Holiday Health and Fitness

This time of year it is easy to feel overwhelmed by health and fitness goals.  In the next six weeks most of us will find ourselves inundated with activities centered around eating and temptations to consume traditional foods and beverages laden with salt, fat and refined sugars.  We may also feel pressured by well-intentioned family and friends to eat and drink more than we need or want to.  And, we will facing it all on less sleep and increasingly fewer energy reserves as the season unfolds.  Added to this is the confusion about what exercise program or holiday weight loss regimen is the best, or will deliver the results you want. Everywhere you look; TV, newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, newsletters etc, so-called “experts” are regaling us with promises and assurances that their product or program is the one to use.  For many people, all this is enough to make them not even try.  Unfortunately, the “I’ll enjoy the holidays and start taking care of myself after New Year’s” approach sounds good, but I don’t know of very many people who have found this successful, much less been healthier and happier for it.

~Just move!  It doesn’t really matter what you do, just find 20 - 40 minutes every day and do something.  Walk, run, bike, use a treadmill or other aerobic exercise machine if you have access to them.  You can dance (at home, at a class, at a concert or ballroom), swim, ice skate, ski, snowshoe, take a yoga or fitness class (if accessible) or do an exercise tape/CD/DVD at home.  You don’t even have to buy one, most public libraries have an excellent selection.  If you are a cable subscriber, check out their programming.  Most cable systems have programs and many have whole channels dedicated to exercise and fitness programs. What you do isn’t as important as doing it.  One caveat;  make sure you listen to your body and don’t over exert or try to do something beyond your ability.  Over-exercising is not the solution to over-eating and it can lead to injuries.
 
~Drink plenty of  plain water.  Not carbonated, not “vitamin enhanced”, not flavored.  Holiday food is loaded with salt, refined sugar, and fat, all of which dehydrate the body and can play havoc with the elimination process.  (as does travel and flying by the way)  An easy way to do this is to have at least one glass of water at every meal, even if you are having another beverage.  If you are hosting a meal, make sure every place is set with a full glass of water. Add a slice or wedge of lemon for a more eloquent presentation.  Having it available increase the likelihood of drinking it. 

~If you have a diagnosed medical condition or your health and happiness depend on certain dietary alterations, follow them.  Your health and life are worth far more important than the momentary and fleeting satisfaction of consuming something because it “tastes good”, “everyone else is eating it”, someone pressured you to eat it, or you think you can get away with it “just this one time”.
  

There seem to be a lot of muscle strains and sprains going around these days, not unusual for the end of summer when many of us have been more active than usual.  In response to concerns about tight calf muscles, here are a couple of great stretches.  The first is for the larger muscle in the calf, the area that bulges a few inches beneath the knee called the Gastrocnemius.

Notice that the back knee is straight and the heel is reaching toward or pressing into the floor.  Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.  Take some long slow complete breaths and imagine the muscle filling up and expanding on the inhale and releasing and lengthening on the exhale.

The second stretch is for the lower calf  muscle, the Soleus.  The Soleus is a much overlooked muscle that often causes problems with the Gastrocnemius above it or the Achilles Tendon below it.  The following picture shows an excellent Soleus stretch.

In this stretch, the back knee is bent forward and the ankle is slightly flexed.  Be careful not to bend the knee too far.  It doesn’t take much of a bend to feel the Soleus lengthening.  Again, hold this position for 20-30 seconds, taking long slow relaxing breaths.  Imagining muscles filling and expanding on the inhalation and softening and relaxing on the exhalation  is a great way not only to lengthen muscles (the whole point of stretching), but to slow ourselves down.  It’s really a meditation for the body and the mind all at the same time!

 Doing these stretches regularly is great for preventing night cramping.   If you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a cramp in one or both of your calves,  place the heel of both hands on either side of the calf and press in.  This ”compression” relieves cramps as it forces blood into the muscle. If your calves remain tight, try soaking the lower legs in warm water before stretching or have your legs massaged by a professional massage therapist.    If night cramps persists, consider seeing your doctor, as they may also be caused by circulatory problems.