Lose Weight and Keep It Off

Do you want to lose weight and keep it off? Now you can! In this comprehensive course, you'll discover how to establish a healthy approach to weight loss and weight maintenance. You'll master how to set and achieve weight-loss and weight-maintenance goals that make sense for you.

Naturally, we'll begin with a discussion of the role of food in weight loss and weight maintenance. But we'll talk about far more than calories. From understanding food composition, portion sizes, and preparation methods, to meal composition and meal timing, you'll learn food basics—and beyond! You'll discover how to eat out without jeopardizing your weight loss or disappointing your taste buds. We'll also discuss the basics of planning and preparing meals at home, and uncover tips and tricks for navigating the social elements of eating.

You may already appreciate that exercise is part of successful weight loss and weight maintenance. You may even know the differences between cardiorespiratory exercise, strength training, and lifestyle activity. We'll review these terms, and more important, discuss how to find exercise and activity that's enjoyable and helps you meet your weight-loss and weight-maintenance goals. You'll also discover how to take exercise to the next level and uncover thought patterns that negatively affect exercise and activity. Then we'll identify ways to overcome the challenges to regular exercise and activity.

We'll determine the role of hydration in weight loss and explore how to overcome obstacles to good hydration. You'll see how your thoughts affect your weight and evaluate the role of body image, emotional eating, and more in your own life. We'll examine how important sleep is in weight loss, and you'll learn how to get better sleep and cope effectively with sleeplessness.

We'll also probe the effects of stress on the body relative to weight and how to apply stress management techniques for weight loss and weight maintenance. You'll determine how other factors that affect weight, like genetics, pregnancy, menopause, aging, and cravings may be affecting your weight loss efforts—and learn practical strategies you can use to minimize their effects.

And since you don't want to lose weight only to gain it back again, we'll determine the differences between weight loss and weight maintenance, and see how to master the obstacles to weight maintenance. By the end of this course, you'll know how to set appropriate and effective goals for eating, exercise, and many other elements that affect your weight. You'll have the skills you need to lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime!

Luscious, Low-Fat, Lighting-Quick Meals

Have you ever wished you had a personal chef preparing luscious, low-fat meals for you? This course is the next best thing! You'll learn how to ferret out fat in recipes, and discover how to reduce fat without sacrificing flavor or texture. Explore how to use flavor profiling to expand your culinary horizons. Learn how to prepare casseroles, crock-pot dishes, vegan dishes, oven-fried foods, meat-based meals, and many other entrees that are both nutritious and delicious!

You'll discover how to get in and out of the kitchen faster, including tips for grocery shopping, menu planning, food preparation, and quicker cooking. You'll also learn a dietitian's tricks of the trade for encouraging reluctant family members to eat more healthfully. You'll have the chance to try out over 50 exciting and easy lowered-fat recipes for tasty entrees, side dishes, desserts, and garnishes, with each recipe demonstrating a topic that's covered in the lessons.

Start Your Own Edible Garden

Grow delicious, nutritious fruit and vegetables in your own backyard! In this course, you'll learn how to give your garden a healthy start and keep it growing strong all season.

You'll begin by figuring out which type of garden is right for you. Not everyone has the same amount of time, space, or sunshine, so the first step to a great harvest is selecting the right crops. You'll explore climate considerations, learn how to read a zone hardiness map, and find out how to spot a micro-climate in your yard.

After that, you'll discover how to properly prepare a garden bed so that your crops will have the best opportunity to thrive. Since healthy soil is the key to a great garden, you'll see how to identify problems in pH and drainage and fix them. You'll even learn to understand fertilizers and make compost!

Along the way, you'll delve into the variety of crops you can select: leafy greens, root vegetables, fruit, herbs, and more. Each type of crop has specific needs, so you'll get tips on starting seeds, transplanting, pruning, and using container gardens and support structures. In addition, you'll learn what to watch out for so that you can spot pests and diseases before they destroy your bounty. And you'll take the guesswork out of watering your garden as you explore a variety of irrigation options.

Whether you want to provide your family with nutritious food, save money, get some exercise, or just be more self-sufficient, this course will give you the skills and knowledge you need to be on your way to a successful harvest.

Suite bundles are not eligible for partial drops or refunds. Transfers to other open sessions of the same course are available. Please refer to your school for additional details regarding drops, transfers, and refunds on Suite bundles.

For more information or to register please click the link.

Do you want to lose weight and keep it off? Now you can! In this comprehensive course, you'll discover how to establish a healthy approach to weight loss and weight maintenance. You'll master how to set and achieve weight-loss and weight-maintenance goals that make sense for you.

By the end of this course, you'll know how to set appropriate and effective goals for eating, exercise, and many other elements that affect your weight. You'll have the skills you need to lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime!

For more information or to register please click the link.

Certificate in Energy Medicine

(10 contact hours) There is increasing scientific evidence that human beings are comprised of a biofield, an energetic system that is highly integrated with the physical body, emotions, and the spiritual aspect of individuals. Because of this evidence, medical and health care professionals are increasingly incorporating methods of energy healing with modern health care methods. In this certificate, you'll explore the fundamentals of energy medicine.

As a foundation for your understanding of energy medicine, you'll examine the scientific evidence of the biofield and explore Indian healing traditions regarding the chakras (the energy centers in the body). With this foundation in place, you'll go on to discover a variety of healing practices that focus on treating the biofield. You'll see how music and sound can be used therapeutically, and explore the benefits of the mind-body practice of meditation for promoting present-moment awareness.

The certificate also examines various gentle hand techniques used to balance the biofield, including Therapeutic Touch®, Healing Touch, Reiki, reflexology, and craniosacral therapy. Finally, you'll learn about traditional Chinese practices such as qigong, a holistic system of self-healing with a focus on posture and movement, breathing techniques, and meditation, and acupuncture.

Program Benefits:

The Energy Medicine certificate program offers a multidisciplinary educational experience. Your certificate in Energy Medicine will distinguish you as a knowledgeable, skilled, and committed professional. This program will:

Career Opportunities:

The Energy Medicine certificate program provides health care professionals and interested individuals in a wide range of careers with the knowledge and skills to effectively meet the needs of a culturally diverse patient and client population. Today, opportunities exist in the fields of nursing, social work, massage therapy, teaching, hospice care, administration, and research. Opportunities also exist within government programs and agencies; public and private institutions that provide health, education, and social services; research centers; special interest groups; colleges and universities; and corporate human resources divisions.

Participants:

This certificate is relevant for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed vocational nurses, practical nurses, nursing assistants, social workers, occupational therapists, recreation therapists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, administrators, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, dieticians, educators, personal care assistants, volunteers, physicians, physician's assistants, chiropractors, clergy, physical fitness professionals, and interested individuals.

Note: All healthcare providers are responsible for checking the "Accreditation" list to determine if this course awards contact hours for their profession.

Certificate in Meditation

(8 contact hours) Although there are many ways to meditate and many different forms of meditation, they all share a unifying characteristic: Each focuses on intentionally training a person's attention and concentration. Meditation practices have been used by cultures around the world for thousands of years.

In this certificate program, you'll explore the many meditation techniques that can be used to support the mind-body connection and promote healing and wellness. You'll gain an overview of the religious roots of meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Sufism, as well as how these techniques can be used by any practitioner, regardless of faith or religious affiliation. The program is designed for health professionals and nurses as well as general consumers, and covers techniques including Transcendental Meditation™, guided imagery and visualization meditation, mindfulness meditation, Osho Kundalini Meditation™, Vipassana meditation, walking meditation, laughter meditation, centering prayer meditation, and concentration meditation.

As you'll learn, meditation's health effects have been well documented. The practice offers improvement of the symptoms of various diseases and allows practitioners to experience a deeper spiritual connection. This program will guide you as you discover how the practice of meditation can be used to increase mindfulness, reduce stress, deal with pain and illness, and support overall well-being.

Program Benefits:

The Meditation certificate program offers a multidisciplinary educational experience. Your certificate in Meditation will distinguish you as a knowledgeable, skilled, and committed professional. This program will:

Career Opportunities:

The Meditation certificate program provides health care professionals and interested individuals in a wide range of careers with the knowledge and skills to effectively meet the needs of a culturally diverse patient and client population. Today, opportunities exist in the fields of nursing, social work, massage therapy, teaching, hospice care, administration, and research. Opportunities also exist within government programs and agencies; public and private institutions that provide health, education, and social services; research centers; special interest groups; colleges and universities; and corporate human resources divisions.

Participants:

This certificate is relevant for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed vocational nurses, practical nurses, nursing assistants, social workers, occupational therapists, recreation therapists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, administrators, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, dieticians, educators, personal care assistants, volunteers, physicians, physician's assistants, chiropractors, clergy, physical fitness professionals, and interested individuals.

Note: All healthcare providers are responsible for checking the "Accreditation" list to determine if this course awards contact hours for their profession.

For more information or to register please click the link.

Widely accepted, used, and studied within mainstream medicine, mindfulness meditation involves paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and without judgment. The health benefits of mindfulness meditation include improvements in dealing with stress, pain, and illness. Anyone can engage in this form of meditation, which places no emphasis on religious or faith practices.

The outcome of this course is for the learner to describe mindfulness meditation, including the health benefits of mindfulness meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and the techniques and practices for mindfulness meditation.

For more information or to register click the link.

Certificate in Food, Nutrition, and Health

(16 contact hours) Food and nutrition have a profound impact on our health and well-being, yet many of us are not aware of what foods to eat, which diets are healthy, and where our food originates. We eat toxic, irradiated, or genetically altered foods and we eat more than we need. How can we change our eating habits and become more conscious of what we eat, why we eat it, how it is prepared, and what consequences our food choices have on our health as well as the health of our planet? This certificate provides an overview of the role of food and nutrition choices on our bodies, our immune systems, our overall well-being, and the health of all sentient beings on an increasingly populated planet.

The outcome of this certificate is for the learner to describe a holistic overview of current food and nutrition issues and their impact on physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and planetary health.

Certificate in Nutrition, Chronic Disease, and Health Promotion

(12 contact hours) Nutrition is a major determinant of health as well as a factor in many common chronic diseases. In this certificate program, you'll gain an understanding of the role food and water play in health, and see how making appropriate changes in one's diet can have powerful effects on health throughout life.

You'll examine how the burden of chronic diseases is rapidly increasing worldwide as traditional, largely plant-based diets are being replaced by high-fat, energy-dense diets with a substantial content of animal-based foods. This certificate addresses these issues and more and provides a solid foundation of for both health care professionals and those wishing to enter the fields of nutrition, health promotion, and lifestyle and wellness coaching.

For more information or to register please click the link.

The benefits of exercise are numerous, regardless of your age or physical ability. Everyone benefits from regular physical activity. Yet, a common challenge is how to build time for fitness into your daily routine.

This course breaks down key elements and objectives for health, wellness, and exercise that can be done at home. Through a series of videos, an expert personal trainer and wellness professional will discuss the benefits to working out, how to create exercise routines you can perform at home, online tools to assist you with your progress, nutrition, and more.

For more information please click on this link.

We are experiencing a mindfulness revolution as we become aware of the benefits of being mindful in our self-care, intimate relationships, and communication processes. We are also increasingly aware of how the practice of mindfulness can effect climate change, nature, our health, the health of our communities, and the health of the planet. When we cultivate a sense of connectedness to everything in nature and realize we all share only one Earth, we gain an immeasurable gift in return. As we cultivate mindfulness and self-compassion for ourselves, it ripples outward to others and transforms our relationship with our partners, families, communities, and the world.

The outcome of this certificate is for the learner to describe the characteristics of mindful self-care, intimate relationships, communication processes, and how mindfulness impacts climate change and human health.

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present moment and is a key component in a wide variety of current, widely-recognized healing interventions. Neuroscientists are mapping how mindfulness training can change and improve brain health, and scholars are taking a fresh look at the nature of "self," emotion regulation, compassion, wisdom, and the far reaches of human potential.

Mindfulness reduces stress and anxiety and improves health, improves personal and professional relationships, contributes to improved productivity in the workplace, leads to long-term health changes that result in fewer chronic illnesses, reduces demand on the health care system, and improves the quality of life. This certificate addresses how to support mindfulness in all areas of life. It provides a solid foundation of knowledge and information to support individuals who wish to enhance their own well-being as well as health care professionals who wish to evolve in their profession, create new job opportunities for themselves in the exploding field of mindfulness, health promotion, lifestyle coaching, etc.

For more information or to register please click the link.