Health Blog

Tips for Getting Through the Holiday Season

December 14, 2012 Holiday Eating Tips, Surviving the HolidaysLeave a comment

For most of us the holidays mean friends, family, vacation, good times, food, food, food, and oh – did I mention food? The lucky people (you know who you are) can skate through the holidays enjoying candies, cakes, pies, dips, chips, turkey, gravy, and eggnog without gaining a pound. The rest of us usually find that our favorite pair of jeans is just a little tighter on January 1st. I’d be willing to bet my right arm that the number one New Years Resolution year after year is … “I’m going to go back on my diet” or “I will start eating healthy again”.

These tips are all about how to enter the new year the same size you left it! – or at least close to the same size. I think a very common mistake people make is telling themselves that this year they will absolutely not overeat no matter what. Then, when they do have that extra brownie or serving of mashed potatoes, they reason – well, I blew it! I might as well have that fourth brownie – and, oh look, that apple pie is still hot!!

The first tip I have – and maybe the most important – is be realistic this holiday season. If you have a history of gaining a few pounds every year, expect to gain a few this year, too. BUT… I’m certainly not saying don’t do anything!

Here are some tips to minimize the caloric overabundance of the holidays: print them out and keep them handy for the next month or so.

TIP #1 – PARTIES AND GATHERINGS

Parties and gatherings are always accompanied by tasty treats. First, mark on your calendar when these events will take place. Second, PLAN AHEAD. Make your other meals and snacks that day lighter fare than usual. Or, instead of two meals, have one meal (i.e., breakfast) and one snack in place of your usual lunch. (The difference between a meal and a snack? A meal is 400- 500 calories or more as in a turkey dinner, and a snack falls somewhere around 200-300 calories.) Also, let’s say your party is at 4:00 pm – have a light snack at 3:30. In other words, never go to a party hungry – you will overeat. Here are some healthy pre-party snacks to keep handy:

•   granola bars
•   crackers and low fat cheese
•   pretzels
•   fruit-(bananas,apples,pears,apricots,melon)
•   small bowl of cereal – any time of the day
•   low fat muffins
•   string cheese

TIP #2 – KEEP EXERCISING

Why wait for the new year to start?? If you love to eat, exercise is a great way to balance out those calories for weight maintenance. We are lucky to live in a climate where you can exercise outdoors year round – most of the time. Enjoy our beautiful city this season – show it off to your guests and family. Take them out for a hike – or just step out your front door for a post Turkey walk (if you’re not in a food coma, that is) – I guarantee you will feel better. What? You’re going to Michigan? Walking in the snow can actually be fun if you have the right gear. Go outside and make a snowman. Do your yoga routine indoors.. The bottom line is – keep moving.

TIP #3 – HOLIDAY GUESTS

Guests coming? And bringing the kids? Good! This gives you ample opportunity to be “in control” of your holiday eating. Keep healthy foods around the house for munching:

•   vegetables with low – fat dip
•   reduced fat crackers and low fat cheese
•   hummus with pita
•   bread bowl of fruit
•   low fat muffins
•   bowls of pretzels

TIP #4 – ALCOHOL

Some people find that they drink more alcohol during this festive season. The problem is alcohol packs in 7 calories per gram, with no nutrients to speak of. If you are at a party or just having a good time with family – try switching off between alcoholic drinks and “other” low cal drinks like seltzer water or diet soda. I want to stress low cal drinks because if you drink eggnog and regular sodas or juices in between each drink, you’re still getting all the calories!

TIP #5 – PLAN AHEAD

Successful weight loss often boils down to good planning and more than any other time of the year, planning is essential during the holiday season. If weight loss is a battle for you, then it’s time for an all-out assault on holiday weight gain! Sit down and calmly think about your tactics: what to do when you’re offered foods you’d prefer not to eat; what to eat instead; how to handle nosy relatives and their comments about your weight loss efforts; fun ways to enjoy the season that aren’t food- related, etc. If you have a plan, you will not be caught off-guard in the mass confusion that is a family get-together. Write down your plan of attack in your weight loss journal. The more concrete your plan is to you, the more likely you are to stick to it.

TIP #6 – DON’T RUN ON EMPTY

Whatever you do, don’t go to a party hungry or “save your appetite” for a big end-of-the day meal at the family’s or at work!. Make sure to eat healthy snacks before the office get-together and throughout the holiday week- end. If you find yourself facing down a buffet table on an empty stomach, you’ll have little chance of avoiding a binge. Just as you no longer skip meals on a day-to-day basis and expect successful weight loss, don’t do without during the big day so you’ll truly “appreciate” Mom’s famous turkey and dressing.

If you allow yourself to become too hungry, you’ll “appreciate” everything else right along with it, with little regard for portion.?These are just a few suggestions that I have found helpful in battling the holiday weight war. In the end, it all comes down to being focused — on yourself, your goals and enjoying this special time with your loved ones. Stay motivated in your weight loss efforts, but don’t be so focused that you let the holidays pass you by without enjoying them.

The point is to be with your friends and family and have fun, not to be constantly on-guard against eating something “bad” or over-doing it. And what if you do indulge? Don’t be your own personal Grinch! Ease up and be kind to yourself. Scolding yourself will spell failure; forgiving yourself will assure continued weight loss success. Remember: Tomorrow is always brand new day, every time it happens!

Healthy Eating for Healthy Joints

December 6, 2012 Health & Fitness, Healthy Eating, Healthy JointsLeave a comment

Much attention is often paid to the healthful benefits of nutrition and the heart and cardiovascular system, but seldom is advice seen for how to eat for healthy joints. Here are a few nutritional elements that are vital for keeping your joints and cartilage in tip-top shape.

• Manganese is a major player in building cartilage in the body by boosting the glucosamine in the body – which maintains healthy cartilage, and thus, joints. Some great sources for Manganese: Whole Grains, Beans, Seafood, Dark leafy Greens, Milk, and Nuts.
• When included in your diet, Omega 3s give your body anti-inflammatory support and improve blood flow and mental health. Omega 3s provide the joints with the support they need to stay functioning properly. Some natural sources include: Flax seeds, Walnuts, Cod Liver Oil, Egg Yolk, and certain types of fish, such as Salmon, Cod, Trout, and Sardines.
• Vitamins C & E are an antioxidant rich duo and support each others function. While Vitamin C is the hero of healthy bones and joints with its ability to help the body form collagen, it can’t perform at peak without its partner, Vitamin E. Collagen is a protein that is found in your bones, tendons and cartilage. Citrus fruits, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, broccoli, corn, nuts and oats are all great sources for this powerful duo.

Surprising as it may seem, it’s easy to have a strong, healthy musculoskeletal system with a few easy additions to your diet. Try the fish recipe below to get started.

Recipe for Salmon with Citrus Honey ?

Honey and citrus juices flavor these tasty salmon fillets, and the combination of healthy omega 3s from the Salmon, and the glucosamine booster Vitamin C makes this dish a winner for your joints and cartilage. Great with Rice.

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each, skin on
4 tablespoons honey?3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:??

Preheat oven to 400° Grease a 9x13x2-inch baking pan. Place salmon, skin-side down, in the prepared baking pan. Combine the honey, lime juice, and orange juice, stirring until well blended. Sprinkle the fillets with salt and pepper then spoon the honey and juice mixture over the fillets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Sprinkle the fillets with salt and pepper then spoon the honey and juice mixture over the fillets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Get Fit While Losing Weight

November 19, 2012 Getting Fit, Goal Setting, Weight LossLeave a comment

For many people, choosing a healthy diet and exercise plan is not about weight loss alone. You may be striving for a healthier life, a fit life. Getting fit and staying fit are great ways to lengthen your life, improve your mood, and keep yourself healthy.

To get fit, and stay fit, follow these guidelines:

1. Focus on Lifestyle Changes: Fitness is not a temporary solution to a short term problem. It is a series of lifestyle choices, leading up to an overall lifestyle change. As you begin your journey into weight loss, focus on the fact that you are developing a healthy body for a lifetime, not just a skinnier body right now. This will help you to see the big picture, and enable you to stay strong through diet difficulties.

2. Adjust Your Diet: Adjust your diet plan until you find one that is both healthy and livable. For example, if you hate salad, and design a diet plan focused on eating a big salad at lunch and dinner time, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Take the time to research multiple diet plans, and find on that you can live with. Sure, there’s no such thing as the donuts-and-chocolate-cake diet, but find the healthiest diet that also works with you. This will make sticking to it, as well as losing weight, easier to do.

3. Include Activity: Again, take the time to include a plan that fits into your life. Choose a gym or fitness club that is open when you have the time to exercise. Pick activities that you enjoy. Plan your exercise time to fit into a part of your day when you’re not exhausted. Incorporate active outings into your family schedule. Strive for a more active life as a whole, and don’t beat yourself up over one or two missed workouts. Remember, you’re making changes for a lifetime.

4. Get Plenty of Rest: One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight or become fit; is they burn the candle at both ends. Lack of adequate rest lowers not only your body’s natural defenses, but weakens your mental and emotional stability as well. Think of it this way a well oiled machine can operate at maximum capability.

You can lose weight on an unhealthy diet, but true fitness requires devoting time to your health. By making yourself a priority, and focusing on long term lifestyle changes, you’re setting out on your fitness journey. Take the time to find diet plans and exercise routines that you can fit into your schedule, as well as enjoy. This will make incorporating fitness into your daily routine something to look forward to, instead of something to dread.

Stretching to Avoid Injury & Stay in Shape

November 18, 2012 Injury PreventionLeave a comment

Most sports medicine professionals agree that those athletes who take the time to really care for their bodies experience far fewer injuries than those who act reckless with regard to their health.

It is really important to remember exactly what a benefit stretching provides when you are trying to decide if spending time stretching is worth it. The exact benefits are almost limitless, however there are some specific benefits that virtually all athletes should experience.

Among the benefits of stretching there are the improvements to your circulations, range of motions, posture, overall performance and even your ability to relax after working out. However this is not all that stretching provides, it also helps you decrease the tension in muscles and can even assist in reducing overall joint stiffness that can occur after a work out. The overall benefit of stretching is possible to achieve in as little as 10 minutes before starting an actual workout, which makes it very easy to work into any routine that you are exploring.

By properly ensuring that you are stretching, you are not only providing the benefits to your body, but you are also able to reduce the number of times you are forced to go to the doctor over an injury. Most active individuals would rather be playing their favorite sport rather than sitting in a doctor’s office being treated. However, while most active individuals would prefer not to spend time being treated, it is still important to seek treatment for all injuries that occur rather than leaving them unattended.

With proper attention paid to stretching in addition to an appropriate exercise routine it is possible to greatly reduce the number of injuries that occur. While not all injuries can be avoided by stretching, it can help to reduce the severity of many injuries as well as reducing the overall number of injuries. It is highly important to work with a coach or other sports medicine professional to develop a routing for stretching that is most effective for your individual lifestyle as well as body type.

Especially important for active individuals is discussing their workout habits and any previous injuries when selecting a stretching routine. By carefully choosing the proper exercises and stretches it is possible to help protect against further injury, and really tailor the workout to your exact individual needs. However, just merely stretching to stretch can sometimes void the benefits if the stretches are not the proper type. For example, if you are a runner and focus more emphasis on stretching your arms you are going to see fewer benefits than someone who stretches their back as well as legs before actually running.

Deciding with your sports medicine team the appropriate exercises, number of repetitions and all other pertinent details of your stretching program also helps to ensure that your entire team knows exactly what you are doing, and can make modifications and adjustments based upon what you need as an individual, as well as what you need to improve your overall athletic ability. It is very important to carefully select exercises that are appropriate for your needs at the time of the warm up as well. This means specifically, if you have an injury to your hamstring muscle, you should give it some rest for a couple of days at a minimum.

This brings to light the importance of talking to your doctor and learning to listen to your body. If you feel as if the stretches you are doing cause you more harm than they help, it is time to rework your routine and change how you are treating your body. Remember, changing the types of stretches that you do is perfectly acceptable especially when you are healing from an injury. Working to keep your body in the best overall condition possible is your ultimate goal and working towards that goal often means having to make adjustments to a routine, often at the last minute.

Spring 2012

March 5, 2012 Burb Living Today, Health & Fitness, Homepage FeatureLeave a comment

Spring is Here and it’s Time to Get Outside.
How to Stay Healthy in 2012.

There is no better time to get in shape than the beginning of the spring season. Whereas most New Years resolutions die out in January, on account of low motivation, shortened days, and a natural temptation for carbohydrates, the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring promote greater health and continued fitness in many individuals. There are several health-related perks that come with the arrival of spring’s more favorable weather conditions.

Fitness Doesn’t Need to Cost a Dime

There are two great ways to get in shape and stay healthy during spring and the warmer months which require virtually no out-of-pocket expenses. The first, and perhaps most popular, is to take advantage of local outdoor fitness paths and attractions. An increasingly common sight in cities and towns throughout the country, these trails are typically scenic paths through parks, nature preserves, and waterfronts.

If the winter “blahs” have been keeping you inside, or cold temperatures have made a pair of gym shorts seem like a joke, the time is now to go for an outdoor run at a local park. The sunlight will rejuvenate the mind, and the jog will jumpstart a lagging winter metabolism.

The second great way to get in shape for little to no cost is to participate in a local club sport. These clubs are typically run by sports enthusiasts who have a passion for the game, and they generally charge a low admission fee or none at all. On top of this, spring sports clubs are a great way to make new friends in the community and meet people who are just as dedicated to athletic and fitness as you are. Their competitiveness will drive your motivation higher, as you get in better shape and strive to maintain excellent health.

Healthy Eating Promotes Healthy Living, No Matter the Season

Of course, no amount of outdoor exercise in the spring months will be able to compensate for a poor diet once you have left the game or the jogging path behind. Maintaining a healthy diet throughout the year not only promotes maintenance of a healthy weight, but also the loss of additional fat. And, for those who are particularly active throughout the year, a proper diet is the best way to ensure a quick recovery from muscle strain and soreness, and to ensure that new muscles are built quickly and efficiently by the body.

For those who seek to maintain a healthy diet, there are a few key rules to keep in mind. First and foremost, no specific group of nutrients should ever be off the table: the maxim “all things in moderation” is the key to a healthy diet that can be used for long-term success.

A healthy diet should be low in fats; any fats consumed by a healthy individual should be healthy fatty acids such as those found in fish or certain nuts and vegetables. Diets should necessarily be high in protein, especially for active individuals. Abundant protein is the key to repairing muscles after a long workout, and it will help the body build new muscle as it engages in the recovery process.

Finally, don’t be afraid to indulge in carbohydrates every now and then. The body requires it for energy, and they’re a great way to last long on the playing field or add an extra mile to the daily jog. Carbohydrates should always be kept complex, however: that means choosing whole wheat bread and pasta over their whiter, more refined alternatives. These complex sources of carbohydrates are key sources of protein and fiber, and they’ll promote a healthy metabolism, a healthy heart, and overall good health.

Use the Change of Seasons as an Excuse to Change Your Lifestyle

If the motivation to commit to a healthy lifestyle change has been lacking in recent months, the warmer and longer days of spring are the perfect excuse to get the ball rolling on new habits. Get out of the house, jog through a park, and join a sports club that will introduce you to fellow healthy eaters and exercisers. Pair that with a balanced diet and controlled caloric intake, and you’ll find the success is essentially self-perpetuating — as well as gratifying.

Spring is Here and it’s Time to Get Outside. How to Stay Healthy in 2012.

Spring is Here and it’s Time to Get Outside.
How to Stay Healthy in 2012.