RESISTANCE BANDS —THE GO ANYWHERE FITNESS TOOL I keep a resistance band slung over a hook in my bedroom closet. Two or three times a week I grab it down and use it in my strength training exercises. It’s perfect for performing a seated row, lat pulldown or a side leg lift. Resistance bands come in a couple of types. I use the strong but lightweight tubular band kind with two handles. The other choice is a large flat loop without hand grips that looks like a giant rubber band. Both types offer tensions anywhere from 15 pounds to 200...
FOOD LABELS —TELLING THE TRUTHFUL FROM THE TRICKY Reading the front of food packages, you’d believe that nearly all their contents are healthy. Labels with claims such as “low-fat,” “no-additives,” “fresh,” and “natural” are more often than not misleading. That’s because these trick terms are unregulated and are used by many food manufacturers to convince people to purchase highly processed and unhealthy products. The more reliable information can be found on the back of the package in the nutrition facts box and the ingredients listing. Ingredients are listed by quantity, from highest to lowest. Healthier products will have whole foods...
LAP SWIMMING —DIVE INTO A GREAT WORKOUT I have to say that I enjoy swimming in the ocean more than swimming laps in a pool. However jumping into a pool lane is so much easier & less time consuming than the whole wetsuit routine I go through at the shore when I’m getting ready for a triathlon. These days I feel stressed for time plus I’m not participating in another triathlon anytime soon. So once or twice a week I go lap swimming at the Ventura YMCA. Depending on how much time I have I’ll swim 30 or 40 laps...
ADDED SUGAR = ADDED HEALTH RISKS If you’re like me, you’re probably eating and drinking more sugar than you realize—just because it’s added to so many foods & beverages. In a sense, my post this week is a continuation of last week’s, which talked about ultra-processed foods. That’s owing to the fact it’s in ultra-processed foods where so much added sugar is found (in addition to extra fat and salt) All sugar, whether processed or natural is a type of simple carbohydrate our bodies use for energy. (You can get more info on sugars & carbohydrates in my post Sugar—the...
ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS: THE MISSING LINK TO WEIGHT GAIN & OBESITY? Lately, I’ve read a couple of articles about the hazards of eating ultra-processed foods. So, what the heck are these “ultra” foods? Well, having a long list of ingredients is a primary indication that you’re eating this type of fare. They’re mostly mass produced packaged goods, such as sodas, bagged snacks, chicken nuggets and many frozen meals. In other words, items many of us eat every day because they taste great, come ready to consume and are durable By contrast, unprocessed or minimally processed foods include such items as fresh...
EASE INTO GETTING IN SHAPE Let’s say it’s been “forever” since you exercised. And now you want to get back into it again. It’s never too late to start a workout program. But before you begin, consult with your doctor. Your heart and joint health may influence what types of exercises are safe for you. For most older adults, probably the best way to ease into getting in shape is through regular walking followed by a minimum amount of strength training. Walking For the walking portion, here are excerpts from the Mayo Clinic Staff in their online article Get walking...
SHOULD YOU RUN BY THE MILE OR BY THE MINUTE? One of the elementary questions of running is should you train for so many miles or for so many minutes? (Of course, if you’re not a runner you’re probably asking yourself “Why should I even read this post?”) Running for Time I usually train by “running” for time. (There are men and women my age who still actually run—but over the years I’ve become more of a jogger than a runner.) I perform repetitions of jogging for 10 minutes followed by walking rapidly for 2 minutes. I do a minimum...
ANCIENT GRAINS FOR MODERN DIETS Lately, someone mentioned “ancient grains” to me. I asked if these were grains past their shelf life that we should throw out? Just kidding, but I still wondered how they might differ from regular grains. After a bit of research I found out and will share some of my newfound info with you. Ancient grains are a group of grains & pseudocereals that have not been hybridized or modified in hundreds—or maybe thousands—of years. Hence, the name ancient grains. The origin of cultivating grains goes back some 10,000 years when prehistoric peoples began making the...
LOSING WEIGHT—WHAT A CHALLENGE! If you’re like I was, losing weight long term was an elusive goal. Over the years, I tried the Scarsdale Diet, the Atkins Diet, the grapefruit diet. I’d lose maybe 10 pounds with each and then gain them back within months. It wasn’t until I stopped active dieting and started swimming, biking and running to participate in triathlons that I began losing weight. Yet, it wasn’t so much from the exercising. Rather, as I developed my fitness routine I also—without consciously planning it—began to eat better. I stopped drinking sodas and candy bars every day. But...
VITAMINS & MINERALS & YOU I feel I don’t have enough knowledge about human nutrition. So I’ve begun taking a combination textbook and online certification course from ACE (American Council on Exercise) called Fitness Nutritionist Specialist. In just the second chapter I found out more about our need for vitamins and minerals than I’d ever dreamed. I just thought there were a bunch of these so-called micronutrients and that the good folks who take daily multivitamins/minerals were probably the only ones getting them in the right amounts. But the more I read, the more I realized they are not only...
