Many days if the weather is good and it is not too dark, my dog an I do a few laps around a part of the park that lies adjacent to where I live. Many people walk the loop and dog and I have a lot of dog friends we say hello to. Over the last month so, I have noticed an overweight 20 something year old woman walking every day no matter how hot it is. I hope for her sake that she keeps this up, and that she is also making the changes in her diet that need to be accompanied by an exercise program.
I saw an ad on TV yesterday for a product called Lorcaserin, which, based upon what I read, stimulates satiety (absence of hunger) in your brain. This product is FDA approved for its intention and I think it is a good thing for people who suffer from obesity related diseases like diabetes. I, however, cannot believe that a person will be able to use this for the rest of their lives and I wonder what the long term effects of using this product for years will be. This is where I go back to my first paragraph, in which a person is "getting off the couch" and doing something for themselves. With help from a nutritionist, and maybe an exercise coach and lots of support from friends and family, she can turn back the clock and not be in the position to need products like Lorcaserin. It is not an easy path to choose as the easiest thing to do in this country is to get fat.
Taking control of your diet and exercise life should be quite easy but for some reason it is not. Things like family and work take priority but also, procrastination and the ease of sitting on the couch comes into play. It is much easier to pop in a microwave meal than it is to cook or even make a salad. Much of the food that is available pre-made in our stores are filled with sugar of one form or another. Reading ingredients is always a good idea. It is a long road, and watching what you eat and getting adequate exercise is something that needs to be done in the long haul. The current exercise guidelines from the federal government, based on recent scientific evidence, recommend that healthy adults engage in 150 minutes per
week of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking or cycling. Yoga would fit into this as well as long as it is a flow type. That is probably 3 Yoga sessions or five 30 minute walks. It is not too much time. This exercise, however, must be combined with a scrutiny of the food that we put in our bodies.
Namaste.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Southwest Quinoa Bean Recipe
Chock full of protein, vitamin C, fiber and flavor. Very easy to make. Great summer salad. You can almost live on this.
Ingredients
1 Cup uncooked quinoa
8 oz black beans
1 cup fresh raw corn
2 tsp cumin seeds or 1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 bell pepper chopped
Cook the quinoa as per the package (usually 2 cups water to 1 cup of quinoa)
Let cool
Toast the cumin seeds in a un-greased pan until they pop
Add beans, corn, seeds, cilantro, lime juice, coriander seeds and pepper
Salt to taste.
Add a cut up jalapeno for added kick.
Give it 1 hour to settle the flavors.
Server cold or room temperature.
Ingredients
1 Cup uncooked quinoa
8 oz black beans
1 cup fresh raw corn
2 tsp cumin seeds or 1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
1 bell pepper chopped
Cook the quinoa as per the package (usually 2 cups water to 1 cup of quinoa)
Let cool
Toast the cumin seeds in a un-greased pan until they pop
Add beans, corn, seeds, cilantro, lime juice, coriander seeds and pepper
Salt to taste.
Add a cut up jalapeno for added kick.
Give it 1 hour to settle the flavors.
Server cold or room temperature.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Aging, Flexibility, and Yoga.
When I was in my early 30's , I pulled a muscle in my lower back that basically kept me in bed for a week. I had neglected basic flexibility and I sure paid for it. It was the only time I ever experienced back spasms, and the pain was the worst I had ever felt. It is not something I want to repeat. I was able to learn from this experience and understood how easy it is to hurt yourself from simple activities if your muscles or joints are tight and inflexible. Even though I diligently kept up a back flexibility exercise routine of the next few years, I eventually fell back into a pattern of not focusing on stretching.
Muscle and joint flexibility has been demonstrated to decrease both from aging and disuse. A person cannot stop the aging process but disuse is under our control. If one chooses to live a sedentary lifestyle, then your flexibility will decrease quicker than a person who actively exercises. The benefit of exercise on your flexibility cannot be over emphasized. Flexibility will decrease your chances of injury from simple activities and will increase the enjoyment of your life due to an increase range of motion. According to the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons "Many of the changes in our musculoskeletal system result more from disuse than from simple aging." So, there is a choice.
Since starting practicing Yoga, my fear of back injury from a sudden strain from bending over to pick up something or any other daily activity has been reduced. The range of motion in my back, hips, hamstrings and shoulders is at a point where I can do things like touch my toes even first thing in the morning. I am not tightness free as my SI Joint is always tight and I need to constantly work on getting it "unstuck", but overall I able to do things I never thought was possible even 20 years ago.
Yoga can be many things, but at its basic level, it is design to increase flexibility and strengthen your "core" (back and abdomen muscles). Depending on how you practice, you can also increase flexibility in your hips, shoulders, upper back and other joint and muscle areas. And for those who currently suffer from back pain, there is clinical proof that Yoga can help alleviate that pain. A study done by Boston University Medical Center concluded that even after 12 weeks of practice, a significant reduction in pain was noted.
Yoga is a long term journey. Over the past 3 years, it has done great things to improve my health and flexibility (along with my outlook on life) . I know I cannot stop aging, but I can make my older existence a lot better with it.
My posting on May 14, 2014 (Yin Yoga Asana Sequence) is a great way to stretch your hips, back and hamstrings.
Namaste.
Muscle and joint flexibility has been demonstrated to decrease both from aging and disuse. A person cannot stop the aging process but disuse is under our control. If one chooses to live a sedentary lifestyle, then your flexibility will decrease quicker than a person who actively exercises. The benefit of exercise on your flexibility cannot be over emphasized. Flexibility will decrease your chances of injury from simple activities and will increase the enjoyment of your life due to an increase range of motion. According to the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons "Many of the changes in our musculoskeletal system result more from disuse than from simple aging." So, there is a choice.
Since starting practicing Yoga, my fear of back injury from a sudden strain from bending over to pick up something or any other daily activity has been reduced. The range of motion in my back, hips, hamstrings and shoulders is at a point where I can do things like touch my toes even first thing in the morning. I am not tightness free as my SI Joint is always tight and I need to constantly work on getting it "unstuck", but overall I able to do things I never thought was possible even 20 years ago.
Yoga can be many things, but at its basic level, it is design to increase flexibility and strengthen your "core" (back and abdomen muscles). Depending on how you practice, you can also increase flexibility in your hips, shoulders, upper back and other joint and muscle areas. And for those who currently suffer from back pain, there is clinical proof that Yoga can help alleviate that pain. A study done by Boston University Medical Center concluded that even after 12 weeks of practice, a significant reduction in pain was noted.
"As part of the trial, the researchers asked participants to report their average pain intensity for the previous week, how their function is limited due to back pain, and how much pain medication they are taking. The yoga group participated in 12 weekly 75-minute classes that included postures, breathing techniques, and meditation. Classes were taught by a team of registered yoga teachers and were limited to eight participants. Home practice for 30 minutes daily was strongly encouraged. Participants were provided with an audio CD of the class, a handbook describing and depicting the exercises, a yoga mat, strap, and block.Study Link
Pain scores for the yoga participants decreased by one-third compared to the control group, which decreased by only 5 percent. Whereas pain medication use in the control group did not change, yoga participants' use of pain medicines decreased by 80 percent. Improvement in function was also greater for yoga participants but was not statistically significant."
Yoga is a long term journey. Over the past 3 years, it has done great things to improve my health and flexibility (along with my outlook on life) . I know I cannot stop aging, but I can make my older existence a lot better with it.
My posting on May 14, 2014 (Yin Yoga Asana Sequence) is a great way to stretch your hips, back and hamstrings.
Namaste.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Keeping fit in on the Road.
I am in Germany this week for work. My cure for jet lag is to just walk, walk and then walk some more as I tend to tire out (and want to sleep) if I sit down too long or stay in my hotel room. Thanks to my Fitbit, I know that I was able to walk 11.67 miles (about 18.8 km) from when I landed until I went to bed a very exhausted 12 hours later. I even got to practice 45 minutes of Yoga yesterday which given the pounding walking on concrete and paving stones causes for my back, is quite necessary. I think I earned my fries with mayonnaise that I lunched on yesterday.
Again, thanks to my Fitbit, I am able to see that even without doing massive walking around Cologne, my walking pace outstrips what I would normally do (without a lunch time walk) back in the US. Walking from my hotel to the train, then from the train station to the office and then walking out for lunch has taken me about twice as many steps I would normally do going downstairs, hopping into the car and then going into my office.
It is nice to travel to a place where you can walk forever and still not see everything. Travel in the US is so much more of staying in a suburban hotel near a strip mall where walking is an impossibility. It is nice to have this chance.
I cannot forget my Yoga practice. My little travel mat (really thin and folds down to the size of a t-shirt from Giam) is really great for hotel room practice as long as their is enough space in the room. One problem with Europe is sometimes even expensive hotels have really small rooms and you have to use their Gym to practice. The travel mat really only works well on a soft surface like carpeting.
Finding vegetarian food is actually much easier here than in Japan or China. Even the local canteen where we eat has a special vegetarian offering each day. There are plenty of Thai, Italian and Indian places to choose from. The Donner Kabab places also all offer Felafel, which is not too easy to find where I live. Now I just have to resist bakeries and Gelato. Kölsch on the other hand, is never to be avoided..
Namaste
Again, thanks to my Fitbit, I am able to see that even without doing massive walking around Cologne, my walking pace outstrips what I would normally do (without a lunch time walk) back in the US. Walking from my hotel to the train, then from the train station to the office and then walking out for lunch has taken me about twice as many steps I would normally do going downstairs, hopping into the car and then going into my office.
It is nice to travel to a place where you can walk forever and still not see everything. Travel in the US is so much more of staying in a suburban hotel near a strip mall where walking is an impossibility. It is nice to have this chance.
I cannot forget my Yoga practice. My little travel mat (really thin and folds down to the size of a t-shirt from Giam) is really great for hotel room practice as long as their is enough space in the room. One problem with Europe is sometimes even expensive hotels have really small rooms and you have to use their Gym to practice. The travel mat really only works well on a soft surface like carpeting.
Finding vegetarian food is actually much easier here than in Japan or China. Even the local canteen where we eat has a special vegetarian offering each day. There are plenty of Thai, Italian and Indian places to choose from. The Donner Kabab places also all offer Felafel, which is not too easy to find where I live. Now I just have to resist bakeries and Gelato. Kölsch on the other hand, is never to be avoided..
Namaste
Friday, May 16, 2014
My new Fitbit
About a month ago, my employer offered a pedometer called a Fitbit to anyone who wanted one as part of a fitness program. It is a nice little perk. Fitbit offers a few models (wristband, clip on) and mine tracks steps, distance walked, stairs climbed and estimated daily calories burned. Like anything technical these days, it includes a IPhone app that syncs to the Fitbit and then updates a website so you can track your progress. It even emails you "stickers" when you hit milestones. It is a nice little package
The daily step goal Fitbit is encouraging is 10,000. According to the Fitbit website "10,000 steps a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General’s recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. " For me, this means that sometime during the day, in order to hit 10,000 steps, I need to get in a 2.5 mile (4.1km) walk in in addition to the regular steps that I take during the day and on top of my Yoga practice. 10,500 steps is about 5 miles (8km) for me.
A study tracked the steps of 1,136 adults around the United States who wore pedometers for two days in 2003. The results were compared to similar pedometer studies in Switzerland, Australia and Japan. The data collected showed that Americans, on average, took 5,117 steps a day, compared to the averages in western Australia (9,695 steps), Switzerland (9,650 steps) and Japan (7,168 steps). It also tells you how sedentary we are as a nation. We need some motivation.
The people that I know who have gotten a Fitbit seem to be really motivated by the feedback that is provides. I have walked about my home trying to get the last 500 steps to hit 10,000 for the day.
I have always used long walks (2-4 miles) to supplement my Yoga practice. It is easy now that the weather is nice but during the winter, it is hard to get out after work in the dark to take long walks. This is good motivation to keep it going during the winter.
It is nice to see my company encouraging fitness and there is a sense that this has motivated a lot of people where I work. So, if you are looking for a little encouragement, I suggest trying this out.
Namaste
The daily step goal Fitbit is encouraging is 10,000. According to the Fitbit website "10,000 steps a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General’s recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. " For me, this means that sometime during the day, in order to hit 10,000 steps, I need to get in a 2.5 mile (4.1km) walk in in addition to the regular steps that I take during the day and on top of my Yoga practice. 10,500 steps is about 5 miles (8km) for me.
A study tracked the steps of 1,136 adults around the United States who wore pedometers for two days in 2003. The results were compared to similar pedometer studies in Switzerland, Australia and Japan. The data collected showed that Americans, on average, took 5,117 steps a day, compared to the averages in western Australia (9,695 steps), Switzerland (9,650 steps) and Japan (7,168 steps). It also tells you how sedentary we are as a nation. We need some motivation.
The people that I know who have gotten a Fitbit seem to be really motivated by the feedback that is provides. I have walked about my home trying to get the last 500 steps to hit 10,000 for the day.
I have always used long walks (2-4 miles) to supplement my Yoga practice. It is easy now that the weather is nice but during the winter, it is hard to get out after work in the dark to take long walks. This is good motivation to keep it going during the winter.
It is nice to see my company encouraging fitness and there is a sense that this has motivated a lot of people where I work. So, if you are looking for a little encouragement, I suggest trying this out.
Namaste
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Yin Yoga Asana Sequence
A co-worker of mine was complaining about tight legs from her power yoga classes. I talked to her about Yin Yoga and how it really is great for stretching your hips, hamstrings, abductors, lower back etc. I thought about sending her a primer I have but decided that a post would be better.
A yin practice is one where you hold poses longer and allow gravity and not active muscles to stretch. It really gets deep into the fascia and ligaments in addition to your muscles. All poses are generally either seated or lying down.
I find it quite relaxing as you quietly move from asana to asana. I really love to do it with Tibetan Singing bowl music. When I am done, I have a great feeling of peace and calmness that lasts for a while.
I pretty much practice the same Yin sequence at home on the days where I do not do an Ashtanga or Vinyasa flow and after I take long walks in the park with my dog. It really does a great job. So, here it is. It is not patented, and I am not trained to tell you how to do the poses but I think the photos will be enough. There are lots of sites with instructions on how to do each pose. With the exception of Dangling and the final twists, I hold each pose for 3 minutes ( I use a timer on my cell phone) . I follow this sequence in order. It generally takes about 1 hour with awarm up and meditation.
Warm Up
Dangling (5 minutes)
Janushirasana - Head to Knee (both Sides)
Pigeon (Both Sides) or Shoestring (both sides) - both are great hip openers
Bodhakonasana 1 - Butterfly feet together far from Pelvis to work deep hip. Your forehead should be in line with your heels.
Bodhakonasana 2 - Butterfly, feet together close as possible to pelvis to work abductors (inner thighs)
Bhekasana - Frog Pose - Great for abductors..
Parivrtta Janushirasana - Revolved Head of the Knee Pose - Both sides
Upsvistha Konasana - Seated Wide Leg Forward fold -
Seated Forward Fold
Seal / Cobra - This has two names
Seated Twist on each side for 1 minute
Breath Meditation (10 minutes)
One thing to note is that I used to hate Seated Wide Leg Forward fold because to be honest, I really could not fold at all. That has not stopped me from practicing it and while I will never put my head on the floor, I can still feel it working.
Namaste..
A yin practice is one where you hold poses longer and allow gravity and not active muscles to stretch. It really gets deep into the fascia and ligaments in addition to your muscles. All poses are generally either seated or lying down.
I find it quite relaxing as you quietly move from asana to asana. I really love to do it with Tibetan Singing bowl music. When I am done, I have a great feeling of peace and calmness that lasts for a while.
I pretty much practice the same Yin sequence at home on the days where I do not do an Ashtanga or Vinyasa flow and after I take long walks in the park with my dog. It really does a great job. So, here it is. It is not patented, and I am not trained to tell you how to do the poses but I think the photos will be enough. There are lots of sites with instructions on how to do each pose. With the exception of Dangling and the final twists, I hold each pose for 3 minutes ( I use a timer on my cell phone) . I follow this sequence in order. It generally takes about 1 hour with awarm up and meditation.
Warm Up
Dangling (5 minutes)
Janushirasana - Head to Knee (both Sides)
Pigeon (Both Sides) or Shoestring (both sides) - both are great hip openers
Bodhakonasana 1 - Butterfly feet together far from Pelvis to work deep hip. Your forehead should be in line with your heels.
Bodhakonasana 2 - Butterfly, feet together close as possible to pelvis to work abductors (inner thighs)
Bhekasana - Frog Pose - Great for abductors..
Parivrtta Janushirasana - Revolved Head of the Knee Pose - Both sides
Upsvistha Konasana - Seated Wide Leg Forward fold -
Seated Forward Fold
Seal / Cobra - This has two names
Seated Twist on each side for 1 minute
Breath Meditation (10 minutes)
One thing to note is that I used to hate Seated Wide Leg Forward fold because to be honest, I really could not fold at all. That has not stopped me from practicing it and while I will never put my head on the floor, I can still feel it working.
Namaste..
 |
| Dangling. |
 |
| Shoestring |
 |
| Pigeon |
 | |||
| Butterfly |
 |
| Frog Pose |
 |
| Revolved Head of Knee |
 |
| Wide Leg Forward Fold |
 |
| Seated Forward Fold |
 |
| Cobra - Known as Seal in Yin |
 |
| Seated Spinal Twist |
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Buddah on Eating
"When a person is constantly mindful, And knows when enough food has been taken, All their afflictions become more slender — They age more gradually, protecting their lives."
This cannot be said any better, this is one of the main messages that I am trying to convey. Eating right makes our future life much better because we are able to enjoy our aging instead of fighting the illnesses wrought by the food we eat.
Namaste..
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