Inactivity and Processed Foods.

I recently read a book called " The Story of the Human Body: Evolution Health and Disease" by Daniel E. Lieberman.   There were some very interesting thoughts from the author about how we, as humans, have  evolved to be active, long distance walking hunter/gatherers who have high levels of exercise and whom eat a variety of foods that are low in sweetness.  He theorized  how, because of the nature of our existence,  (where the next meal was coming from was uncertain),  we have evolved to have a higher fat content in our bodies as a way of storing up energy for times when they are needed.  He also said that we are evolutionarily inclined to crave sweet food for the energy content that they contain.  He pointed out that as hunter gatherers,  the primary source of any sugar would come from honey, which is not easily found and difficult and potentially dangerous to gather.  As a result, we  have not evolved to be the consumers of sugars that we are today.  

Our modern society, however,  has imposed challenges on our bodies due to modern food and conveniences that go against the nature of  our human evolution and as a result are causing  unnecessary health issues.   We can live a life with little exercise and can have as much sweet foods as possible (and crave those sweets).   It does not bode well for our health,  and as a result,  we are succumbing to diseases caused both by inactivity and the increased consumption of sugars  such as Diabetes 2.

Basically,  we live in a society where we wake up tired on a warm bed,  take a shower,  eat processed foods for breakfast, go into the garage,  use the automatic garage door opener, drive to work, eat processed foods for lunch,  take the elevator to our desk and sit down for eight or nine hours, have a big lunch in between,  drive home,  automatically open our garage door, eat processed foods and factory processed meats for dinner, then sit in our easy chair to watch TV (and maybe have an ice cream while doing so) and finally retire to our nice warm beds for six or seven hours of not enough sleep to start the process all over again.   If this sounds familiar it once was for me too.    My only exercise was mowing the lawn, shoveling the snow and shopping.

It is relatively easy to start adding some walks,  taking the stairs and other activities that will put some exercise into one's life.  For myself,  the struggle is to look at all the processed foods that I eat such as pasta, bread and cereals and to decide if the consumption of these is detrimental to my long term health.    The biggest thing that I have done  (and can easily be done by anyone) is to reduce the number of foods that we eat that contains sweeteners.  (I think elimination is quite extreme) The number of foods on our shelves that contain sugars in various forms are staggering.   Many of the "healthy" cereals and breads we eat  contain either high fructose corn syrup,  cane sugar,  brown rice sugar, maltose, molasses, honey, agave syrup and maple syrup among others.    I have always been an ingredient reader,  mostly looking at fat and sodium content but I now mostly put down the package if it contains some form of sweetener and I now put down a good amount of packages.

Take a look at what is in your pantry.   Pull 10 items randomly and check the ingredients.     You may  be surprised to find sugars in each of the following.

Vinegar Based Salad Dressings
Bread  (especially Whole Wheat breads)
Soy and Almond Milks
Jarred Spaghetti Sauce
Ketchup
Dried Fruits
Cereals  - Even ones touted as healthy
Many Peanut Butters like Jiff.  Choosy mothers should not choose it..


Taking the time to reduce the unnecessary sugar in your life means a better you.   It also means less guilt for that dark chocolate bar..




Namaste. 

Today will be the best you will feel for the rest of your lie.

Just say you decide not to watch what you eat and do not consider adding a small amount of planned  focused exercise ,  then today will be the best you will feel for the rest of your life.  

That shortness of breath you feel walking up a couple of flights of stairs, it will only get worse.   That pain you get in your lower back when you sneeze or turn the wrong way,  it will happen quicker the next time.  Those toes you can't see past your stomach,  they will be a few inches further away in a couple of years.    That tomorrow you have been always saying you will start working out and watching what you eat is here today,  and the choice to take control of you health is only in one person's hands.

It is not too hard to start reading labels,  cutting back on fats and sugars , walking for a half an hour 3 or four times a week,  eating more fresh and less packaged foods.  Your body will appreciate it and so will your health. 


Namaste... 

The Long Journey to a Healthy Life Style.

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. 

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.

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.

 "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.

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."

Study Link

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.

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

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