Archived Monthly Health Tips

December 2009

The holidays mean joy, parties, family time, being grateful, and rejoicing in our own reason for the season....but to many others, holidays bring a fear of breaking our year-long goals of watching what we eat, and exercising....

The holidays pose their own challenges when it comes to maintaining a healthy BALANCE in your life. You want to be included in holiday festivities, but are often too tempted by holiday spirits and party food. You also want to try to "get everything done", but still have time for yourself (and don't think that's selfish!!). You're not alone in your dilema. Thousands of articles have been written about the importance of maintaining some sort of "normalcy" in your life during the holiday season. This holiday season, we want our students to know that we are here to talk to, to lsiten, to advise, to guide, to understand, and to help you through what should be a wonderful time of year for you! Here are a few tips and links to help bring you through the holidays with love and joy!

Losing weight isn't magic, but a web site called Weight Loss Wand offers interesting articles on the art of losing weight. This month, read their article Avoid Holiday Binging, and focus on controling the holiday tradition of over-eating.

Some of our own helpful tips to avoid holiday binging and to make enough time (or find it) to be active, include....

* Don’t Go Hungry!!!.....Eat a healthy snack like veggies dipped in hummus or low-fat ranch dressing before you go to a holiday party.

* Don’t stand by the food table, and hold a low-calorie drink in both your hands to give them something to do besides reaching for snacks!

* Eat tiny nibbles of foods you just can’t pass up, and enjoy them!
* Drink plenty of water!

* Incorporate mindful eating. Chew 10 times before swallowing, savor ever y bit. STOP eating when you are no longer hungry…definitely stop BEFORE you are full!

* Keep at least one “exercise date” with yourself. Don’t give up your entire fitness routine for the holiday season saying to yourself that you’ll make up for it come January. No one ever does, believe me! As you know, if you skip more than a week of reformer classes, you’ll live to regret it! If you are feeling totally overwhelmed, cut back, but don’t cut out, your weekly schedule. This may be a great time to try a yoga class to bring your stress levels down.

Remember to enjoy the holidays, that’s why we have them…but most of all remember BALANCE!

Other helpful and interesting articles for the holidays....

Simple Holiday Stress Management

Holiday Survival Guide: Manage Stress and Simplify Your Holiday Season

Holiday Stress Management: Four Tips

Best Holiday Stress Management & Reduction Tips

September, 2009:  Drink More Water!

Water is your body's principal chemical component, comprising, on average, 60 percent of your weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues. Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. How much water do you need?

Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water. There are a few approaches used to approximate water needs for the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate. Below is a sample calculation of water intake needs using a person’s weight, and climate. This method is simple and easy to remember....

Multiple your body weight by .75 (we use 75%, a slightly higher number than average, because we live in a warm and humid climate here in Florida which leads to a greater amount of water loss each day - if you live somewhere moist and cool use 65-70%). The resulting number is the amount of water you should drink in ounces each day. So for a 135 pound female living in Bradenton, Florida -  this method indicates they should drink approximately eleven 8-ounce glasses of water (or 87.75 ounces) each day.

There are other methods being used to calculate your recommended daily intake of water that take into consideration things like amount of time you exercise each day, whether you are pregnant or nursing, and other factors that impact your water needs. To learn more about the benefits of water intake, and calculate how much water you should be drinking using a brief About.com questionaire, visit this link....

The results are displayed in a format something like the image below....

Here's another great web resource to help you determine the amount of water you should consume every day. We found this Human Water Requirement Calculator to help you get the message about the need for drinking more water! The results are displayed like the picture below;

The bottom line is, no matter how you calculate it, we need to drink more water. Your body needs it - your brain needs it - and your life depends on it!

July, 2009:  Counting Calories Really Does Help!

Calories. You've counted them, cut them, burned them and even cursed them. But what exactly is a calorie? Flip open a dictionary and you'll find that a calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius. If that's mumbo jumbo to you, then here's a simpler explanation: Calories are simply a way to measure energy. Think of calories in food as fuel -- they're what keep your body going. What does that have to do with the number on the scale? Because one pound of body fat equals about 3,500 calories, you need to cut 3,500 calories from your diet to lose one pound.

But when it comes to calories - every BODY is different. We have differing body types, different eating habits, and different metabolisms (what helps us burn those calories). Learning about YOUR body, from food aversions to exercise interests, will help make your personal goals attainable. There is no ONE single diet or life-plan that fits all of us. But there are some guidelines to help us all define a personal plan to achieve maximum health.

Determine Your BMR

First, figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. This is the number of calories you burn doing nothing. To lose weight, eat less or as many calories as your BMR.

Define a Plan

Next, make an exercise plan. Decide when you'll do what, and figure out how many calories that will burn. Visit our on-line Calorie Counter tailored to Pilates and Yoga, or visit the on-line LiveStrong website to learn how other activities help you burn calories.

Figure out how much weight you want to lose and how many calories you need to eat to do so: Say your BMR is 1400 and you want to lose 10lbs. Say you will go swimming leisurely 3 times a week for an hour and a half each time, burning about 1500 calories altogether. You would multiply your BMR (1400) by 7 (you burn 1400 calories each day of the week), and that gives you 9800. This means you will burn 9800 calories a week doing absolutely nothing. Add the 1,500 calories you burn exercising, and you're already burning 11,300 calories a week. Say you will eat 1,300 calories a day. You want to multiply that by 7, too. You get 9100, which represents the total number of calories you ate for a week. Subtract the number of calories you eat per week (9100) from the number of calories you burn per week (11,300) to find the total caloric loss during the week (2,200) and divide that number by 3500 (the number of calories in a pound). You would lose approx. 0.6 lbs per week.

Following the example above, find out how many calories you want to eat and how much weight you would lose. The above is purely an example, and you can actually lose a lot more or a lot less depending on your weight, height, age, amount of exercise, amount you eat, etc.

Keep following this because to lose permanent weight, you need to make permanent changes. Be sure to be healthy. You would theoretically lose the same amount of weight eating 1,300 calories of ice cream and oreos than you would eating 1,300 of lettuce; I assure you, you will be much happier balancing everything out, and letting yourself have a variety of foods while staying in your caloric range. Eating lettuce, of course, puts more nutrients in your body than ice cream or oreos - so your food choices are still important nutritionally

Keep Track of Calories

Counting calories is one of the most popular and effective ways to lose weight. There are several steps to take in order to make calorie counting easier, more efficient, and therefore more conducive to weight loss success. Here is how to easily track your caloric intake.

Tip #1: Always check the labels of the food that you eat for nutrition information. This is not only for calorie counting and weight loss purposes but for your good health as well. For tips on reading Food Labels, check out these web sites;

How Stuff Works

Nutrition Data

US FDA Site

Kids Health

Tip #2: Use an online calorie counter to get information for a food journal online. There are plenty of websites online that give you nutritional information about calories, fat, protein, etc. about all kinds of foods, and often even restaurants. For calorie databases of common foods, go to the USDA's Web Site or Calorie King.

Tip #3: Use the nutrition information to keep a food diary. Keeping a food diary allows you to easily count calories and also pinpoint unhealthy eating habits or cases of self sabotage (weak spots in your diet plan). Buy a small notebook you can carry with you, or use and online food diary in order to conveniently keep a calorie count. For help creating your own Food Diary, or to print out an on-line template, visit these links below;

My Food Diary

University of Michigan

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

About.com

June, 2009: Pilates Can Help Your Golf Game!

Pilates makes healthy golfers. Throughout the world, from Scotland to South America, men of all ages will probably be hitting the golf course to help celebrate Fathers Day this month. Golf has long been heralded as one of the best ways to exercise the body and relax the mind, and help give dad time off on his special day. As in any sport, however, injuries can occur if you do not take proper precautions. Golf can be especially hard on the spine, often triggering back disorders, pain, and frustration in the game.

What most men don’t know is that Pilates has helped many pro-golfers improve their health as well as their golf games! What do PGA Tour player Camilo Villegas, Dave Duval, and golf’s legend Tiger Woods have in common other than golf? Pilates! Villegas, one of the longest hitters in pro golf and an avid student of Pilates, says “A lot of guys are getting in shape for golf these days by lifting weights. What they don’t realize is that you need both strength and flexibility. And, of the two, flexibility is more important for golf. I’m talking about maximum flexibility and core strength.”

Duval, winner of the 2001 British Open, says "I've added yoga to my routine recently, and combining that with my Pilates program gives me all of the cardiovascular workout I need. Pilates is a method of conditioning that involves hundreds of exercises designed to improve strength and flexibility without adding bulk." Looking back on his career, Duval explains “I've changed my routine to go easier on my back. I don't do squats or anything that involves a lot of compression of the spine. I've also scaled back on running, because of the pounding effect it has on the spine."

Why all the hype about Pilates among the pro-golf circuit? Pilates gives you the tools to exercise and move correctly. As is with any sport, golf especially, the spine, shoulder girdle, pelvis, and joints need greater mobilization. Muscles that are tense or weak can easily be injured. A muscle that is shorter or longer than its ideal length cannot function effectively, and weak muscles can result in instability at the joint resulting in slow reflexes. An important, and often overlooked, benefit of Pilates is improved muscle recruitment – something any athlete needs.

Pilates trains muscles so they work effectively and efficiently and impacts the skeleton by bringing the bones back into correct alignment, increasing stability, mobilizing joints, and enhancing movement patterns. This is systematic neuromuscular re-education. When your body movement utilizes correct biomechanics in proper alignment with sound muscle recruitment patterns, you will increase the efficacy of your workout and eliminate the risk of injury both during the workout, and during play on the golf course.

Pilates works the whole body and enhances the performance of everyday movements so that any motion becomes more efficient. It will change your golf game, your life, and the quality of both for the future.

Read more about Pilates and Golf from Golf Fitness Magazine….

Read more about The Benefits of Pilates for Golfers from the PGA….

May, 2009: Caring For Your Spine - Even When You're Sleeping!

Some people sleep on their stomachs, while others sleep on their side or back. Does it really matter what position you sleep in, as long as you sleep? Yes! When proper posture isn't maintained while you sleep - your spine can become misaligned, possibly resulting in pain when you wake up!

January 2009: Eat a Rainbow of Color in 2009

The Yellows and Oranges: Beta-carotene is the source of the sunny color of carrots, yellow bell peppers, oranges, and sweet potatoes. The body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A, an antioxidant that strengthens the immune system. So, during the gloomy winter months – eat sunny fruits and vegetables!