John Aaron Wellness

In yesterday's post I presented the first steps to ridding yourself of a toxic person in your life and understanding that not being able to change their perspective is most definitely not your fault! Don’t be bound by your own feelings of guilt for someone else’s life decisions because no one stands to gain anything by it. This person will continue to take your energy and give nothing positive (to you or the world) in return. I repeat: NO ONE benefits, and if left unchecked, there will be one more negative person in the world - you. Believe me, I've been there. I know that coming to the realization that you can’t change a toxic person AND that you must walk away from them is an especially hard step to take. In these cases, I remind myself to let go of control. Let that person 'be' and continue on my own life journey. If confronted, always remain as calm as you’re capable of being. Reacting to a toxic person will not only bring you down to the same energetic level,...

Sooner or later, each of us will come in contact with people who will leave us feeling frustrated and depleted. I call them ‘soul suckers’ because of the kind of negative inertia they evoke that can pull us down and crush our spirit before we’re even aware of what’s happening. Oftentimes, these encounters can leave us in a similar sense of negativity, too. You may already know that much of what I write about involves proper nutrition, stress management, and physical movement. I even write about toxic foods and environmental contaminants, but the truth is that there are toxic people, and they can take just as much of a toll on our health & wellness! I’ve not been immune to these encounters myself which is why I want to teach you how to identify – and avoid – such people in your life, too. Just so you know, interacting with a toxic person always feels like a fruitless battle. You know the type; long on problems and short on solutions (because they aren’t really looking for sol...

A few years back, manufacturers of vodka, gin and clear rum were promoting the idea that drinking clear alcohol would keep you trim as long as you counted the calories (calculated at about 7 cal per gram). What they didn’t tell you was that your body can discriminate (and prefer) one type of calorie source over another. According to some research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, alcohol can literally put a halt to fat metabolism. Participants in this study were given two servings of clear alcohol administered 30 minutes apart. Fat metabolism was monitored before, and after each serving. What they discovered was that even hours after drinking both drinks, fat metabolism had decreased by over 70%. This means that while your body might be busy processing alcohol as fuel, it will also be simultaneously suppressing you're fat burning abilities. Basically: the more your drink, the less your body burns fat. They also found test subjects to have decreased levels o...

For many, alcohol is a part of life. While it might not cause you to lose control, and make poor decisions that you may greatly regret, it still has the power to increase the amount of calories you consume on any given day. With that in mind, it is important to have a good game plan to turn the keg that has developed in your abdomen into a flat-belly six-pack worthy of pride. If you are ready to fight for your healthy shape, you'll need to do the hard thing. You'll have to learn to drink less alcohol… I know it may seem self sacrificing but it is a challenge you CAN overcome. For example, whenever you go into any potential drinking situation, plan to have no more than one drink. It sounds difficult, I know - but it can be done. Simply order a glass of water to go with your alcohol and drink your alcohol slowly and surely. In addition, you can trim your wine-induced love handles the old fashioned way. Get to the gym and work up a good sweat. When you're there, remember tha...