Healthiest You Ever

Apples are fabulous for you—and your metabolism. The active ingredient in apple pulp is pectin, a soluble form of fiber that helps reduce “bad” cholesterol by keeping it in the intestinal tract until it is eliminated. Pectin also creates a sensation of fullness and suppresses appetite. A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that pectin binds certain cancer-causing compounds in the colon, accelerating their removal from the body. European studies indicate that apple pectin can even help eliminate lead, mercury, and other toxic heavy metals from the human body. Note: It’s important to wash apples thoroughly and to avoid eating the seeds, which can be poisonous. All apples provide super nutrients, but eating different varieties of apples is even better. Here’s a delicious recipe for you to try:

1. Wash and dry apples thoroughly. Using a small knife, cut a divot from the top of the apples, leaving the stem intact. This “cover” will be replaced when baking. Scoop out the seeds and core with a melon-baller or small spoon. Drop 2 cloves into each apple.

2. Knead together the butter and brown sugar, along with the cinnamon, until it is a paste. Divide equally over the scooped apples, leaving enough space to replace the tops.

3. Place apples in a baking dish, with ½ cup of water on the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Sprinkle with cinnamon or powdered sugar before serving.

“For those beginning a strength-training program in which the goal is to put on a large amount of muscle tissue, experts may recommend up to 1.7–2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight—up to two and a half times the recommended amount.”

Proteins are the main structural material in your body and play a major part of the development of bone, muscle, and other tissues in the body. Although proteins supply some energy, they primarily make your body stronger. Most of your protein likely comes from animal sources such as meat, poultry, and fish, or dairy products, which also carry a significant amount of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, animal proteins have high amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats, which can cause plaque to build up on the walls of blood vessels in your body. Plant-based proteins do not contain cholesterol or saturated fats, unless they are added during food processing. Therefore, animal-based proteins should be consumed with a level of moderation, and your strength-training diet should also include plant-based proteins.

Keep in mind that your body can only process a certain amount of protein for muscular growth. Any proteins above that amount will be used for energy needs or stored as fat or sugar.

“If life is just a bowl of cherries, then what am I doing in the pits?”

Packed with an assortment of vitamins and minerals, an obvious sign from their intense red color, cherries help mental functions like memory. Cherries also improve mental clarity and promote focus and attention. Fire up your brain with this smoothie:

1. Combine spinach, pears, cherries, banana, and 1 cup of almond milk in a blender and blend until thoroughly combined.

2. Add remaining cup of almond milk while blending until desired texture is achieved.

“It’s really unfair to working women in America who read celebrity news and think, ‘Why can’t I lose weight when I’ve had a baby?’ Well, everyone you’re reading about has money for a trainer and a chef. That doesn’t make it realistic.”

A personal trainer (PT) is a pro who trains all types of people, from aspiring athletes to fifty-year-old grandmothers. Some specialize while others are jacks of all sports, so to speak. What they all have in common, or should have, is the ability to tailor a fitness or training regimen specifically to the individual being trained. A good personal trainer will first assess your fitness level and test you to see where your weak spots are. The PT will then design a training program to correct any deficiencies and prepare you for your specific goal.

Most personal trainers are athletes, so it is likely your PT will know what you need to achieve what you want in at least a couple of the triathlon sports. If you are really lucky, your trainer will be a triathlete. The benefits of having a personal trainer include the one-on-one attention and instant feedback as you learn proper techniques for your sports. Your PT will be able to assess your limits and design a program that keeps you from overtraining. Most PTs will design workouts with some variety to keep you from being bored with your training while you work the same muscles with different workouts.

Finally, a personal trainer can be your motivator. The PT will take pride in your progress and will naturally want to cheer you on. After all, your success reflects well on your personal trainer.

“The beauty is that people often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more.”

Warm-up poses provide a safe transition into asana practice, isolating muscle groups and body parts, such as the shoulders, the spine, the hips, the lower back, and the groin. You can start with these three warm-up poses this week and add more next week.

• Reclining Mountain Pose: Lie down on your back with your feet together. Stretch your heels and the balls of your feet forward, as you fully stretch your legs away from your feet and ankles. Have your arms diagonally by your sides with the palms facing up.

• Reclining Child’s Pose: Lie down on your back with the knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Inhale fully. Exhale and draw the knees into the chest. Hug the knees with the arms and stay for several breaths, savoring the stretching of the lower back muscles. Next, draw your chin toward your knees, and hold for a few breaths.

• The Modified Reclining Child’s Pose: Also known as the reclining-hand-on-the-big-toe pose. Still lying down, with your knees bent, extend your left leg onto the floor and stretch the foot forward. Clasp your hands behind your right knee, and hold for several breaths. Then extend your right leg up, either holding behind the knee or holding onto a belt that is around the ball of the right foot. Be in the pose, breathing smoothly, gently stretching the leg or keeping it slightly bent.

• Reclining Child’s Pose with Wide Legs: Lying on your back, bend your knees into your chest and then bring your knees comfortably wide apart. Clasp your hands under the knees, holding onto the outside of the knee. Stay in this position for several breaths. Then change the hand position, with the hands on the inside of the knee.

“You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.”

One of the best forms of exercise that provides a healthful challenge for the human body is walking. It is economical, easy to fit into your day, bears a low risk of injury, and is effective in improving health. Numerous studies show that people who walk regularly have less risk of death or disability from disease.

Studies have shown that people who participate in regular walking programs have higher levels of HDL cholesterol, lower levels of total and LDL cholesterol, and lower levels of triglycerides or blood fats. In addition to reducing these risks of heart disease, walking helps you to enjoy many other benefits, including maintaining a healthy weight, improving the condition of bones and muscles, and reducing stress and tension.

Plus, walking is great. It’s easy, fun, and can get you out in the fresh air or can provide an opportunity for socializing with friends while you all shape up together. Walk at a brisk pace for thirty to sixty minutes at least three times each week, and preferably five to six times per week.

TAKE THREE SHORTS WALKS

Short walks contribute to overall health, but they do not constitute fitness workouts. However, short walks are a great addition to an exercise program for mood elevation and for keeping your metabolism rolling along throughout the day. For example, try taking short walks to split up your workday. Take a quick 10-minute walk in the midmorning, a 15-minute walk at lunchtime, and another 10-minute walk in the midafternoon. You’ll get a burst of energy, and will probably notice an increase in your productivity.

“The best things in life are nearest:Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.”

Here is a “mindless” meditation devised to put you into a state of mind that can lead to real rest. To do this meditation—which is really not a meditation at all in any formal sense—recline or lie down comfortably when you can be alone and uninterrupted for an hour. Turn lights down or off and eliminate outside noises and distractions. Close your eyes and let yourself experience the silence around you, then move inward and find a place of silence inside. Let yourself stay in this place as long as you feel comfortable. Begin to follow your breath without trying to alter it. Just feel the quiet rhythm of your SELF. As you do this, let your mind wander wherever it wants to go, like a puppy let outside for an airing. Follow it if you wish, see what interests it, but make no judgments. Think of your mind as a butterfly lighting on one flower, now on another, gathering nectar. Don’t push or move your mind in any particular direction. Let it go where it wants. That is the key here. So much meditation tries to harness the mind, tether it like a goat on a rope as bait for large game. Don’t do that. As your mind is given the freedom to roam here and there, to play at will, it will lead you to your place of rest.