Being Fit and young
"Use it or lose it; just do
it; just say no; if you have your health, you have everything." Sound familiar? Statements
like these have become part of American vocabulary. Not a day goes by that we don't hear or talk or read about the
latest way to lose weight, reduce stress, and
improve ourselves in some way. We are
exhorted to be strong, exercise our willpower and our bodies, avoid harmful substances, fling
ourselves into the social arena, and be
all we can be.
Our society seems to have turned itself onto
the idea that we can and should make a
difference in our personal health and
well-being. In India and developing countries, the leading causes of death and disability are due to the
changing lifestyle practices. Although the extent to
which illness or death could be prevented
by altering our lifestyle is debatable, it is clear that the choices we make every day influence
not only how we live, but also how long we
live.
While many people have begun to take action
to improve their own health, the majority remains
on the sidelines; and it is easy to
understand why. The slogans sound good, but putting them into practice is another matter. Many people
view problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes as things, which happen only to
someone else or to older people.
"What's it got to do with me?" and
"what could I do about it
anyway?" they may ask. The barrage of conflicting messages about what is good for us and what
is bad overwhelms some people.
How can we know the experts to believe and
where can we obtain accurate and reliable information? Often people would like to develop healthier habits, but
just do not know where to start.
Chances are you've had similar thoughts or
concerns yourself. How healthy are you?
What are the greatest threats to your health? What difference might it make if
today you began to change your lifestyle in
certain ways?
These questions are common, but you are a
unique individual and you must find the
answers which are right for you. Rather than telling you "just do it"
or because everyone else is doing it, I want to share
with you the scientific reasons fbr asserting
a certain lifestyle now referred to as wellness.
Wellness is
the active process of becoming aware of and making choices to create a healthier life in all of
life's dimensions.
Wellness
describes a lifestyle in which the physical, social, intellectual, psychological, spiritual, and
environmental components of health are
integrated.
The person committed to wellness is
continuously striving to achieve the
optimum level of health within the framework of his or her own limitations and potential.
The well person takes an honest look at his
or her own capabilities and limitations and
attempts to change those negative
factors in life that are within the individual's power to change. Wellness behaviours include:
· Exercising
aerobically at least three times per week and engaging in other forms of exercise daily
· Not smoking
· Limiting
the consumption of alcohol to no more than two drinks per day and seven drinks per week
· Taking actions to preserve the environment
· Eating wholesome, nutritional foods
· Reducing caffeine intake
· Practising safe sex
· Engaging in practices of meditation or reflection which enable you to reduce stress
· Consciously avoiding inappropriately hostile
or aggressive behaviours
· Avoiding inappropriately passive behaviours
· Balancing work, social, and fitness behaviours
Our outlook on
life, our relationships with others, our general appreciation of the world around us, and our
respect for the well-being of others are
all major elements of the wellness
lifestyle. Thus, wellness is not dependent upon age, sex, or intelligence but a mindset which will
help you attain a sense of well-being.
Just as
certain influences predispose us toward various behaviours or make it more difficult to
change a given behaviour; reinforcing factors
serve to help us to maintain our motivation
to change. Without them we slide backward toward negative wellness behaviours.
Having a
strong social support group to give you positive feedback, having a friend to call when you're
craving that cigarette or rich dessert and knowing others really
and actually care about you may actually
help you to continue your diet and
exercise efforts. The extent to which you perceive yourself as feeling better and the feedback you receive
from others following an adoption to a given behaviour may encourage or discourage your continuation of the behaviour.
While some
people participate in a 10 km. race for the T-shirt
they get for entering the race, others participate because they feel good about the value they place on the
exercise and finishing the race
is their true reward. Ask yourself, "What did I do for myself today, yesterday, and what
about tomorrow?" Begin a
wellness approach by:
· · setting realistic goals
· · adjust priorities
· · identify your resources
· · develop a plan and time frame
· · take action and give yourself time to make
the behavioural change.
Weight Loss and Enjoyment
This holiday or festival seasons don't be trendy-avoid the Seasonal trend. (the average weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year's and Indians in festival like Diwali and marriage ceremonies). That's one trend you don't want to participate in!
I know what
you are thinking-the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don't want to think
about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don't worry! The
festivities don't have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also
maintaining your weight and your
fitness regimen.
The secret to
achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in
moderation. There are two typical approaches to the
seasonal festivities:
(1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure;
(2) starve and
binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful
at maintaining a healthy, fit
lifestyle throughout the holiday season.
As mentioned
above, the key is found in moderation. With a
moderate approach both to what you eat (or don't eat) and how much exercise you do (or don't do), you can
avoid packing on extra weight
and also partake in all the fun of the season. So this season, get a head start instead of starting later, with extra kgs to lose.
Here are some tips to help you:
Create a Plan
Ahead of Time: Before the festival and marriage
ceremonies sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good
nutrition into your daily routine.
Evaluate your party schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have
available to devote to working out and/or eating
healthy meals.
Don't Put
Your Fitness Goals on Hold Until the Season Come: If you can't exercise as often during this time
period as you normally do, adjust appropriately.
Don't use the excuse that since
you don't have time for your full workout you just won't workout at all. Instead accept your limited
availability and simply reduce the
frequency and/or duration of your exercise. It's much better to cut your
fitness time in half than to completely eliminate it.
On the Day of
a Party, be Sure to Eat Regularly all Day Long: If the party is in the evening,
eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand (just as you would on any other
day). Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier
in the day, you probably will find
that you aren't tempted to go overboard and eat everything in
sight. However, if you starve all day
long attempting to save up all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it
begins that it will be difficult
not to overeat.
Schedule
your Work-outs: Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider
them as important as any other appointment or
event you have marked on your calendar.
When at a
Party, Start by Eating Some of the Healthy Offerings:
For example, vegetable sticks (without dip), fruit pieces, plain, chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings.
You will be
less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the
healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or
unsatisfied.
On Fays that
You Really Lack Motivation or Simply do not have Time for your Complete Exercise Routine,
Commit to do Just 10 Minutes of
Exercise: You'll probably end up doing more
than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a
lot better than zero minutes.
When
presented with a large variety of food options, it's tempting to want to eat everything. Rather
than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or
a huge plate of meatballs, select a
sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the
enjoyment of trying many different foods without
overeating.
Exercise at
Home: You'll be more inclined to follow-through on
your exercise commitment if you don't have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you
won't waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment.
Working out
at home requires very little equipment (even can be equipment-free) and is quite
inexpensive.
Avoid Wasting
Calories on Alcoholic Beverages: The average
alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass.
Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you've drunk
the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If
you partake in these beverages, choose wisely.
For example, instead of having a full glass
of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with
sparkling water or with a diet cola.
This will help cut your calories in half.
When Running Errands or Shopping, be Sure to
Pack some Healthy Snacks to have On-hand:
Then after you work-up a big appetite,
you won't be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant
on the way home.
Hopefully these tips will help you find a
balance between staying fit and also enjoying the
fun of the season. Remember, moderation is
the key.
Healthy Eating
For many people, holidays, festivals and
family get togethers are a time for
celebration. These celebrations often involve foods
that are high in fat, sugar and calories and short on nutrition. With a few minor changes,
however, special occasion foods can be both
delicious and nutritious.
Dairy Products...
Many holiday foods include dairy products.
Enjoy these foods during your celebrations,
but use skimmed milk and other 'low'
or `no' fat dairy products in your recipes whenever possible. Look for the growing assortment of
low fat cheeses, cheese slices and cheese spreads
that are now available in your grocery
store.
For example, use light or ultra-light cream
cheese or cheddar cheese with only 7 per
cent fat. If you use spreads or other products
that are high in fat, such as butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, spread them very thinly or use
only a small amount.
Here are some tips to help you:
The Meat Dish...
Choose leaner cuts of meat for your holiday
gatherings whenever possible. Turkey is one
of the leanest types of meat. As a general
rule, white meat is leaner than dark meat—so choose the breast meat of a chicken or turkey
rather than the drumstick.
Trim the visible fat off of meats. Remove skin
from poultry. Choose fish more often.
Cold-water fatty fish such as tuna and salmon
have 'heart healthy' types of fat in them. Prepare meats in ways that reduce the fat content,
like broiling, stewing, or baking. Drain the
excess fat off of meats after cooking. Cook
meats on a rack so fat can drip away. Cool soups, gravies, stews, etc. before serving and then
remove the hardened fat that has collected at
the top. Use vegetable cooking sprays
to prevent foods from sticking. When preparing a roast, baste with low fat
broth instead of the drippings from the pan.
Vegetables...
Fortunately,
most vegetables contain little or no fat. It is what we add to the vegetables that increase
their fat content.
Avoid smothering your vegetables with thick
creamy sauces or butter. Potatoes, for
example, contain no fat. They also contain
very little salt and are good sources of Vitamins B and C and potassium. Potato skins are a good
source of fibre (fibre may help lower
cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of colon
cancer). Try leaving the skins on the potatoes when you mash them. When mashing
potatoes, rather than adding butter or sour cream, try whipping the potatoes
with skim or 1 per cent milk or low /no fat sour cream or yogurt.
Feel free to include two or three vegetables
with your meal as long as they have been
prepared with little or no fat. This can
often be done by steaming, baking or cooking them in the microwave. Flavour can be added by
using seasonings such as spices and herbs. Dark
green vegetables (such as broccoli) and
bright orange vegetables (such as carrots and sweet potatoes) are high in the antioxidant
vitamins, folic acid and fibre. Antioxidants (as
Vitamins A, C, and E) can be protective
agents against heart disease and cancer. Folic acid may play a role in helping to reduce the risk
of heart attacks and stroke. When choosing
vegetables, pick the ones that are the darkest
in colour to ensure maximum nutrition.
Salads are a
great addition to any meal. Be sure to choose a low fat dressing or ask your host to let
you add your own so that you can control the amount.
Cooking Tip: To prevent loss of
flavour and vitamins when cooking
vegetables, try steaming vegetables in less water or using a steaming rack. If you do boil vegetables
in water, save the water to make
gravy.
Stuffing...
If you have
stuffing with your meat dish and the recipe calls for meat or giblets, replace half of the meat with
dried fruits such as cranberries,
raisins or apricots. This turns an everyday
recipe into a colourful and seasonal dish.
Cooking Tip:
Rather than cooking stuffing inside of poultry or a roast, cook the stuffing in a casserole
dish or aluminium foil in the oven. This will reduce
the amount of fat in the stuffing
considerably.
Gravy...
Making gravy
from a low fat broth rather than the drippings
from poultry or a roast is a good way to reduce fat. If your gravy recipe calls for milk, make
sure to use skim milk.
Cooking Tip: If you choose to use
drippings for your gravy, pour or skim
the fat off the top of the drippings before using. This can be done easily by letting the drippings
get cold and,
when the fat has become hard, take it off with
a spoon. Or, when the drippings are cool, you
can also add ice cubes, to which the fat
will stick. Remove the ice cubes before making the gravy.
Cranberry Sauce...
Cranberries
are an excellent source of Vitamin C. Unfortunately
much of the Vitamin C content is lost in the canning process. Luckily home-made
cranberry sauce is easy to prepare and
the nutrients are retained. Try using cranberry sauce on your turkey instead of gravy.
Cooking Tip:
When making cranberry sauce, add sugar after cooking
the cranberries to maintain the tenderness of the skin. You may also want to substitute some
artificial sweetener for some of the sugar
in your cranberry sauce recipe.
Beverages...
Mulled cider
or our lowfat eggnog are a good alternative to high fat eggnog. If you choose to have eggnog, have
a smaller amount and dilute it with
skim milk or use low fat or fat free
eggnog.
Diet
carbonated sodas can make a very festive drink when added to your favourite fruit juice—try
cranberry or grape juice with soda. Nonalcoholic or
de-alcoholised wines are improving all the time and make a great alternative
for the holidays.
