exercises that target your stomach and mid-section are imperative for toning and flattening the stomach. Numerous workouts help achieve a flatter stomach. You can complete a few sit-up reps each day in the morning and before bed. Other options include a few reps of side crunches and perhaps leg lifts. Pilates is another great workout for a flatter stomach. In addition, many aerobic videos incorporate motions that target the abdomen. With any exercise, it’s important to squeeze your abdomen toward the bellybutton and maintain this position throughout the workout. This movement targets the stomach muscles and quickly tones the abdomen.

Importance of Healthy Eating

Working out isn’t the only factor that contributes to a slamming beach body. Pay attention to your eating routine and break bad habits — eating late, constant snacking, large portions. Reduce your intake of carbohydrates, sugar and fatty foods. Drink plenty of water to shed water weight, and eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Working out not only helps you sculpt a perfect beach body, but the fitness benefits can help you save when it comes to your term life insurance premiums.

Many experts now agree that chronic conditions and diseases are strongly driven by lifestyle habits (eating, activity levels, stress, etc.). For example, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood sugar/diabetes, overweight, arthritis, chronic inflammation, and cancer are significantly driven by our choices. A lack of healthy nutrition, too little activity, and heavy stress disrupt our metabolic systems. Over time, the damage can become more pronounced as our genes and health decline. Put simply, every bite you take matters!

The Lifestyle-Gene Connection

There is a growing body of evidence to support a direct lifestyle-gene connection (called epigenetics). It refers to the way the environment/lifestyle affects your gene function. What you eat and how you live can activate or suppress many genes, and your lifestyle can make you healthy or sick, depending on the daily choices you make!

Some research shows a direct link between a less-active lifestyle and turning off genes needed for healthy blood fats and glucose. That increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic inflammation, etc. And these problems can turn up in a matter of a few days of inactivity! It’s also known that a healthy diet with good quantities of veggies, fruits, fish, nuts, healthy oils, and appropriate activity are helpful for preventing those same diseases and conditions. One study showed that a healthy lifestyle affected hundreds of genes in men with cancer!

In addition, studies have shown that cancer development is strongly influenced by lifestyle, especially by areas like excess fat and sugar intake, extra weight, and lack of good nutrition and activity. Some experts estimate that up to 65% of cancer deaths are linked to poor lifestyle (smoking, overweight, unhealthy diet, etc.). In fact, experts will tell you that we have cancer cells (and mutations) in us all the time. It’s the health of our complex immune system that either keeps them in check or is compromised by an unhealthy lifestyle, allowing the cancer to spread and grow. Most experts agree, cancer (and other life-style diseases like heart disease and diabetes), are largely preventable!

A healthy lifestyle is more critical with age, because our hormonal systems tend to be less efficient. We also tend to lose muscle tone and mass. What we ate in our 20s or 30s (often not healthy), is no longer workable into the 40s, 50s or beyond. Let your weight be your guide. If you gain weight and fat over time, your lifestyle is out of balance. A more stable, healthy weight and body fat indicates a better balance of lifestyle habits.

Genes Are Not Stone or Steel

To say it another way, many genes are more like a word processing document than the rigid case for your computer. Many genes are non-rigid; they change and adapt to conditions they are exposed to. Like changing the fonts in your document, genes can be modified or changed based on how you live, for better or worse. This should be a breakthrough discovery for most people!

Have you known people who were overweight and had other health issues, such as diabetes? If they lost weight, did their diabetes and triglyceride problems fade away? It happens! How about someone who loses 10 or 20 pounds and their high blood pressure and energy levels return to normal? That happens too! These are some examples of how changing your lifestyle can help to resolve health conditions we associate with aging and “disease.”

If you or a loved one is living with chronic health conditions, I hope this article give you hope and insight. You are what you eat! I urge you to get a consultation with a qualified health/nutrition/fitness coach. You can discuss your specific conditions and map out a lifestyle makeover, making small changes and substitutions over time. Why not get your genes working for you, supporting optimum health and vitality? The research says you can, and have a life largely free of health problems and disease.

It’s literally a life and death choice.   .   .a choice you can make today!

For more info and articles/resources, see:

http://quickstartyourhealth.wordpress.com/

© 2012 by Steven Carney/Quick Start Your Health

Pull and Push Press

This kettlebell workout strengths the shoulders, back, hips, legs and builds muscle tone in the arms and legs. With both feet planted on the floor shoulder-width apart and the knees bent, place the kettlebell on the floor between the feet. Place both hands on the kettlebell. Slowly stand up and bring the kettlebell to the chest. Hold this position for a few seconds and then push the kettlebell upwards over your head. Hold this position for a few seconds and then bring the kettlebell back to the chest position. Lower the kettlebell to the floor and assume the original position Complete 10 reps.

Kettlebell Swing

This workout targets the shoulders, inner thighs, legs, back and hips. Squat with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your thighs parallel to the floor. Position the kettlebell on the floor between your feet. Place your hands on the kettlebell. Stand up slowly and swing the kettlebell out in front of you. Make sure that the kettlebell is at shoulder height. Bend your knees to squat and then swing the kettlebell down between your legs. Complete 10 reps.

Kettlebell Lift

This simple exercise targets and tones the abs, hips and legs. Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. Position the kettlebell on the floor between your feet. Squat down, grab the kettlebell and then stand up. Keep your arms extended downward as you stand. Maintain this position for a few seconds. Squat and place the kettlebell on the floor. Complete 10 reps.

Windmill

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the kettlebell in your right hand. Bend your right elbow to bring the kettlbell to shoulder height. Next, push the kettlebell over your head. With the kettlebell overhead, slowly bend and touch your left foot with your left hand. Hold this position for a few second and then slowly rise to a standing position. Keep your right arm extended upward as you stand up. Complete 5 reps and then do 5 reps on the other side.

Kettlebell Row

Stand with your right leg behind your left leg. Bend down and rest your left arm on your left leg. Position the kettlebell on the floor next to your left foot. Bend down and grab the kettlebell with your right hand. Pull the kettlebell towards your stomach and then lower it to the floor. Complete 5 reps and then move to the other side.

Jeff covers health related topics and how staying healthy can help lower the costs of term life insurance.

With that in mind, I have recently started experimenting with a new vegetable I found called Moringa. Moringa is a plant that has many different nutritional properties and can be prepared in a multitude of ways. Almost every part of the Moringa tree can be eaten, from the bark to the pods, leaves and flowers—and each part of the plant provides all the essential amino acids and many vitamins.

Moringa leaves have more vitamin A than carrots and more calcium than milk (though some of the calcium is in the form of calcium oxalate crystals, which isn’t available to the human body). The leaves are often used to replace spinach in recipes, and it’s no wonder why, because Moringa leaves have more iron than spinach itself does. The leaves of the plant contain more potassium than bananas and more vitamin C than oranges, and the protein level in the Moringa plant is equal to that of milk and eggs.

It’s more common in places like India, where people eat every part of the plant, similar to how Native Americans would eat the entire buffalo. It’s becoming more popular in the United States though, and there are many great recipes that include this super food. Here are a couple different ways to use Moringa as a healthy snack.

The leaves are often used like spinach, but they can also be dried and crushed, creating a type of powder that can be used on top of salads or in soups, sauces and dips. The pods (usually called drumsticks) can be prepared like green beans—but they taste more like asparagus.

One of the easiest snacks though is to take out the seeds from the pods and eat them like you would nuts. Once the seeds are dried, you can roast them, or you can sauté them or eat them raw. If you roast them, they’ll last a lot longer and you can snack on them for some time.

A healthy morning snack is to put about 2-4 teaspoons of Moringa powder in your smoothie. I prefer to use ionized water, but tap or bottled will work equally well. The taste blends really well with berry smoothies (think strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) rather than with fruits like apricots or oranges.

For a little bit more inspiration, try out these steamed Moringa muffins, where you can either dry out your own leaves to crush into powder, or simply buy the powder itself. The muffins will turn out a bright, vivid green, which is a great excuse to call in the kids from playing on the swing set to enjoy a healthy colorful muffin.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup powdered milk (skim, if you want to be more healthy)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons Moringa powder
• 2 eggs
• 2 ¼ cups water
• 2 tablespoons vanilla

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients before adding in the wet ingredients. Mix until there aren’t any lumps. Pour mixture into a muffin tin, filling the molds ¾ full. Steam (not bake) inside a steamer for 10-12 minutes.

When you find yourself reaching for a snack, keep Moringa in mind as a healthy alternative to store-bought, packaged foods.

Back in the 1970s, the average American was expected to live to about age 71. Thanks to improvements in health sciences and nutrition the average life expectancy today is around 77 and is expected to be about age 85 by the year 2030. But what can you do to beat the average?

There are lots of health crazes today. All sorts of self-anointed gurus are recommending and endless amount of untested nutritional supplements and diet plans. While many of these plans offer good solid advice others may actually be harmful for you. The best course of action is to follow what is actually established as good health and nutrition practices. Only follow health advice that is backed up with empirical research.

Of course we don’t just want to live longer, we will live better longer. By adopting a healthier lifestyle now you can enjoy a better quality of life in your golden years. We will share some tried and true things you can do right now to get on the right track to extend your active life expectancy, but let’s look at some recent health-related trends.

Antioxidants

It seems like everywhere you turn today some food manufacturer or nutritional supplement company is talking antioxidants. Foods like pomegranates, which are high in antioxidants, are touted as the fountain of youth. How much do we really know about antioxidants?

Scientists have determined that antioxidants protect our cells from free radicals. Free radicals are created when our cells convert food and oxygen into energy. The growing body of evidence suggests that free radicals have a negative impact on DNA and can trigger the growth of cancer cells. So it seems to make sense to increase the amount of antioxidants in your diet to reduce your chances of cancer, but it has yet to be proved to work. Many studies seem to suggest that a diet rich in antioxidants is good for cell health, but it hasn’t been shown to work for humans yet. We have yet to see large-scale human studies on how antioxidant supplements affect health.

Calorie Restricting and Fasting

Some laboratory research has shown that restricting calories can extend life expectancy. Some test subjects that were subjected to severe calorie restrictions nearly doubled their life expectancy! But before you try starving yourself to immortality it’s important to take a close look at that research. Those “test subjects” that doubled their life expectancy are in fact, tiny little roundworms. When food is scarce for the worms they go into a sort of hibernation rather than starve to death. We humans don’t work that way. What might work for protozoa, mice, worms and fruit flies doesn’t necessarily work for humans. A starvation diet might actually be harmful to your health.

Right now scientists are studying the impact of a restricted diet on primates and if that is shown to be promising it might be extended to human trials. But until the data is collected and the evidence is compelling we don’t recommend chasing this fad.

Healthy Senior Living

If you want to extend your life expectancy and live stronger and healthier as a senior citizen there are only a handful of things you must know.  First, get more active. This doesn’t mean you have to take up marathon racing, weight lifting and aerobics it just means get off your duff! Get out of the house, go for long walks several times a week. Take-up of fun activity like golf that allows you to socialize and get some physical activity on a regular basis. Secondly, eat better foods. Stay away from processed foods whenever possible and enjoy more fresh vegetables and fruit. Generally speaking, this simple or your food is a healthier it will be. Processed foods tend to be more fattening and contain chemical additives in addition to unhealthy levels of salt and sugar.

Before  starting any type of physical fitness program, especially advanced age, always consult with your medical doctor first. For senior citizens who are going to take up walking, be sure to carry a reliable cell phone or emergency medical alert system in the event you need assistance.

To learn more about living healthier in your senior years and caring for elderly loved ones checkout ElderKind.com.

1. Boost Your Immune System – Feeding your body right can play a major role in helping you fight off diseases like the flu, keeping you healthy all winter long.  Provide your body with enough fluids (green tea is a healthy drink that will keep you warm, too!)  and limit your alcohol intake to stay hydrated.  Foods like yogurt, chicken, garlic, and colorful or leafy vegetables have all been proven to boost your immune system, making them crucial to a healthy winter diet.
2. Be Aware of Weather Conditions – Wind chill and snow are two examples of weather conditions that can prove harmful to both your workout and your immune system.  Wind chill can get through any heat that your clothes provide, and in extreme cases, can cause frostbite.  Likewise, cold, wet conditions lower your body temperature and make you more vulnerable to illnesses.
3. Warm Up – Warming up before a winter workout decreases the likelihood of twisting or spraining any part of your body.  Warming up indoors is the most effective way to prepare your body for the exercise to come.
4. Dress Smart – If you’re going for a run outside, don’t think you can wear just anything.  Dressing in layers is key for cold exercise conditions.  It’s also important to dress in clothes that will keep you dry–this means no cotton!  Cotton holds in moisture that is especially present in snowy or rainy weather and can give you a chill when it’s against your skin.  Dressing in bright colors is another important factor in safe winter exercise (or night exercise during any season); it gets darker earlier in the winter, so wear bright colors to increase your visibility if you are running anywhere near cars.
5. Protect Extremities – Your ears, fingers, toes, and nose are the parts of your body that are most likely to get cold first.  To keep them warm, invest in warm winter socks and be sure to wear gloves or mittens when you exercise.
6. Get Health Insurance – Ice and snow make roads slick, increasing your chance of slipping and getting hurt if you exercise outdoors.  Getting health insurance provides you the peace of mind that you’ll be covered for any unexpected winter injuries.  It’s also smart to get a check up before you start a new winter exercise regimen, and with health insurance, you’ll be covered for any health problems you weren’t aware of before.  Health care providers such as Michigan Health Care offer single and family plans for anyone not covered by their employers.
7. Exercise Inside – If exercising outside during the winter isn’t your thing, don’t worry!  There are plenty of other options to stay in shape that don’t involve dealing with the weather at all.  Joining a gym is one option, but if your budget is tight, you can watch workout DVDs or play exercise video games in the comfort of your living room.  Doing stair workouts is another great way to stay fit without spending money.
8. Take Care of Yourself – If you become incapacitated in any way this winter, whether it’s the flu or simply an aversion to the cold weather, it’s important to cut your body some slack.  To make sure you don’t push your body more than it can take, find shortcuts for your daily errands.  One such shortcut is getting mail order prescriptions instead of trekking through the snow to the pharmacy, allowing your body to get the rest it needs.  Ordering your prescriptions also helps you remember to take important things like vitamins on time, keeping you healthy and off the roads in bad weather.

Now that you’ve learned how to stay healthy and in shape this winter, you have no excuse to hibernate for the rest of the season!  It’s easy and absolutely possible to stay in shape throughout the whole year, no matter what the weather.  Just be sure to make smart and safe health decisions—your body, especially your waistline, will thank you!

First, The core muscles refer to the muscles which wrap around your mid-section, including the abdominal muscles, Obliques, and back muscles including the Lats (latissimus dorsi), Middle Back (rhomboids), Lower Back.

Benefits of working your core muscles include more functional workouts that translate into daily life activities, improved performance in sports, reduced risk of injury, better ability to function each day, and helping to keep your body stable and balanced and help you bend twist and turn.

Now on to working these core muscles. As mentioned, simply doing a few crunches from time to time won’t efficiently work your core and you definitely will not see any visible improvement on your mid-section if you continue to work them out this way.

Research conducted at the University of San Diego by use of electromyography machine showing the electrical impulses that muscles send out when they contract, researchers have singled out the three best exercises for core specifically the abdominals. These exercises are:

Roman chair leg raises

Place your back against the roman chair machine and support your weight between your forearms. Allow your body to hang freely, this is your starting position. Keeping your legs straight, exhale and raise your legs slowly until your body forms an ‘L’. Pause for a moment and lower your legs slowly to the starting position.

Bicycle Crunches

Lay flat on the ground with your hands behind your head, with your torso slightly elevated and your legs stretched out also slightly elevated, this is your starting position. Exhale and bring one knee in slowly towards your chest, without moving the other leg, while simultaneously twisting your torso to make your opposite elbow meet your knee, without letting your arm fold across your face. Lower your torso and leg back into the starting position and repeat with the opposite leg and opposite elbow.

Reverse crunches

Adjust an ab bench to a slight incline of about 45 degrees. Lay on the bench so that your head is on the higher end of the bench, your head and back flat on the bench, your hands over your head gripping the pad or bar behind you. Extend your legs so that they are parallel to the floor, this is your starting position. Exhale and slowly bring your knees into your chest as close as they can go, pause for a moment and lower slowly back into the starting position.

The core muscles are best worked when performed in a circuit, picking 3 to 5 exercises and doing 10-20 reps of each exercise one right after the other with no rest then taking no more than a minute’s rest and repeating the circuit 3 to 4 times, this circuit workout should be performed 2 to 3 times per week. Also when working the abs it is vital to keep a clean diet composed primarily of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and lots of water.

Jeff covers health and fitness related topics for the Term Life Insurance blog because living a healthier lifestyle is one of the best ways to save on life insurance.

The number one cause of heart disease in the United States is inactivity, which accounts for 39.5% of Adults with heart disease in the United States. In other words, the number People who live an inactive or sedentary lifestyle are at high risks for developing heart disease.

Not only does living an inactive lifestyle increase your risk of heart disease, but it also increases your chances of developing other __ such as obesity, and high blood pressure, which further increase your risk of developing heart disease along with other problems including: Heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease and gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, breathing problems, such as sleep apnea and asthma.

A sedentary lifestyle, or inactive, lifestyle is clearly a risky and unhealthy one, which leaves you a risk of many health problems. We can avoid running a high risk of these diseases and associated health problems by simply living a healthier, more active lifestyle.

Performing regular exercise for about 45 minutes to an hour a day- 4 to 6 times a week can do wonders for your overall health and decrease your chances of heart disease dramatically. Performing aerobic exercises best work the muscles of the heart and lungs. The best aerobic exercises for your heart are:

• Swimming
• Jogging/Treadmill running
• Cycling/Stationary bike
• Rowing/Rowing Machine
• Elliptical Machine

These are all excellent workouts which provide great aerobic exercise. These exercises are all low impact activities which will be easy on the joints and muscles.

According to webmd.com some benefits, among others, that you will reap from doing one or more of any of these exercises include:

1. Strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system.
2. Improve your circulation and help your body use oxygen better.
3. Improve your heart failure symptoms.
4. Increase energy levels so you can do more activities without becoming tired or short of breath.
5. Increase endurance.
6. Lower blood pressure.
7. Improve muscle tone and strength.
8. Improve balance and joint flexibility.
9. Strengthen bones.
10. Help reduce body fat and help you reach a healthy weight.
11. Help reduce stress, tension, anxiety, and depression.
12. Boost self-image and self-esteem.
13. Improve sleep.
14. Make you feel more relaxed and rested.
15. Make you look fit and feel healthy.

Performing one or more of these exercises regularly, 4-6 times a week for 45 minutes to an hour along with a balanced diet will greatly strengthen your heart and dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease while toning muscles, loosing fat and getting in shape.

Jeff writes about health related topics for the Term Life Insurance blog. His tips will hopefully help readers save money on life insurance through improvements to their health.