General Health Archives - Page 21 of 30

Be better

Be a little better

Just a little – be better today than you were yesterday. Try for a little more.

It’s easy to plod along, day after day, doing the same things, eating the same foods, seeing the same people, that we forget that we have a limited time.

Sorry – don’t mean to be morbid here, but isn’t that what life is all about?

If not, then why bother?

Trying to be better today than you were yesterday? Otherwise, why bother doing anything at all.

Whatever your goals are, don’t you want to be a little closer to reaching them today? Just be a little better.

Set big goals

If you have big goals, great! Set big ones – you don’t have to meet it all in one day.

Break up the big goals into more manageable chunks, and that way you can set a mini-goal to be better at every day! If you don’t, it’s all too easy to be overwhelmed by that great big goal staring at you. Lose 50 pounds? Impossible in a day or even a week, or a month! But two pounds this week? Absolutely! Resolve to be chocolate-free for two days. Even for me, that’s probably doable. And then maybe cut out a piece of bread a day. Or maybe every other day.

Mini-goals on your way to the big ones

The point is, your mini-goals should lead you on your way to achieving that big goal, but still be doable today. And when you reach that mini-goal, celebrate and make a new mini-goal. And that’s how you lose 50 pounds. Or launch a business. Or whatever big goal you have in mind.

Today – be better

For today, think of that goal, and be better.

Or think of a few goals to choose among. Then think of what would make you happiest and put the rest on a back burner. You’ll get to them.

And in the meantime, be better today at something than you were yesterday!

Almost fall! Time to prevent them!

Prevent falls this fall!

It’s almost fall – and it’s the time of year to prevent them! You know that I’m a huge advocate of practicing your balance to prevent falls. I interviewed Kathleen Cameron, Senior Director of the Center for Healthy Aging, a while back about preventing falls – https://fitness-over-50.com/2017/07/prevent-falls-my-interview-with-kathleen-cameron/ .

I even developed a series of simple exercises anyone can do to improve their balance and prevent falls in just minutes a day. And I run a Facebook group with ongoing balance challenges.

Sleepwalking through balance exercises

I became complacent, though. I’ve been sort of half-heartedly, sort of somnambulently performing the balance exercises myself.

And I fell Friday night. Granted, it was while I was carrying my 20-pound Boston Terrier over a 2-foot fence, but it gave me a wake-up call, all the same!

Naughty puppy!

Booker had jumped the fence (within our larger fenced back yard – it’s an area we don’t want the dogs to go in) because he thought he saw a chipmunk. There was no other wildlife in there, he was just being a jerk. In the heat of the moment he jumps the fence with no problem but can’t seem to figure out how to get back. I climbed over the fence – angry, short-tempered – and as I was climbing back out my foot caught in the top of the fence and I fell. Naturally, I didn’t want my dog to get hurt, so protected him. My face seemed to catch the brunt. Fortunately, just scrapes and bruises. There doesn’t seem to be any deeper damage.

It could have been worse, but …

And perhaps because I do some balance work, I was not hurt as badly as I could have been. But, I knew that I’d been slacking on some of the balance exercises!

So, with renewed commitment, I’ll be focusing much more on practicing balance and preventing falls.

It is almost fall. And after fall is winter, and ice and snow. Slippery stuff. It’s easy to slip and lose your balance and fall. Why not do just a few minutes of balance exercises a day to try to prevent any falls you can! Read my interview with Kathleen (https://fitness-over-50.com/2017/07/prevent-falls-my-interview-with-kathleen-cameron/) to see the statistics on just how prevalent falls are, and then commit to prevent the falls that you can!

Make time for what you love

Make time for me!

I believe that a crucial part of fitness is happiness. So often we put ourselves after everyone else and don’t do things we love to do. I think that’s backwards. First of all, you should make time for what you love! Even if it’s just a few minutes.

For me, my happiness is training my dogs

You know I love to train my dogs. It makes us both happy. So every day I spend just a few minutes training my dogs! Before work, before the dogs have an opportunity to get on my nerves so that I don’t feel like spending time with them, we do a little training.

This is not the training that will make us champions, in just a few minutes … but maybe it is! Regardless, it is a great start for my day. Doing something that I love and that makes me happy is a wonderful start to any day! (The picture above shows Tango, my Brussels Griffon, improving his core strength – sit and stand on the balance disk.)

What’s the thing you love to do?

Maybe dog training is not your thing. Does reading a book make you happy? Me too! 5 or 10 minutes may not sound like a lot of time, but you can probably finish a chapter in that! Gardening? 5 minutes every single day can get a lot of weeds pulled! Do you love to write but “can’t find the time?” Needlepoint? Jigsaw puzzles? Give happiness a try! Spend just a few minutes every day and you’ll be surprised at the difference in your attitude!

Schedule your happiness time!

Perhaps the start of your day is too jam-packed with getting ready for work or exercising for your little nugget of happiness. Don’t rely on “maybe I’ll have time later!” that we always do. Schedule it! Make an appointment with yourself for those 5 minutes of happiness. Do you usually have a little bit of down-time in the late afternoon? Early evening? Schedule your happiness time! If you use your smartphone for your appointments, even go so far as to set a notification. Be happy – you’re worth it!

If you have been wanting a great appointment book and planner that can be tailored to you, the Living Well Planner might be just right for you! And this week, you can get the brand new floral design at a special price! I’ve used this planner, and it is substantial!

Are you getting enough sleep?

If you’re an adult in the 21st century, chances are you’re not getting enough sleep. Our screens bombard us. Our diets undermine us. The TV is blaring. The stereo is on. The dogs are barking, or snoring, or making some other noise. The outside light is penetrating our eyelids. Too many distractions are keeping us from the single most important, easiest thing we can do for our health.

You need sleep for your health.

Poor sleep is linked to weight gain

For those of us concerned with our fitness, studies have shown that poor sleep has a direct connection to gaining weight. It might be hormonal, or we may just be too tired to exercise or watch what we eat. But the fact remains that if we don’t get enough sleep, we have a tendency to be fatter.

On the other hand, good sleep is linked to eating fewer calories. Food for thought!

Focus and productivity

Studies have also shown that people who get enough sleep have better focus and increased productivity. Good sleep has been shown to improve problem-solving skills and memory performance.

Athletic performance

Studies have also shown sleep to be directly correlated to speed, accuracy, reaction time and mental well-being among basketball players. On the other hand, not sleeping enough leads to slower speed, weaker grip and more difficulty in performing physical activities.

Other health risks

Studies have shown that not getting enough sleep causes a greater risk of heart disease and stroke, Type 2 Diabetes and depression.

The moral?

So, the conclusion we can draw is to turn off your screens, turn off the TV and the radio. Get better window coverings. Take the dog to the vet to find out why he’s making all those noises! (You know that I won’t tell you not to sleep with your dog!) Your health and your sleep are worth it.

Fried food without the guilt

A better way to fry food

What’s better than the taste of fried food? Fried food with fewer calories! Eliminate the guilt when you eat air-fried food! The air fryer gives you taste without the calories! We love our air fryer. Seriously love it. Despite its cuteness (it looks like R2D2 on our counter), our air fryer delivers yummy food in very little time.

Technicalities

Technically, the device doesn’t “fry” food. It’s a mini-convection oven that circulates hot air around the food. You put your food in the basket along with some oil and turn the machine on. Excess oil drips down to the outer basket, where it’s easy to clean out. The result is delicious!

Zucchini and Peppers

The picture above shows a dish we made recently – just sliced zucchini and peppers. You can see the start of nice caramelization – we couldn’t wait to dig in. We put sliced vegetables in the air fryer and tossed them with a teaspoon of olive oil. Set the fryer at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or so. When it beeped, we shook the basket and reset the fryer. We could have let it go another few minutes but we were hungry! Delicious! So much more tasty than steaming, with not many more calories.

Try Sweet Potato Fries for a New Taste Sensation

We’ve sliced sweet potatoes and air-fried them. Absolutely scrumptious. And Yukon Gold Potatoes too. We’ve even re-heated gyros meat. All the fat from the meat dripped into the lower basket and the meat was crispy and delicious.

Even after a few months experimenting with our air fryer, we’re still learning new ways of using it. We’re trying new foods and, honestly, have not been disappointed.

Here’s a good choice:

Check this one out on Amazon! (I may receive some form of payment if you click this link.) You may notice some product links on the “Stuff I Love” page. I will only include products that I really do love. The air fryer? It makes me very happy, and my taste buds delirious!

Get happier!

Are you stuck in a dark rut?

All too often we find ourselves doing the same things – day after day. Repeating the same tasks and not finding happiness in them. If we don’t have happiness and joy in our lives, we have no motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When we’re not happy, our fitness suffers.

Can we dig ourselves out?

So, how can we lift ourselves up and find the joy again? Even when we are doing the same things day after day, we can be happy!

Permission for happiness!

The first step is to tell ourselves that we can be happy. The mere act of giving ourselves permission sometimes makes it true. Try writing down the three biggest factors that made you the person you like today. They could be life-changing moments, like a big presentation or a job change. Keep that list prominent so that you can look at it every day and remember that you’re a person to be proud of!

Change the scenery

Another method is to change the scenery. I’m not talking about a tropical vacation (although that would be nice). Go for a walk. Change your route to work. Sometimes just looking at something different changes your perspective to a more positive one.

Re-energize!

Take a nap. Have a healthy snack. Refuel and re-energize! When your stomach is full of good stuff and you’ve had a good night’s sleep, you feel more positive.

Acknowledge the downsides

Be aware of the negative aspects of a task. That will motivate you to take action and turn those negatives into positives. Your brain will be more nimble trying to turn things around.

Get another opinion

Talk to someone. Things may not be as bleak as they seem to you. Sometimes we’re too close to a situation to look at it objectively. And don’t always consult someone who has the same beliefs as you do. They may see what you consider bleak situations the same way.

Stress can be good!

Channel your stress into a positive outcome. If you’re anxious about something, try to determine the real reason for the anxiety so that you can take action. Taking action is a positive step and leads to a brighter outlook.

So the next time you feel yourself going to that deep, dark place, try these tips and aim for the sunshine!

You matter

If you’re like me, you go through your days doing the same things you’ve always done. I get up at the same time every day, eat the same breakfast every day, go to work at the same time, take the same route, see the same people at training every week. Get take-out from the same restaurants. All this without even thinking.

I’m feeling introspective today, so I’m wondering, “Why?” Why are we here? Is it just to do the same things every day? How can I justify my existence if that’s it?

So perhaps I’ll strive to make a difference today. Maybe not to the whole world, but if I can make a difference to one person, that could be enough for today.

To make a difference, I think, you have to make someone’s life better, happier, more fulfilled.

So, I’m telling you today that you matter!

To your family, your friends, your coworkers, your pets. You matter! Their lives would be poorer without you.

The old James Stewart movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” recounts the story of George Bailey – who wished he’d never been born one Christmas Eve, and how the town he loved would have been dramatically different if he hadn’t existed. (Not for the better!) The film demonstrates that we’re each here for a reason – we’re here for the people we know and love.

The world today is hectic. We’re bombarded by outside influences all day every day – through multiple screens, speakers and neon signs. We’re caught up in the day’s headlines, our newsfeeds, Twitter feeds, Instagram posts. It’s easy to be nervous about the state of the country and the world. It’s hard to think about why we alone might matter to someone else. But you do! So, take a few minutes in a quiet place and think about that!

Just like you exercise your muscles, practice your skills

Use it or lose it!

They say, “Use it or lose it!” And that’s true of pretty much everything.

We exercise to improve our health. If we don’t exercise, our health tends to decline.

We exercise to improve our cognition. Yup, exercising our body helps our mind.

We exercise to get stronger. Use those muscles or they become weak.

We exercise to retain flexibility. Don’t stretch and our flexibility decreases.

We exercise aerobically to strengthen our heart and increase lung function. Don’t exercise for a few days and we’re out of breath faster.

Practice not only makes perfect…

The same holds true for other skills. If you played piano when you were younger, you know what I’m talking about! Don’t practice and you won’t even remember where the keys are.

We practice our balance to stay upright and prevent future falls. Falls, especially as we get older, can be dangerous, if not tragic. From slipping and falling on the ice to rolling an ankle on broken pavement, improved balance can help.

Download my “Week of Balance” booklet. A free .pdf file to help you get started retaining your balance.

In dog training it’s the same. Lots of skills are involved in training a dog to compete in obedience or agility. Don’t practice one of them and the behavior deteriorates. My agility instructor likens this theory to circus performers spinning plates on a long dowel. He’d get a row of plates spinning, and when the last one started the first one would start to slow down and topple. The performer would have to run back to the first one and start it spinning again.

Calm your mind

Being able to calm your mind is another skill that requires practice. There are so many distractions in the world that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to focus on a single thing. From our own devices – phones, tablets, laptops, TVs – to the world around us, there’s a lot to take in.

I find it imperative to be able to narrow my focus. I get more done when I’m not trying to do several things at once. We all have heard people extol the virtue of multi-tasking, but the only things that benefit from multi-tasking are computers.

We’re much more productive when we can focus on a single task and then move on to the next one.

Guided meditations can help calm the mind

But many find it hard to calm the mind at first. It just takes practice. And sometimes a little help. Check out my free short, guided meditations. Sometimes just a couple of minutes of a guided meditation helps clear your mind. And there are also lots of free smartphone meditation apps. (I find these to be a little long, but everyone’s different.)

Guided meditations:

Garden meditation

Ocean meditation

River meditation

Focus on the important stuff

Is frizz important?

There are a limited number of hours in a day. You’ve got to spend 7 or 8 of them sleeping. The rest are up for grabs! Lately I noticed how many products there are in the marketplace for frizzy hair. And lately I’ve noticed that with all the rain and humidity we’ve had my hair has gone totally frizz. Am I tempted by all these products that promise smooth silky hair without frizz? No. It’s not important to me. I notice that my hair is frizzy because I do look in the mirror to make sure I’m somewhat presentable (the public does come into my shop, after all), but I’ve got better things to think about than my hair.

Focus on more important things

I think about training my dogs – what do they need for us to succeed as a team in their sports? I think about my sister’s and my shop – what can I do to make Golly Gear more successful, and our customers happier? I think about what to make for dinner (meal planning sort of went out the window this week…). I think about my new balance exercises.

So, you can see that I try not to focus on stuff that is unimportant to me.

What really is important?

To focus on the important things, though, I have to decide what really is important. Of course, what’s important to you may be very different from what’s important to me. And no one can tell you what’s important – aside from the obvious, of course – family, friends, work, etc.

Prioritize

Once the important stuff is decided, then it’s a matter of prioritizing tasks. Balancing the different aspects of my life. You would think this would be easy, but it may not be. I find that the best method of prioritizing is to get absolutely everything down on paper and then sort the tasks. It can be a monumental effort, but once it’s done, I get a great feeling of relief.

What’s not on that list of tasks? De-frizzing my hair. Making an appointment with my stylist is, though!

Guilt and eating “healthy”

Eating what makes you happy may not be eating the things that are “good”

In my ongoing chat about our feelings of guilt, a natural topic is that of eating “healthy.” Why the quotes? Because to me, eating healthy means eating what makes you happy and eating the things that are good for your body.

And that may produce guilt

Are those mutually exclusive? Sometimes, and that’s where the guilt comes in.

You might think that eating the things that make us happy involves vast quantities of chocolate, pizza, ice cream, chips, … and the list goes on.

And, yes, in the short-term, those things do make us happy. They taste incredible, the texture is amazing, and they lift our spirits.

But we know intellectually that these things are “bad” for us, and we feel guilty about eating them. We know that we “should” be eating more vegetables, more fruit, more whole grains.

Why eat things that aren’t good for us?

So why don’t we? Why do we eat the “bad” stuff and then feel guilty about it?

Perhaps we haven’t found the “good” stuff that we like as much as pizza. Or that satisfies our soul like spaghetti.

So, try foods that you’re not used to. Try different recipes. Try quinoa. Try kale. You might like it. Or not – and then you can try something else that you read about that’s supposed to be “healthy.”

It happens to everyone

And for those of us who do eat “healthy” most of the time, there are still times when nothing but a Snickers bar will do. Biting into that yummy chocolate and then getting your teeth stuck in the peanuts and caramel… Well, you get the idea. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was hungry late one Saturday afternoon and I wanted a Snickers bar. So I had a Snickers bar. True, it was a fun-sized one, but it satisfied me. I knew I’d have to do a few more minutes on the treadmill to work it off, but it was worth it.

Actions have consequences

See, that’s the thing. There are always consequences to our actions. If you think about your actions, and their repercussions, there’s no reason to feel guilty about taking the action.

But there’s no reason to feel guilty about them

“If I do x, then I’ll have to do y.” No big deal. No reason to feel guilty.

And that reasoning follows through all your actions, not just eating.