FIT IN FITNESS IN YOUR TRAVELS You just might be planning some fun trips over the next few months. Or you might be traveling for business. In either case, there’s no reason you can’t keep up on your fitness. A combination of planning ahead and determination to put in some workout or exercise time into your travels should do it. Here are some tips: Pack for Workouts Before your travels, research to see if your hotel has a fitness facility. Also, if your trip is in the US and you belong to a fitness organization like 24 Hour Fitness or...
ALMONDS — THE CLOSE-TO-PERFECT NUT Almonds are terrific! They taste great, are perfectly portable, can be used in so many ways, and are extra healthy. I buy Trader Joe’s “Just a handful of Raw Almonds” packets, which contain thirteen 1.25 oz bags. And then, every day, one-by-one I pop these crunchy and tasty nuts as my mid-morning snack. Researching almonds for this post, I found a number of things I didn’t know about them including: We call them nuts, but an almond is actually the edible seed of a drupe, a fruit in which the outer layers are usually not...
AEROBIC VS. ANAEROBIC EXERCISE Aerobic and anaerobic describe the two methods your body uses to provide energy during your workouts. I think that many of us prefer one kind of exercise over the other. I know that I’d rather jog or bike (aerobic exercise) than lift a heavy barbell (anaerobic exercise), while you may rather lift weights than head out on foot or wheels. In aerobic exercise, also called cardio exercise, your body stays in a moderate to somewhat difficult exertion zone for a sustained period of time. In this zone your body fuels activity by utilizing inhaled oxygen to...
WHOLE GRAINS—WHOLESOME YET FLAVORFUL I keep reading that we should eat three or more servings of whole grains daily as part of a healthy diet. So, I began looking into what is considered a “serving” and also what exactly is considered whole grain. Well, I found that I haven’t been eating 3 servings daily. Have you? Here are examples of just 1 serving: ½ cup cooked brown rice or other cooked grain ½ cup cooked whole-grain pasta ½ cup cooked oatmeal 1 slice whole grain bread 1 cup whole grain ready-to-eat cereal Here’s the skinny on what is considered...
HIP HIP HOORAY—TIPS FOR BANISHING HIP PAIN I’ve had pain in my hips during and after running for years but always just took it as part of the game. Yet, now I’m also waking in the morning to hip pain (in addition to my lower back pain!) and I thought it about time to find out how to get rid of it. I’ve been searching online for answers. But it seems each article or site I land on has it’s own “reason” for the pain and its own solution. So I’m distilling all this into what I can see are...
DIABETES—A CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE CAN PREVENT OR EVEN REVERSE IT Today I’ve been reading the statistics on diabetes in this country. I had no idea that it and its precondition were so darn prevalent: More than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in their press release in July 2017. The report found that as of 2015 more than 30 million American adults have diabetes and another 84 million have prediabetes, a condition that if not treated often leads to type 2 diabetes within 5 years....
FIGHTING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE I’m seeing more and more news on how antibiotic resistance has become a serious public health problem. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria develop the ability to withstand the drugs designed to kill them. When bacteria become resistant, antibiotics cannot fight them and the bacteria multiply. Antibiotics are ultra-important to modern medicine. Think of penicillin, tetracycline and erythromycin and all the more recently discovered antibiotics. These drugs fight infections caused by bacteria in both humans and animals by killing the bacteria or making it difficult for the bacteria to grow and multiply. Bacteria are single-celled organisms found both...
EVERY DAY IS HEART DAY Happy Valentine’s Day! On this day it seems appropriate to talk about senior heart health. The heart is an amazing muscle that beats around 100,000 times a day. It’s essentially a complex pump that is able to adjust blood pressure, flow, and volume in order to provide our bodies with all the blood they need. Yet, many of us seniors don’t take good care of our tickers. Nearly one-third of all deaths among older persons are due to heart disease. In fact it’s the leading cause of death for persons 65 and older. Heart disease is...
GAINING FLEXIBILITY—IT’S A STRETCH I used to do a full set of stretches before I went out for a run. But lately I’ve read that stretching muscles before they’re warmed up can actually hurt them. So now I just take a 10-minute quick walk before I get into my jog. However, I’ve actually begun to perform more stretches—just not before I run or I jump into other aerobic activities. Two to three times a week I go through a routine where I stretch muscles critical for mobility—my hamstrings, hip flexors and quadriceps. This includes squats, clamshells, step-ups, standing quad stretches...
SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS Last week I read a Washington Post online article warning that our general lack of sleep is escalating into a health emergency. I think we seniors need to especially pay attention to getting enough sleep, what with insomnia due to anxiety or restless legs or arthritis pain or needing to use the bathroom more frequently. Last June I wrote a post giving recommendations on how to get better sleep, Nothing Like a Good Night’s Sleep. However, the Washington Post piece was more on the dangers of not getting enough sleep. Here are excerpts from the...
