Christmas is a time for...moving...

      No matter who you are or what you do, there is always a way to get a little exercise.  The season is upon us now where cookies are baking and festive food and drink are starting to surround us at work and at home.  The key is moderation, balance and exercise.
     I am never going to give up the things I love like nut roll, kielbasi, ice cream and other goodies. I love to have a little Bacardi and Coke and when we go out I like to have a beer with my burger. However, during the week I eat a hard boiled egg for breakfast and for lunch I have a small bowl which consists of a protein, beans and a small bit of starch on the top... a little pasta or rice.  It balances out the days were I eat and drink a little more than I should.
       Walk, run, cycle, lift soup cans, wrap presents while dancing--just do a little something extra to keep your joints moving and to keep your weight from creeping up.  It is easy if you think about it.  Park away from the door when you go to the mall or to grocery store.  Walk up the steps, even up the escalator to move a little bit. Take the bag of potatoes, lift it up and down while walking around the kitchen table.  Small things, small steps but you can do this.


Keep moving at Christmas...

   

Positive Actions

     It is very easy to say "I'm going to start tomorrow" or "I can change".   I want to lose a few pounds so I tell myself I'm going to cut carbohydrates and exercise more.  My wife is always going to drop some weight and walk on the treadmill more often. Then life gets in the way.  With all of it's stress and demands, particularly at this time of year, we have a tendency to lose sight of the goals we wish to accomplish and we become complacent.
     We need to take the positive thinking and make it positive action.  When we think it, we need to set out a plan to do it, to make it happen, to accomplish our goals.  Make a game plan and stick with it.  My wife has decided that she is going to eat at least two of my famous "bean" lunches during the week.  Beans are said to be good for diabetics, controlling blood sugar while the fiber keeps you feeling full.  I eat them daily.  I miss running.  With the 12 hour work days, the papers that are due for class and the finals this week, I haven't been able to run much.  This week that will change, I will make the time for myself and my health.  You owe it to yourself to think through changes and then make the changes that will benefit your life.


Think it, then do it.

Happy Thanksgiving

     Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends.  I hope that you really enjoy your day. Thanksgiving is a time to take stock of everything in your life that you are grateful for.  It is also a time to think about all of the holidays, events, and things that you really want to be around for in the future.
     You can definitely eat all that you want, it's a day made for that.  But, while the turkey is in the oven, go outside and shovel or sweep a little snow.  Take a walk down the block, do some light aerobics while listening to Christmas music.  Make sure that you get some exercise in before you have the wonderful meal.  I'll get on the treadmill in the morning.  My wife will be frantically cooking, but even she will get on the treadmill in the morning too while she watches the parade.  It is important to take care of yourself so that you can enjoy your life.  Eat the turkey, eat the stuffing, eat the pie...but burn the calories.  You will thank yourself Friday morning.

Stay Strong

      I am sure as we go through our lives and deal with problems and things that come our way, we get stronger. We bounce back.  We learn to deal with or prepare for life differently.  For some reason, nothing seems to get easier, we just adjust our routines to meet daily challenges.                                            Our bodies, however, don't bounce back as easily from illness or injury as we get older.  Our bones aren't as strong, we don't use our muscles and flex our joints as much.  Arthritis and other disease processes take their toll on our bodies.  We begin to notice the aches and pains that advancing age brings.  We have to think about things a little longer, like where we parked the car, what we actually went to the store for or what is coming out of our checking account this week.                                                                           There are many things we can do to ease into our "Golden Years".  I take classes at Marywood University, not so much to get a piece of paper that documents the achievement, but to keep learning about things that interest me and to keep my brain sharp. I walk whenever and wherever I can.  I like to run, even if it is on the treadmill, as it keeps my joints moving and my muscles from becoming atrophied. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of aches and pains.  That comes from years of being in the military, from martial arts participation and instruction, from doing difficult things that I like to do.  It can't stop me though.  It will never stop me from moving, from jumping out of planes, from running through the streets of Scranton or at Nay Aug Park.                                              You can't let it stop you either.  Life keeps moving and so should you.  If you have to sit and do exercises, then sit and lift weights, or stretch in your chair.  If you can walk to your front gate or to the street, walk to the corner, walk to buy your coffee or walk from the back of the parking lot to the store, then you must do that. As I always say, anything you can do is better than doing nothing. Take a class, learn to cook, learn to work on the computer, do something not only for your mind, but to develop into a better person.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Life keeps going, you should too...

  

It's Not In the Finish, It's the Start

     It is true...you hear yourself saying things like "I'll do it tomorrow" or "Maybe later".   It's hard to get started when there is so much of life getting in the way.  But how do you want to live your life?
     I want to be able to be to move.  I want to be able, as I always say, to tie my own shoes until the day I die.  I want to go on vacation and visit new places and be able to walk around all of them.  I want to be mentally sharp until the day I die.  I take classes, do mental testing on the Internet and watch educational videos.  Read.  Read books, read articles, read the newspaper.  Life is moving really quickly.  The days seem to go by slowly, but the years are just flying.
     Get up and walk to your front porch ...go to the sidewalk or driveway...and keep walking.  When you feel tired, come home.  It's that simple.

Get started...

Do Something Fun...

     This is my granddaughter, Jules, bowling at her Birthday party.  All of the kids and adults are having a good time, laughing and getting exercise.   Bowling is great exercise.  It is great fun for young or old alike, as it doesn't require a certain "body type" or too much flexibility to get that ball down the alley.
      Of course, then we all had cake.  It is a must at a party to celebrate.  The fact that you are exercising though, makes the calories and carbohydrates in the cake not so bad.  It's really all a trade-off.  You need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight, it's as simple as that.  You don't need the advanced liquid diets or the vegetarian diets or the diet where you can't eat anything at all that you like.  You need to balance your life with exercise and eating to where you at least burn the calories you take in to maintain your weight, or burn more calories than you take in to lose some weight.
      It was a beautiful fall day today.  My wife, her sister and her niece and friend went out to the pumpkin patch and cider mill.  They walked through the corn maze.  The flung apples with a slingshot at targets in a field.  They felt that exercise entitled them to an apple cider doughnut.  They are right.  Enjoying life while keeping moving is how you survive.
      It will be getting colder soon.  Don't fret.  Bowling, roller skating, walking on the treadmill, snowball fights are all great activities.  You don't have to shut down when the weather changes, you have to change with it.

Bowling and cake are awesome...

What Are You Eating?

   

     Most nations, including Australia, Japan and all of the countries in the European Union, do not consider GMOs, Genetically Modified Organisms, to be safe.   Genetically modified food, also known as genetically engineered food, are the crop plants that have been modified in the lab  to enhance desired traits, such as resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content.  

     Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include soy (94%), cotton (90%), canola (90%), sugar beets (95%), corn (88%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).  In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale. There is a growing body of evidence that is now connecting GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and the violation of consumer rights.  The creation of GMOs is also leading to the development of stronger, more dangerous pesticides.  

     You should be aware of what you are eating and what you can do about it.  If what you are eating is dangerous, you need to know that.  You also need to contact your representatives and tell them that the new DOW pesticides should not be allowed.   My wife and I signed several petitions on Dr. Oz, calling for the labeling of GM foods and the ban of these super pesticides. 

     

     

You are what you eat...