After reading the last few posts on this topic and considering the questions I prompted you to ask yourself my hope is that you have a little bit better idea of how healthy you are. In answering the questions you may have found areas where you can make improvements and that’s great. I gave some very basic recommendations to start with but I would encourage you to consult with a professional if you want to get serious about improving your overall health. Physicians, dietitians, personal trainers and physical therapists are all great resources that can help you set and achieve very specific health and fitness goals.
I would like to close this topic with one final recommendation; anything you do to improve your health needs to be specific to you. What I mean is what your friends, family, and coworkers are doing may not be the best thing for you. You need to have your own goals and your own plan on how to achieve those goals. Others can help you by keeping you accountable and exercising with you but I would encourage you to trust only trained professionals with developing a program for you to follow.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
How healthy are you? Part 4
When you feel like a snack, what do you typically eat?
Snacking is an area where people often lose sight of their diet. Determining what you are snacking on can reveal a lot about how healthy your habits are. If you realized that when you want a snack you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips, a candy bar or maybe a bowl of ice cream, you probably need to make an adjustment. Fruits and vegetables are great snack items, some nuts is a good option as well. Snacking is almost an unconscious act by a lot of people so it takes some real discipline to make a change in this area. I recommend starting small, so if you eat a snack every day, try to make it something healthy twice a week. Once you have that down you can progress with your ultimate goal being to make those not so healthy snacks an occasional indulgence rather than a daily routine.
Do you smoke?
This one needs little discussion. I am assuming by now everyone knows that smoking is terrible for your health. If you smoke I strongly recommend you quit, but if you don’t want to quit then I don’t have any advice for you.
How much Alcohol do you drink?
Some studies have pointed to health benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcohol but I have yet to read anything that would make me recommend you start drinking. If you don’t drink at all I think that’s great and you should stick with that. For those that do drink it is best for your health to keep it to moderate levels. Moderate would be no more than one drink a day for adult women and anyone over 65, and 2 drinks for adult men. People under the legal age, pregnant women, and people on certain medications or with certain medical conditions should not drink alcohol at all. In those cases involving medication and medical conditions I recommend you consult with your physician about alcohol consumption.
What do you do to relieve stress?
Everyone experiences stress. It is important to have a way to regularly relieve that stress to minimize the effects it can have on you. You may already be doing something that relieves your stress and that’s great, for those that don’t, pick something and give it a shot. Consider things you like to do for fun or things that you know relax you. Some examples include reading a fiction novel, going for a walk or jog, going to the beach, going out to eat with friends or family, watching a movie, or going to the gym for a good hard workout. The idea with stress relief is to remove yourself from the parts of your daily routine that cause the stress, get those things off your mind, and relieve the tension that those things brought on. It may be hard for you to start doing your stress relieving activities everyday but it would be good to start with at least once or twice a week.
Snacking is an area where people often lose sight of their diet. Determining what you are snacking on can reveal a lot about how healthy your habits are. If you realized that when you want a snack you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips, a candy bar or maybe a bowl of ice cream, you probably need to make an adjustment. Fruits and vegetables are great snack items, some nuts is a good option as well. Snacking is almost an unconscious act by a lot of people so it takes some real discipline to make a change in this area. I recommend starting small, so if you eat a snack every day, try to make it something healthy twice a week. Once you have that down you can progress with your ultimate goal being to make those not so healthy snacks an occasional indulgence rather than a daily routine.
Do you smoke?
This one needs little discussion. I am assuming by now everyone knows that smoking is terrible for your health. If you smoke I strongly recommend you quit, but if you don’t want to quit then I don’t have any advice for you.
How much Alcohol do you drink?
Some studies have pointed to health benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcohol but I have yet to read anything that would make me recommend you start drinking. If you don’t drink at all I think that’s great and you should stick with that. For those that do drink it is best for your health to keep it to moderate levels. Moderate would be no more than one drink a day for adult women and anyone over 65, and 2 drinks for adult men. People under the legal age, pregnant women, and people on certain medications or with certain medical conditions should not drink alcohol at all. In those cases involving medication and medical conditions I recommend you consult with your physician about alcohol consumption.
What do you do to relieve stress?
Everyone experiences stress. It is important to have a way to regularly relieve that stress to minimize the effects it can have on you. You may already be doing something that relieves your stress and that’s great, for those that don’t, pick something and give it a shot. Consider things you like to do for fun or things that you know relax you. Some examples include reading a fiction novel, going for a walk or jog, going to the beach, going out to eat with friends or family, watching a movie, or going to the gym for a good hard workout. The idea with stress relief is to remove yourself from the parts of your daily routine that cause the stress, get those things off your mind, and relieve the tension that those things brought on. It may be hard for you to start doing your stress relieving activities everyday but it would be good to start with at least once or twice a week.
Friday, July 25, 2008
How healthy are you? Part 3
How do you typically spend your free time?
This question helps us determine if you have an active lifestyle or not. If you find you use your free time to do things like, go for a walk, work in the garden, play a sport or go play outside with your kids/grandkids, then you probably live a pretty active life. If you answered this questions with things like, watch TV, go to the movies, have a snack or go out to eat, or read a book, then you might not be living a very active life. I don’t want to lecture you on how you spend your free time, I simply want to make you aware of the impact your usage of your free time has on your overall health. People who are living an active lifestyle have much less difficulty incorporating a regular exercise routine into their life. This is because they are use to being up and about doing things so some specific exercise can fit right into what they are already doing. If much of your free time is spent sitting you will probably find it much more difficult to take time regularly to exercise. My suggestion is to make a list of your usual free time activities, and then try to find a way to mix in something a little more active. You get to pick but here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing: play catch with a Frisbee or some sort of ball, go for a walk, hike or bike ride, go window shop around the mall, start a project in your backyard like a new garden or repairing a fence. These are all things that will get you up and moving and I believe you will find that you have some fun.
How much fruit do you eat each day? And
How much vegetables do you eat each day?
Hopefully I don’t sound too much like your mother with this one, but you really do need to be eating fruits and vegetables. The general recommendation for fruits and vegetables is around 7 to 9 servings per day (3-4 fruits, 4-5 vegetables). How much is a serving varies depending on the fruit or vegetable so for simplicity’s sake you may want to estimate a little bit. Figure a medium sized piece of fruit like an apple or orange is one serving, and ½ a cup of most vegetables is one serving. The tricky part is making sure these are a part of your diet. I have a couple of tips that may help you. Chances are there are some vegetables you just don’t like the taste of, they are either bland or have weird texture. I would encourage you to check around for ones you do like; there are a lot of vegetables and some tasty ways to season them so that you will enjoy them. Vegetables often come into play at dinnertime, which is great, but it would be good if you could work them into your lunch as well. Try a side salad or some cauliflower with your lunch, and maybe push yourself to snack on some carrots if you need something to much on in between meals. Fruits are a little bit different of a situation. Most people like fruit because it is sweet the problem is fitting it in regularly with meals. Vegetables seem to go nicely with most dinner entrées, but with fruit its not so easy. Here are a couple suggestions. Always include a piece of fruit in your lunch whether it is a traditional apple or orange, or maybe try things like slicing up melon or something interesting like passion fruit. Fruits also work great as a snack, there are some that take very little preparation and you will likely find that you can stock up on fruit for much cheaper than some of the snacks you currently have in the cabinet. Lastly, fruit can cleverly be incorporated into your deserts. My wife likes to make a little concoction of strawberries, blueberries and a little bit of whipping cream. Be creative and I know you can find ways to make sure you are getting those fruits and vegetables into your diet. The added benefit is you will satisfy your hunger and you won’t have to resort to less nutrient rich options.
This question helps us determine if you have an active lifestyle or not. If you find you use your free time to do things like, go for a walk, work in the garden, play a sport or go play outside with your kids/grandkids, then you probably live a pretty active life. If you answered this questions with things like, watch TV, go to the movies, have a snack or go out to eat, or read a book, then you might not be living a very active life. I don’t want to lecture you on how you spend your free time, I simply want to make you aware of the impact your usage of your free time has on your overall health. People who are living an active lifestyle have much less difficulty incorporating a regular exercise routine into their life. This is because they are use to being up and about doing things so some specific exercise can fit right into what they are already doing. If much of your free time is spent sitting you will probably find it much more difficult to take time regularly to exercise. My suggestion is to make a list of your usual free time activities, and then try to find a way to mix in something a little more active. You get to pick but here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing: play catch with a Frisbee or some sort of ball, go for a walk, hike or bike ride, go window shop around the mall, start a project in your backyard like a new garden or repairing a fence. These are all things that will get you up and moving and I believe you will find that you have some fun.
How much fruit do you eat each day? And
How much vegetables do you eat each day?
Hopefully I don’t sound too much like your mother with this one, but you really do need to be eating fruits and vegetables. The general recommendation for fruits and vegetables is around 7 to 9 servings per day (3-4 fruits, 4-5 vegetables). How much is a serving varies depending on the fruit or vegetable so for simplicity’s sake you may want to estimate a little bit. Figure a medium sized piece of fruit like an apple or orange is one serving, and ½ a cup of most vegetables is one serving. The tricky part is making sure these are a part of your diet. I have a couple of tips that may help you. Chances are there are some vegetables you just don’t like the taste of, they are either bland or have weird texture. I would encourage you to check around for ones you do like; there are a lot of vegetables and some tasty ways to season them so that you will enjoy them. Vegetables often come into play at dinnertime, which is great, but it would be good if you could work them into your lunch as well. Try a side salad or some cauliflower with your lunch, and maybe push yourself to snack on some carrots if you need something to much on in between meals. Fruits are a little bit different of a situation. Most people like fruit because it is sweet the problem is fitting it in regularly with meals. Vegetables seem to go nicely with most dinner entrées, but with fruit its not so easy. Here are a couple suggestions. Always include a piece of fruit in your lunch whether it is a traditional apple or orange, or maybe try things like slicing up melon or something interesting like passion fruit. Fruits also work great as a snack, there are some that take very little preparation and you will likely find that you can stock up on fruit for much cheaper than some of the snacks you currently have in the cabinet. Lastly, fruit can cleverly be incorporated into your deserts. My wife likes to make a little concoction of strawberries, blueberries and a little bit of whipping cream. Be creative and I know you can find ways to make sure you are getting those fruits and vegetables into your diet. The added benefit is you will satisfy your hunger and you won’t have to resort to less nutrient rich options.
Monday, July 21, 2008
How healthy are you? Part 2
How much sleep do you get each night and is it consistent?
Lack of sleep can contribute to the onset and complication of diseases and conditions such as, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression. Less severe but maybe more problematic in our daily lives is that fact that when we’re tired we just feel bad. Being tired can make us irritable, lethargic and poor performers of our typical everyday tasks at work and at home. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. If you insist that you have too much to do and just can’t sleep that many hours then you need to remove some of those demands from your life. It is essential that you give your body the rest it requires. If you are having trouble sleeping at night, see my blog post on that topic for some helpful tips.
How much water do you drink each day?
Your body absolutely needs water to function. The exact amount needed varies by person so it is hard to say how much you should drink. My advice is to be mindful of how much you are drinking and not to let yourself get thirsty. So on a hot day, when you’re exercising or when you’re sick be sure to drink a couple more glasses of water. A basic estimate is to drink around 8 glasses of water a day (8 ounces in each glass). Any beverage is going to have some water in it but I recommend you don’t rely on drinks like coffee or soda to meet your body’s water needs.
What kind of exercise do you do each day?
This one is a little bit complicated. There are thousands of things you can do for exercise and it is hard to make a general recommendation that goes for everyone. You’re exercise needs to be personalized to your needs and your abilities. I recommend that you consult your doctor to find out if you have any conditions that need to be accounted for when exercising. Then you should find a fitness professional that can help you determine in what specific ways you would like to improve your health. Once you know what you want to do then this professional can help you develop an exercise program that will be beneficial for you. Any exercise is better than none, but there are some risks of injury involved so if you aren’t completely clear on what to do it is important that you get help. If you don’t know any fitness professionals please feel free to contact us through our website and we can help you out.
My next two posts will address the rest of the questions from the original “How healthy are you?” post. Check back soon.
Lack of sleep can contribute to the onset and complication of diseases and conditions such as, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression. Less severe but maybe more problematic in our daily lives is that fact that when we’re tired we just feel bad. Being tired can make us irritable, lethargic and poor performers of our typical everyday tasks at work and at home. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. If you insist that you have too much to do and just can’t sleep that many hours then you need to remove some of those demands from your life. It is essential that you give your body the rest it requires. If you are having trouble sleeping at night, see my blog post on that topic for some helpful tips.
How much water do you drink each day?
Your body absolutely needs water to function. The exact amount needed varies by person so it is hard to say how much you should drink. My advice is to be mindful of how much you are drinking and not to let yourself get thirsty. So on a hot day, when you’re exercising or when you’re sick be sure to drink a couple more glasses of water. A basic estimate is to drink around 8 glasses of water a day (8 ounces in each glass). Any beverage is going to have some water in it but I recommend you don’t rely on drinks like coffee or soda to meet your body’s water needs.
What kind of exercise do you do each day?
This one is a little bit complicated. There are thousands of things you can do for exercise and it is hard to make a general recommendation that goes for everyone. You’re exercise needs to be personalized to your needs and your abilities. I recommend that you consult your doctor to find out if you have any conditions that need to be accounted for when exercising. Then you should find a fitness professional that can help you determine in what specific ways you would like to improve your health. Once you know what you want to do then this professional can help you develop an exercise program that will be beneficial for you. Any exercise is better than none, but there are some risks of injury involved so if you aren’t completely clear on what to do it is important that you get help. If you don’t know any fitness professionals please feel free to contact us through our website and we can help you out.
My next two posts will address the rest of the questions from the original “How healthy are you?” post. Check back soon.
Monday, July 14, 2008
How healthy are you?
Some people think they're healthy and they aren't, others think they aren't but they really are, so how do we know if we're healthy or not? There is a lot of information out there regarding health and it is not uncommon to find conflicting information. We have thousands of research studies, some are scientific and some aren’t, we have doctors with different specialties giving different recommendations, television and the Internet are bombarding us with new diets and exercise techniques, pills and supplements are crowding our medicine cabinets; Take all that mixed with some cultural values and societal norms and we are at risk of being driven insane trying to figure out if we're healthy or not, and being insane is definitely not healthy.
I decided it would be nice for you to have a basic way to gauge how healthy your lifestyle is that will only take a couple minutes of your time. I’ve compiled a simple series of questions that you can answer about yourself. Now you may be tempted to lie when answering these questions but be aware you are only lying to yourself since no one else will see how you answer.
How much sleep do you get each night, and is it consistent?
How much water do you drink each day?
What kind of exercise are you doing each day?
How do you typically spend your free time?
How much fruit are you eating each day?
How much vegetables are you eating each day?
When you feel like a snack, what do you have?
Do you smoke?
How much alcohol do you consume on a weekly basis?
What do you do to relieve stress?
Each of these questions relate to core aspects of your health. In my next couple of posts I’ll address each of these questions and how it can be an indicator of your current level of health. After reading my upcoming posts you’ll be able to identify whether or not you are living a healthy lifestyle, and if you’re not, then you’ll understand what you can do to get there. Stay tuned!
I decided it would be nice for you to have a basic way to gauge how healthy your lifestyle is that will only take a couple minutes of your time. I’ve compiled a simple series of questions that you can answer about yourself. Now you may be tempted to lie when answering these questions but be aware you are only lying to yourself since no one else will see how you answer.
How much sleep do you get each night, and is it consistent?
How much water do you drink each day?
What kind of exercise are you doing each day?
How do you typically spend your free time?
How much fruit are you eating each day?
How much vegetables are you eating each day?
When you feel like a snack, what do you have?
Do you smoke?
How much alcohol do you consume on a weekly basis?
What do you do to relieve stress?
Each of these questions relate to core aspects of your health. In my next couple of posts I’ll address each of these questions and how it can be an indicator of your current level of health. After reading my upcoming posts you’ll be able to identify whether or not you are living a healthy lifestyle, and if you’re not, then you’ll understand what you can do to get there. Stay tuned!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Health and Fitness Questions?
Just wanted to remind you, if you have any specific questions about nutrition, fitness or living a healthy lifestyle there is a way for you to ask us. Go to our website, www.brocktonpt.com and on the left hand side there is a link that says "contact us/questions", click there and it will take you to a page where you can submit a question. Either myself or one of our physical therapists will respond to you by email. If the questions raises a concern that we think other people might benefit from hearing the answer then we'll use it as a topic for the blog.
Ask away, we're here to help!
Ask away, we're here to help!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Can't Sleep?
Recently I have been having trouble getting good quality sleep at night. Either I can’t fall asleep, or I find myself waking up a couple times during the night. I did a search on the Mayo Clinic’s website and found some better sleep tips, and I decided to share them with you.
- Go to bed and get up at the same times everyday, even on weekends. Sticking to a schedule will help program your body to know when to sleep and when to be awake.
- Don’t eat or drink large amounts before bedtime. This will help you avoid things like heartburn or trips to the bathroom interrupting your sleep.
- Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol in the evening. These are all stimulants that can keep you awake. With caffeine it may be necessary to avoid it 8 hours prior to your bedtime in order to give your body time to eliminate the stimulant and its effects.
- Exercise regularly. Just don’t exercise right before bed, give yourself about 3 hours between your workout and bedtime.
- Make your bedroom cool, dark, quiet and comfortable. You shouldn’t have to battle your surroundings to fall asleep, setup the environment you need to be able to fall asleep.
- Limit naps. Daytime napping can cut into your nighttime sleep, so if you nap keep it to a half an hour.
- Choose a comfortable mattress and pillow. Make sure they are what is right for you.
- Start a relaxing bedtime routine and make it something you do every night as you prepare for bed. This may be things like a warm shower or bath, some reading, listen to some calm and soothing music, etc.
- Go to bed when you’re tired. If you don’t fall asleep in 15-20 minutes get up and do something. If you lay there agonizing about not falling asleep it will only make things worse. Occupy yourself and go back to bed when you feel tired.
If you are having sleep problems 3 nights a week or more you should see your doctor. You may have sleep disorder that your doctor can help you with. I hope these are some helpful tips, this is one blog posting that I actually hope will put you to sleep!
- Go to bed and get up at the same times everyday, even on weekends. Sticking to a schedule will help program your body to know when to sleep and when to be awake.
- Don’t eat or drink large amounts before bedtime. This will help you avoid things like heartburn or trips to the bathroom interrupting your sleep.
- Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol in the evening. These are all stimulants that can keep you awake. With caffeine it may be necessary to avoid it 8 hours prior to your bedtime in order to give your body time to eliminate the stimulant and its effects.
- Exercise regularly. Just don’t exercise right before bed, give yourself about 3 hours between your workout and bedtime.
- Make your bedroom cool, dark, quiet and comfortable. You shouldn’t have to battle your surroundings to fall asleep, setup the environment you need to be able to fall asleep.
- Limit naps. Daytime napping can cut into your nighttime sleep, so if you nap keep it to a half an hour.
- Choose a comfortable mattress and pillow. Make sure they are what is right for you.
- Start a relaxing bedtime routine and make it something you do every night as you prepare for bed. This may be things like a warm shower or bath, some reading, listen to some calm and soothing music, etc.
- Go to bed when you’re tired. If you don’t fall asleep in 15-20 minutes get up and do something. If you lay there agonizing about not falling asleep it will only make things worse. Occupy yourself and go back to bed when you feel tired.
If you are having sleep problems 3 nights a week or more you should see your doctor. You may have sleep disorder that your doctor can help you with. I hope these are some helpful tips, this is one blog posting that I actually hope will put you to sleep!
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