Holiday snacks laced with trans-fat and simple sugars should be out of the picture by now. But is it necessary to give up all forms of indulgence?
Giving up tasty treats may sound good on paper, but do you really want to live so stringently? Such rigidness is more likely to create a binge down the road than to get you to your goal. Better to anticipate dessert cravings, and prepare accordingly.
Bring some healthy dessert options home with you from the grocery store so that you can be satisfied and stay healthy!
A choice favorite: “the bodybuilders’ dessert,” otherwise known as mixed frozen berries.
Frozen berries are cold like ice cream, tasty like frozen yogurt, and full of anti-oxidants. Enjoy them unthawed after dinner as an alternative to ice cream.
The “bodybuilders’ dessert” can be purchased in the freezer section of your favorite grocery store. At Costco you can pick up four pounds (nearly 15 servings of fruit) for less than eight dollars!
For more flavorful dessert options less than 100 calories check out: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/slideshow.asp?show=6.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Give Beyond Yourself
It’s better to give than to receive, no other season says it better than the holiday season.
It’s about being self-less.
After winning eight gold medals in Olympic Swimming Michael Phelps remarked “This was about something way bigger than any personal accomplishment… [it was] to elevate swimming’s place in the American sports landscape.
Phelps is a great swimmer, but his impact transcends his own self interest because he acts selfless.
Most fitness goals (particularly new-years resolutions) are established on selfishness.
Selfishness wants to build bigger muscles or a trimmer waistline, but also wants every other waning desire that comes about.
Selfish motives dissipate your energy and deter you from the road to your goals.
So; how can your personal health habits become a selfless gift to someone else?
Here are three hints:
*Childhood obesity portends more sickness and shorter lives for today's youth.
*98 percent of kids' meals in chain restaurants do not meet fundamental nutrition standards– they're way too high in salt, calories, or saturated fat! (How about at home?)
*Increased numbers of children have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes– all results of excessive weight.
This season, begin to give the gift of good health by encouraging sound nutrition for your kids, getting children involved different types of aerobic activities, and most importantly by making a resolution now to set a positive example for your children to follow.
In the coming new-year will your family be an excuse or a reason?
It’s about being self-less.
After winning eight gold medals in Olympic Swimming Michael Phelps remarked “This was about something way bigger than any personal accomplishment… [it was] to elevate swimming’s place in the American sports landscape.
Phelps is a great swimmer, but his impact transcends his own self interest because he acts selfless.
Most fitness goals (particularly new-years resolutions) are established on selfishness.
Selfishness wants to build bigger muscles or a trimmer waistline, but also wants every other waning desire that comes about.
Selfish motives dissipate your energy and deter you from the road to your goals.
So; how can your personal health habits become a selfless gift to someone else?
Here are three hints:
*Childhood obesity portends more sickness and shorter lives for today's youth.
*98 percent of kids' meals in chain restaurants do not meet fundamental nutrition standards– they're way too high in salt, calories, or saturated fat! (How about at home?)
*Increased numbers of children have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes– all results of excessive weight.
This season, begin to give the gift of good health by encouraging sound nutrition for your kids, getting children involved different types of aerobic activities, and most importantly by making a resolution now to set a positive example for your children to follow.
In the coming new-year will your family be an excuse or a reason?
Monday, December 1, 2008
That One Thing
If there were just one exercise you could do for the rest of your life what would it be?
Would you like to ski, swim, play tennis or just bang weights forever? Well, one physical exercise that can greatly benefit your health and wellbeing at any age; but particularly as you mature, is stretching. Stretching is one of the best things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In school students are taught the popular stretches like the hurdlers stretch or a seated groin stretch. However, these may not be the most useful stretches for you. When it comes to optimal performance you need to stretch specifically where your tightest muscles are. The best way to know which muscles need stretching in your body is to consult a professional who understands how to asses muscle imbalances, and who can help you create a program.
A tough fitness fact is that short bouts of activity (3-8 weeks) will seldom produce meaningful results. If you are going to see change then you must commit to the long term… period. This goes for stretching as well as lifting, running, swimming, or any other activity for that matter. Nothing worth having comes easy.
Stretching is actually very easy to do; the problem is that it’s also easy not to do. All you need are 5-8 key stretches that you do after each workout for 20-30 seconds each. If you’re above 65 years old you should hold your stretches for about 60 seconds.
Does eight minutes maximum per session sound like too much time? Ok… how much time do you spend talking during your workout? How hard would it be to turn talk time into stretch/talk time? Find or make a friend as you stretch… you can open up the conversation by talking about how great it is to do!
Would you like to ski, swim, play tennis or just bang weights forever? Well, one physical exercise that can greatly benefit your health and wellbeing at any age; but particularly as you mature, is stretching. Stretching is one of the best things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In school students are taught the popular stretches like the hurdlers stretch or a seated groin stretch. However, these may not be the most useful stretches for you. When it comes to optimal performance you need to stretch specifically where your tightest muscles are. The best way to know which muscles need stretching in your body is to consult a professional who understands how to asses muscle imbalances, and who can help you create a program.
A tough fitness fact is that short bouts of activity (3-8 weeks) will seldom produce meaningful results. If you are going to see change then you must commit to the long term… period. This goes for stretching as well as lifting, running, swimming, or any other activity for that matter. Nothing worth having comes easy.
Stretching is actually very easy to do; the problem is that it’s also easy not to do. All you need are 5-8 key stretches that you do after each workout for 20-30 seconds each. If you’re above 65 years old you should hold your stretches for about 60 seconds.
Does eight minutes maximum per session sound like too much time? Ok… how much time do you spend talking during your workout? How hard would it be to turn talk time into stretch/talk time? Find or make a friend as you stretch… you can open up the conversation by talking about how great it is to do!
Reap the Rewards of Rolling
Foam Rolling, the newest prescription anti-depressant
Imagine that rolling your body across a little blue tube, i.e. a “foam roller”, can reduce anxiety. Preposterous; isn’t it. If anything the sheer embarrassment of sprawling across the gym floor twisted up like a pretzel on some strange blue tube should INCREASE your anxiety! Added to which the indignant expressions on your face when you hit your trigger point (which you know your on when if feels like someone is squeezing your leg with a pair of needle nose pliers)!!! But; according to a recent article produced by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, foam rolling regularly can “decrease feelings of anxiety and fatigue.”
Foam rolling is a relatively mainstream method of inducing what experts call “ischemic compression” on the body. Some doctors, chiropractors, and massage therapists have been using this type of compression for years to reduce pain in the body (although through other tools than a foam roller). This type of compression works to alleviate pain by diminishing the effects of trigger points (active or latent) within the body.
The “pain receptors” in your body (interstitial receptors and ruffini endings) that indicate a trigger point have recently been proven to do much more than just indicate pain. The receptors themselves have autonomic functions within the body that include changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.
The following are examples of how foam rolling can greatly decrease the overall effects of stress (emotional or physical) on the human movement system:
Foam rolling reduces internal pressure on the muscle and increases blood flow. Blood flow brings about more oxygen and nutrients, removes waste bi-products, and facilitates tissue repair.
Foam rolling makes for a more uniform density throughout each muscle group thereby increasing the way your muscles work with each other in the body. This in turn translates into fewer faulty muscle contractions, making you more physically coordinated and less prone to injury.
Foam rolling builds humility and character by making you flop around the floor like a fool.
AND
Foam rolling can actually lead to better oxygen content in the blood and better respiration which can decrease feelings of anxiety and fatigue.
Foam rolling really does give credence to the saying that “sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven!” Once you make rolling a habit, though, it’s really not that bad. Considering all the good that rolling can bring should encourage you to add rolling to your stretching routine. Find one trigger point in each muscle you stretch before you stretch that muscle, and reap the rewards of rolling!
Imagine that rolling your body across a little blue tube, i.e. a “foam roller”, can reduce anxiety. Preposterous; isn’t it. If anything the sheer embarrassment of sprawling across the gym floor twisted up like a pretzel on some strange blue tube should INCREASE your anxiety! Added to which the indignant expressions on your face when you hit your trigger point (which you know your on when if feels like someone is squeezing your leg with a pair of needle nose pliers)!!! But; according to a recent article produced by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, foam rolling regularly can “decrease feelings of anxiety and fatigue.”
Foam rolling is a relatively mainstream method of inducing what experts call “ischemic compression” on the body. Some doctors, chiropractors, and massage therapists have been using this type of compression for years to reduce pain in the body (although through other tools than a foam roller). This type of compression works to alleviate pain by diminishing the effects of trigger points (active or latent) within the body.
The “pain receptors” in your body (interstitial receptors and ruffini endings) that indicate a trigger point have recently been proven to do much more than just indicate pain. The receptors themselves have autonomic functions within the body that include changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.
The following are examples of how foam rolling can greatly decrease the overall effects of stress (emotional or physical) on the human movement system:
Foam rolling reduces internal pressure on the muscle and increases blood flow. Blood flow brings about more oxygen and nutrients, removes waste bi-products, and facilitates tissue repair.
Foam rolling makes for a more uniform density throughout each muscle group thereby increasing the way your muscles work with each other in the body. This in turn translates into fewer faulty muscle contractions, making you more physically coordinated and less prone to injury.
Foam rolling builds humility and character by making you flop around the floor like a fool.
AND
Foam rolling can actually lead to better oxygen content in the blood and better respiration which can decrease feelings of anxiety and fatigue.
Foam rolling really does give credence to the saying that “sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven!” Once you make rolling a habit, though, it’s really not that bad. Considering all the good that rolling can bring should encourage you to add rolling to your stretching routine. Find one trigger point in each muscle you stretch before you stretch that muscle, and reap the rewards of rolling!
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