Healthiest You Ever

One of the primary ingredients in curry, turmeric, aids digestion by stimulating the flow of bile and the breakdown of dietary fats. Curry is a powerful source of antioxidants, containing within a single teaspoon as many antioxidants as in a half cup of grapes. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities can be traced back to curcumin, which gives turmeric its characteristic yellow color. For centuries, curcumin alone has been used to cure everything from heartburn to arthritis and, according to Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, “the herbs that are combined to make curry help prevent heart disease and stroke by reducing cholesterol and preventing clots.” Here’s a tasty recipe to try:

2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour mixture into skillet. Cook on medium high for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with brown rice, rice noodles, or another healthy grain.

“A warm-up does more than just prepare your muscles for a workout. Warming up should be seen holistically as a way to bring your muscles, cardiovascular system, and the rest of your body (as well as your mind) to a state of readiness for your workout.”

A proper warm-up increases your cardiorespiratory system’s ability to do work. It also makes your body more efficient in the amount of oxygen that it is able to absorb and utilize. This increased efficiency improves the flow of blood to your heart, which reduces your risk of suffering exercise-induced cardiac abnormalities. It also causes your body’s temperature to rise, thus reducing your risk for experiencing the many exercise-related injuries that can be inflicted upon a “cold” muscle structure.

The amount of time you spend on your warm-up should be based upon the length and intensity of your workout. For example, a fifteen-minute warm-up is sufficient for an hour-long workout at a level of moderate to high intensity. However, a workout of two to four hours in length, within that same intensity range, would need a warm-up of between thirty minutes to an hour.

GET YOUR MINDSET ON

Athletes and competitors at all levels of competition, from recreational to Olympic caliber, often feel that practicing some sort of skill-related activity before competing in an event helps to mentally prepare them. Such mental preparation helps them to perform better at the moment of truth. Whether you are training for a specific athletic event or just getting ready for a jog, mentally preparing yourself to train is essential in achieving a positive state of mind.

“The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and generosity.”

Watch out for alcohol and other mind-numbing drugs. Most experts agree that a drink a day won’t threaten your health, but abuse of alcohol or recreational drugs can diminish your ability to absorb stimuli from the world around you and result in a limited ability to form new memories. Brain scans of alcoholics tend to show low activity in the cerebellum, the brain’s major coordination center. Alcohol should be consumed in moderation—preferably one drink every few days and a maximum of one or two glasses a day. Because it is considered a neurotoxin, more than two glasses of alcohol a day can adversely affect your health. Also, it’s a harsh but true fact: Alcohol shrinks your brain. If you value your brain cells, limit alcohol consumption.

YOUR BRAIN ON ALCOHOL

Clearly, alcohol affects your brain, even in the short term. The long-term effects of too much alcohol consumption on the brain are much worse, and include:

• Blackouts

• Permanent memory lapses

• Nerve damage

• Brain shrinkage

• Vitamin B₁ (thiamine) deficiency

• Alterations in the balance of neurotransmitters such as GABA

Serious alcohol consumption on a regular basis can also lead to several debilitating brain disorders.

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

As you start feeling stronger, you may be tempted to quickly increase your weight loads. Resist the temptation. Before you increase the weight level, increase the number of your repetitions. If you’re performing all twelve of your repetitions with good form, then bump up your weight. The rule of thumb is to increase your weight by roughly five percent. Listen to your body. Let your muscles be the judge. You don’t want to increase your weight levels so much that you injure yourself or experience excessive muscle soreness.

Add a conservative amount of weight and see how it feels. Trust your body. If it feels within a comfortable range for you, it’s likely to be a good increment. If it feels like too much, it probably is. You also want to change your exercises to challenge your muscles in different ways. Muscles need variety. Keep stimulating them. Your mind will also appreciate the change. If your program feels boring to you, your body is probably bored, too. Time for a change.

“I work out, I go to Pilates, I walk, and I eat everything I can get my hands on.”

Here are two more Pilates exercises using an exercise ball that will strengthen your core.

Lie on your back with the ball in your hands, above your torso. Press your lower back gently into the floor as you raise your legs to a 45-degree angle from your hips. Keeping your shoulders away from your ears, raise your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor. Bend your right knee and bring it in toward your chest. The ball should be just above your knee. Hold this position for two counts, then switch legs without moving your upper body and hips. Do this eight times on each leg.

Lie on your back with the ball in your hands, above your torso. Press your lower back gently into the floor as you raise your legs to a 45-degree angle from your hips. Keeping your shoulders away from your ears, raise your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor. Bend your right knee and bring it in toward your chest. As you do this, twist toward your left slightly, bringing your hand and the ball down toward your left knee. Hold this position for two counts, come back to the start position, and then go to the other side. Do this eight times on each leg.

“I do the cooking at home. Where we eat no more than 100 grams of meat a day and have ‘tons’ of fresh vegetables. I prepare the vegetables with a wide range of herbs, spices and such. We also keep on hand lots of fruit, yogurt and great breads.”

Gardening gives you the opportunity to work out in the fresh air. And nothing beats fresh-picked herbs when you want to intensify the taste of salsas, sauces, and savory dishes. Using a spade to turn over dirt and dig in fertilizers and soil amendments can give you a workout. The number of calories burned while gardening, according to a variety of Internet sites about fitness, ranges between 250 and 272 per hour. That’s roughly one Starbucks grande Caffè Latte made with milk, or one Snickers bar. You can get a bit more of a workout if you use heavy equipment during your time in the garden, for example, a rototiller or cutting trees with a chain saw. The calories then add up to around 400 to 405 per hour. But if you love to cook and also appreciate having fresh herbs as well as fruits and vegetables packed with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, consider designing and planting a garden and then combine the gardening with cooking for a healthier you.

“Plants that wake when others sleep. Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.”

Smell is the most potent of all the senses because the information is delivered straight to your hypothalamus. As moods, motivation, and creativity all stem from the hypothalamus, odors affect all of these processes. Think of a disgusting odor and how it can affect your appetite—or think of a fragrance that brings back a pleasant memory of a loved one, and you’ll get the idea of how intimately intertwined scents are with our emotions, memories, and ideas. Light a candle whose fragrance invokes pleasant memories, lie back, and soothe your hypothalamus. Choose whatever scent pleases you, or research online for scents that are associated with relaxation.