Take a hard look at your exercise habits

This week, I'm asking you to take a hard look at your exercise habits.  You should be getting 3-7 hours of moderate exercise each week.

You might know that people who exercise regularly reduce their chances of emergency room visits and of overall medical intervention.  People who exercise lead longer, happier, healthier lives.

If you aren't exercising regularly, it's time to look at your schedule and make some changes.  A 3-hour-per-week goal is a great start.

It's time to add 3 hours a week.

Consider the following:

First: What kind of exercise do I really enjoy, can I do easily, and can fit into my budget?

Be realistic and choose an activity that is easily attainable to you.

Then: How can I fit 3-7 hours into my schedule each week?

Remember that unlike playing video games, watching movies, or hanging out with your friends or your kids, you aren't going exercise accidentally.  YOU NEED TO PLAN IT. 

Lastly: How will I hold myself accountable and be consistent?

It can help to share your exercise plan with a friend, a family member, or a coworker and ask them to help you stay on schedule.  

Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!

5 ways to reduce your wheat, gluten, and flour consumption

Nope. It really doesn't.

The science is still not complete on gluten, flour, and wheat. The gluten-free industry is huge right now, and there are always big food companies trying to make a buck on a new trend.  GF products are no exception.

What I will say is the following: the more research is done on the subject of food, the more we find that humans best digest the foods that we evolved WITH.  When we deviate far from these foods, we tend to get sick.

If you were to map out our history as a species, we really have only very recently started eating refined carbohydrates.  Incidence of digestive-based disease increased after the invention of steel-rolling mills, which greatly reduced the fiber content of the flours we were using, and also allowed us to invent white flour.

So, while I don't think that everyone should go flour, wheat, or gluten-free, I do think that most of us could stand to reduce our consumption of these things.  And if we go back to that concept of balancing your metabolism for optimal health, you'll find that refined carbohydrates cause large spikes in blood sugar, just like sugar does.

Here are some ways to reduce your consumption of refined carbohydrates.

1) Use vegetables instead of pasta
Admittedly, this takes a bit of experimentation, depending on the recipe.  My husband and I have gradually done this over time.  When we make shrimp scampi, we make it with kale instead of pasta.  We make meatballs with brussels sprouts instead of spaghetti.

2) Try sprouted bread
Sprouted grains are easier to digest and provide much more fiber than a bread made with flour.  I have friends who sprout their own grains (good for you guys), but I don't really have time for that.  I buy it instead frozen in the health food section my supermarket.  It can also be found at Trader Joe's, which is the cheapest I've found.

3)Stop buying cereal and try something new for breakfast
Cereal is made with processed wheat and corn, neither of which is particularly good for stabilizing your blood sugar.  Try some of these instead:  Yogurt and Fruit, Steel-cut oats or homemade oatmeal (buyer beware: most oatmeal bought out is full of sugar), Farm Fresh Eggs, Sprouted toast/english muffins/bagels, Sauteed Veggies, Roasted Veggies (I recommend making them in advance and keeping a pile in your fridge).  Here's a great recipe for homemade granola.

4) Experiment with more traditional flours
Again, this takes some trial and error.  I reduce refined carbs by replacing some of my regular wheat or white flour with unrefined flours, like Buckwheat, Spelt, GF flour, Coconut flour.  Because we're not gluten free in my home, I tend to mix these flours with the white or wheat flour in order to keep the original consistency of whatever I'm making. Folks who absolutely must go GF should know that spelt is not gluten-free.

5) Learn to cook with grains
If you've never tried cooking with quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, barley, or wild rice, now is the time.  Barley does contain gluten, but is a good alternative to wheat and pasta for those of us who are not keeping a strict GF diet.   Here's an amazing quinoa recipe to try for dinner!

Stretch!

Most of us simply do not stretch enough.  Simply stretching 5 minutes a day can completely change the way your body feels, reduce stress, make your muscles more pliable, and over time get rid of the daily aches and pains that might be making you cranky.   

Here are five lower body stretches.  These are static stretches, which can be done on their own or after a workout.  Remember that static stretches should never be done before a workout, as they have been shown to hinder performance.

Quad Stretch This stretch can be done standing near a wall so that you can hold on with your opposite hand.  The key to doing this stretch properly is to stand up straight, lift your chest, and feel your inner thighs hug toward each other.  Make sure your bent knee points down toward the floor.  If you can't grab your foot, hook a belt or a scarf around your ankle and hold the fabric instead.  You should feel this on the front of the thigh and up near the hip.  Remember to switch legs and stretch both sides.

Hamstring Stretch

This stretch is best done with a belt, as shown.  Be sure to drop the hip of the extended leg into the mat.  You want your hips to be square and even.  Press through the foot of the extended leg and feel the stretch in the big part of the muscle behind the leg, not behind the knee.  If you feel this behind your knee, bend your knee slightly so that you can feel it in the muscle instead of the joint.  Remember to stretch both legs.

Hip Rotator Stretch This can also be done with the bottom foot pressing against a wall.  Flex your feet firmly to protect your ankles and knees, and drop the top hip so that your pelvis is square.  Grab the bottom thigh with your hands and pull toward you.  Keep your head on the floor. You should feel this deep in your hip and under your butt.  Remember to do both hips.

Outer Hip and IT Band Stretch  Most people are not flexible enough to grab their ankles or feet in this pose as shown.  If that's you, grab your knees instead.  The key here is to rotate your thighs toward each other and squeeze your inner thighs together.  Pull your feet up away from the floor to deepen the stretch.  To reverse the stretch, cross the opposite leg on top.

Foot Stretch   This stretch can be really intense if you are new to it, but is excellent for the prevention of plantar fasciitis.   If you have sensitive knees, you can put padding under them to give a little cushion.   Make sure that all ten toes are tucked under, keep your feet even, and distribute your weight equally between both sides. If you need to take a break, as you probably will, come out of it by standing on your knees and taking the weight off your feet.  Then, you can sink your pelvis back down when you're ready.

Many thanks to Veronica Barron for modeling!

5 ways to reduce your soda consumption

More adventures from the never-ending soda aisle.
This week there's been a scandal regarding carcinogenic
properties of caramel color, a ingredient in most colas.

1)  Drink Coffee or Tea instead
If you must drink caffeine, coffee and tea are a better choice than soft drinks. If caffeine isn't your thing, but you still want something with more flavor than water, look for iced herbal teas. They are becoming much more available. (An example is the Starbucks iced passion tea, which has no caffeine at all.)

2)Pick another alcoholic drink of choice
Several of my readers responded to my last blog post on this topic that their alcoholic beverage of choice is made with soda. If this is you, a great way to reduce your soda consumption is to start sampling other mixed drinks--                                                   eventually you'll find something you like that is free of soda.

3)  Simply drink soda less often
If you drink soda every day, try drinking it every other day instead. You won't be depriving yourself of the treat, but you'll be reducing by HALF the number of chemicals and sugars you are consuming.

4)  Drink a spritzer
If you're at a restaurant and want something to wet your whistle, but are trying to avoid soda, ask the bartender to make you a spritzer.  You can just tell them to put ice in a cup, a quarter of the cup with a juice of your choice, and the rest of the cup with soda water. Or you can find a recipe for an even healthier version here.

5) Drink more water
Most people who have a hard time cutting out soda simply don't drink enough water. A simple way to make water easier to drink is by adding natural electrolytes. You can do that by taking a glass of water (or even a pitcher in your fridge), squeezing in the juice from a fruit of your choice, and adding a dash of sea salt. You'll find that you can drink the water much faster and that it's easy to absorb. It can also help to keep the water at room temperature instead of cold in the fridge.

Take a bath!

One of the simplest things you can do for your health is to put aside some time each week to take a nice, long bath.

Japanese Bath House, 18th Century
Ahhhhh.

How is this good for my health? you may ask.

There is a direct correlation between stress and illness.  We are now busier and more stressed out than ever.  Most of us feel exhausted and spend very little time taking care of ourselves. When we do give ourselves a treat, it's often in the form of junk food.

Instead of treating yourself to sugar, try taking a bath instead. Bathing will relax your muscles and allow your whole body and brain to rest, while supporting your parasympathetic nervous system.

I recently joined a new gym that has a whirlpool, a steam room, and a sauna.  To me, those alone were worth the membership fee.

You might be surprised by how relaxed you feel afterward.

Here are some delightful bath tub additions:
Epsom salts (the cheapest!)
Bath Salts
Bubble Bath
Essential Oils
Dried flowers like Chamomile, Lavender, or Roses (I get mine at Mountain Rose Herbs)

Happy Bathing!