Everything in moderation
You might wonder where is week 13? Not that I am superstitious but I don’t do thirteen. Now back to business and why I choose the title “everything in moderation”. Don’t you think that this motto should be incorporated into all aspects of our life? Even things that give us immense pleasure should not be overindulged. If we use this motto for work, play, exercise and nutrition, our lives would be so much simpler. We would have far less workaholics, depression, obesity or even slackers in the world. Let me use the example of this past week, when our family participated in our schools annual Celebration of the World event. This was a wonderful occasion for the thirty eight nationalities represented at our school, to come together under one roof. There were approximately 1500 people who attended the event. Each country was responsible for providing a taste of typical food from their homeland. This is an arduous task considering the number of mouths to feed. Just to give you an idea of what some of the countries offered; the Canadian booth flipped over 2000 “loonie” sized pancakes served with maple syrup. The booth from Argentina made over 1000 bite sized empanadas. The Swedish table offered smoked salmon on a cracker, and the Japanese table served small plates of yakisoba. Now add food samples from another twenty plus countries to this list and that was “lunch”. Miraculously people were able to circulate around the food court, tasting delights from around the world, over a period of four hours, without feeling stuffed or gluttonous by the end of sampling. Studies have proven than eating smaller portions in moderation is more beneficial to our health. Think of your body as a machine that needs constant energy source (food) for fuel. Stop feeding it and it’s going to run sluggish. It is important to keep that engine stoaked throughout the entire day. There are three main benefits to eating smaller meals more often. First, it takes about ten percent of the calories in your food to digest it, so eating more frequently helps rev up the engine. Second, you will have more energy to be active, and third, you are less likely to reach for a sugary snack, when you are keeping your blood sugar steady. Grazing is term that I like to call this method of eating. When we eat more than our body needs, the excess is sent to the liver to be turned into fat. With our face paced busy life, and far less breaks, it is really a task to EAT OFTEN. This concept sounds fine on paper but it really forces you to have to plan better. So, take a few minutes every morning to think about what you will consume that day, with regards to both the size and frequency of your food intake. The next time a person tells you that they can’t eat that piece of brownie or scoop of ice cream because they are on a diet, tell them that you believe that it is important to have “EVERYTHING IN MODERATION”. Have a great week friends and HAPPY MAY!
Showing posts with label exercises to assist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercises to assist. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Stand Tall
Hi Friends,
Can you believe that another week has come and gone? So tell me, how did you do with writing in your gratitude journal? I hope that you found an opportunity this past week to take a few minutes to sit back and be thankful.
So, I was waiting in a long line at the grocery store yesterday, attempting to practice patience by breathing deeply when I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me. She was lethargically standing with her shoulders slumped over, her chin extended, leaning on one hip, adorning an over sized purse (more like suitcase) slung over her shoulder. I felt like reaching over and giving her a posture adjustment. The wellness tip of the week is “stand tall”. A straight-up stance makes you appear more confident and trims inches from your waist. Let me share a few tricks with you. Imagine an orange between your shoulder blades. Shift them down and together as if squeezing the fruit. Doing this will roll back your shoulders so you don’t hunch. Do you ever catch your drooping self in a storefront reflection? The second point to remember is that how you walk may actually be a secret source of pain. Bad walking posture can injure your back and stress out your joints and muscles. When walking think about; keeping your shoulders back and down, holding your head up, bracing your abdominals. When you walk mindfully, you will also find yourself tightening your buttocks and clenching your abs and when you do this, you feel cheerful because you realize that you are the only one who knows that you are clenching your buttocks! Lastly, if you spend a great deal of time at the computer or desk, it would be a wise idea to sit on an exercise ball for part of the time. Jim practices this and would agree that sitting on the ball, not only strengthens your core, but it forces spine alignment and allows you to keep from slouching. He is also an advocate of the ball as a chair because he says it is fun and makes people smile when they see this big guy sitting on a bright orange exercise ball. Here is a humorous video (it is a long video, but just watch from 1min55 sec to 3:00min)… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pw_eX97TUw
The January 2010 edition of Prevention magazine highlights a very old exercise regime called gyrokinesis, developed in the late 70’s by Juliu Horvath, a former ballet dancer from Romania. Gyrokinesis can be done while sitting on a low stool or chair making it easy for people at any fitness level and a perfect at-your-desk workout. Advocates of the method maintain that regular practice fosters increased mobility, assists the body’s regenerative capacity and opens energetic pathways, increasing blood flow and oxygenation. The result, they say, is a renewed sense of vitality and well-being. I have copied a link to the exercises I have listed below so that you can check it out. www.prevention.com/gyrokinesis or find gyrokinesis classes at http://www.gyrokinesis.com/.
One exercise that Prevention offers is called Arch and Curl. Since you are conveniently located at your desk, while reading this email, let’s try it!
1) Arch and Curl- Sit with feet more than hip-width apart, toes out, hands on thighs. Inhale and arch spine, lifting chest and gazing at the ceiling. Keep shoulders over hips. Exhale. Inhale and sit up, lengthening spine. Keep abs pulled in throughout. Exhale and round spine forward, looking at floor about 6 feet in front of you, feeling a stretch in the lower back. Don’t let chin drop to chest. Inhale as you sit up.
It is recommended to do each exercise four times, moving slowly from start to finish.
If you liked how the Arch and Curl felt and want another taste of gyrokinesis try this one!
2) Spiral- Sit tall, hands on thighs. Inhale as you lengthen spine, pulling in abdominals. Exhale and rotate torso to left as far as comfortable, sliding left hand to hip, eyes gazing over left shoulder. Inhale as you return to center. Repeat, switching hands as you rotate to right.
If you want additional core toning and a chance to increase spinal flexibility try these…
3) Side arch- Sit tall with legs wide. Inhale as you lengthen spine and pull in abdominals. Exhale and reach right arm out to the side, then overhead, bending to left (left hand presses toward floor). Push left foot to floor, feeling stretch along right side. Inhale as you hold. Exhale and return to center; inhale. Repeat with left arm, bending to the right and pressing right foot to floor.
4) Wave- Sit tall with hands on thighs, feet wide. Inhale, arching spine; exhale, lower torso toward the floor as far as you comfortably can, keeping back arched. Round spine, curling up one vertebrae at a s time. As you inhale and lengthen spine, returning to start position.
Goal for the week: Try to repeat this series three times.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember to stand tall!
Hugs,
Andie
Can you believe that another week has come and gone? So tell me, how did you do with writing in your gratitude journal? I hope that you found an opportunity this past week to take a few minutes to sit back and be thankful.
So, I was waiting in a long line at the grocery store yesterday, attempting to practice patience by breathing deeply when I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me. She was lethargically standing with her shoulders slumped over, her chin extended, leaning on one hip, adorning an over sized purse (more like suitcase) slung over her shoulder. I felt like reaching over and giving her a posture adjustment. The wellness tip of the week is “stand tall”. A straight-up stance makes you appear more confident and trims inches from your waist. Let me share a few tricks with you. Imagine an orange between your shoulder blades. Shift them down and together as if squeezing the fruit. Doing this will roll back your shoulders so you don’t hunch. Do you ever catch your drooping self in a storefront reflection? The second point to remember is that how you walk may actually be a secret source of pain. Bad walking posture can injure your back and stress out your joints and muscles. When walking think about; keeping your shoulders back and down, holding your head up, bracing your abdominals. When you walk mindfully, you will also find yourself tightening your buttocks and clenching your abs and when you do this, you feel cheerful because you realize that you are the only one who knows that you are clenching your buttocks! Lastly, if you spend a great deal of time at the computer or desk, it would be a wise idea to sit on an exercise ball for part of the time. Jim practices this and would agree that sitting on the ball, not only strengthens your core, but it forces spine alignment and allows you to keep from slouching. He is also an advocate of the ball as a chair because he says it is fun and makes people smile when they see this big guy sitting on a bright orange exercise ball. Here is a humorous video (it is a long video, but just watch from 1min55 sec to 3:00min)… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pw_eX97TUw
The January 2010 edition of Prevention magazine highlights a very old exercise regime called gyrokinesis, developed in the late 70’s by Juliu Horvath, a former ballet dancer from Romania. Gyrokinesis can be done while sitting on a low stool or chair making it easy for people at any fitness level and a perfect at-your-desk workout. Advocates of the method maintain that regular practice fosters increased mobility, assists the body’s regenerative capacity and opens energetic pathways, increasing blood flow and oxygenation. The result, they say, is a renewed sense of vitality and well-being. I have copied a link to the exercises I have listed below so that you can check it out. www.prevention.com/gyrokinesis or find gyrokinesis classes at http://www.gyrokinesis.com/.
One exercise that Prevention offers is called Arch and Curl. Since you are conveniently located at your desk, while reading this email, let’s try it!
1) Arch and Curl- Sit with feet more than hip-width apart, toes out, hands on thighs. Inhale and arch spine, lifting chest and gazing at the ceiling. Keep shoulders over hips. Exhale. Inhale and sit up, lengthening spine. Keep abs pulled in throughout. Exhale and round spine forward, looking at floor about 6 feet in front of you, feeling a stretch in the lower back. Don’t let chin drop to chest. Inhale as you sit up.
It is recommended to do each exercise four times, moving slowly from start to finish.
If you liked how the Arch and Curl felt and want another taste of gyrokinesis try this one!
2) Spiral- Sit tall, hands on thighs. Inhale as you lengthen spine, pulling in abdominals. Exhale and rotate torso to left as far as comfortable, sliding left hand to hip, eyes gazing over left shoulder. Inhale as you return to center. Repeat, switching hands as you rotate to right.
If you want additional core toning and a chance to increase spinal flexibility try these…
3) Side arch- Sit tall with legs wide. Inhale as you lengthen spine and pull in abdominals. Exhale and reach right arm out to the side, then overhead, bending to left (left hand presses toward floor). Push left foot to floor, feeling stretch along right side. Inhale as you hold. Exhale and return to center; inhale. Repeat with left arm, bending to the right and pressing right foot to floor.
4) Wave- Sit tall with hands on thighs, feet wide. Inhale, arching spine; exhale, lower torso toward the floor as far as you comfortably can, keeping back arched. Round spine, curling up one vertebrae at a s time. As you inhale and lengthen spine, returning to start position.
Goal for the week: Try to repeat this series three times.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember to stand tall!
Hugs,
Andie
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