Healthiest You Ever

“As a kid, I got three meals a day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal, and no meal.”

Oatmeal is a marvelous choice for healthy fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber slows down the digestion of starch, preventing a sharp rise in blood glucose levels after a meal. Soluble fiber aids in the processing and elimination of food, moving it quickly and efficiently through the bowels. Studies have shown that eating foods that are high in soluble fiber may help to lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) without lowering HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol). Whether you choose steel-cut oats (the most roughly cut and least processed), rolled or “old-fashioned” oats, quick oats, or instant, all types of oats are effective at reducing cholesterol. To get the daily 3 grams of soluble fiber recommended for lowering cholesterol levels, you’ll need to eat 2 ounces of oat bran (²/³ cup dry or about 1½ cups cooked) or 3 ounces of oatmeal (1 cup dry or 2 cups cooked). To increase the fiber benefits, add walnuts and raisins or fruits, such as blueberries or blackberries.

Add blueberries, bananas and pecans, cranberries and walnuts, or cinnamon and raisins to the batter before you cook the pancakes. Come up with fun toppings of your own.

1. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

2. Coat skillet or griddle with nonstick spray. Pour 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto skillet.

3. Cook on medium-high heat until pancake develops bubbles on top. Flip the pancake and brown on the other side.

“Another myth is that strength training is expensive, time consuming, and complex. In fact, it shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes per session.”

Lunges provide multiple benefits for your lower body, your legs, your inner and outer thighs, your hips, and your knees. There are three types of lunges that you can easily add to your daily workout. Complete an average of two to three sets with ten to twenty reps per set.

Stationary Lunge: Stand with feet hip width apart. Step one foot back, placing the ball of the foot on the floor. This is the starting position. Stabilize and balance in this position before moving into the lunge. Bend both knees to about 90 degrees (the back knee will almost touch the floor), then return to the starting position. If you find it hard to stay balanced, use a chair or wall to stabilize yourself throughout the movement. The motion should be straight down and up. With practice your balance will increase as will your lower body strength.

Reverse Lunge: Start with the feet hip width apart. Step one foot back and bend both knees about 90 degrees into a lunge. Using mostly the forward leg, pull yourself up to standing. Repeat this exercise with your opposite leg. This exercise builds strength and mobility in the hips as well as increases dynamic balance.

Lateral Lunge: Begin with your feet together and arms by your side. Step out to the right, bending the right knee and touching the left hand to the floor. Press off the right leg and bring the feet together. Repeat on the opposite side. Lateral Lunges strengthen the hips and inner and outer ligaments and tendons of the knees.

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.”

Find words using only the letters in a given name. Each letter in a name can be used only once in your word. For example, if the name is George Washington, then you could make the words soar, grow, note, and many others. Words that are always capitalized or require a hyphen or an apostrophe are not included in the answer lists. Words with variant or British spellings are also not included. Try this one:

abaci, aboil, albas, alias, appal, apsis, aspic, aspis, assai, baals, bails, balas, balsa, basal, basic, basil, basis, bassi, basso, blips, bliss, blocs, bloop, boils, bolas, bolos, cabal, capos, casas, cibol, claps, clasp, class, clips, clops, coala, coals, cobia, coils, colas, cools, coops, copal, isbas, labia, laics, lapis, lasso, lisps, lobos, locos, loops, oasis, obias, oboli, obols, olios, opals, ossia, pacas, pails, paisa, palpi, palps, papal, papas, pibal, pical, picas, pipal, pisco, pisos, plica, plops, polio, polis, polos, pools, poops, psoai, psoas, sails, salic, salpa, salps, salsa, scabs, scalp, scoop, scops, sials, silos, sisal, slabs, slaps, slips, slobs, sloop, slops, soaps, soils, solos, spail, spica, spics, spoil, spool

“As I’ve been able to once again gain the benefits of speed work, I’m enjoying my running more and more.”

Fartlek, a Swedish word meaning “speed play,” is an unstructured type of speed work. The central purpose of fartlek is to prepare you for the anaerobic demands that more structured speed workouts and racing provide. The primary purpose of including Fartlek in your regimen is to increase your anaerobic threshold to maintain a faster pace over longer periods of time. Basically, it builds your endurance by strengthening your body’s ability to run longer and faster. You can run a fartlek workout at a fast pace in varying distances and durations—anywhere that’s safe for running.

Even though it is considered an unstructured workout, there are basic guidelines for fartlek running. Begin your workout with a minimum of 1–1½ miles of easy running (or a minimum of twelve minutes). End with a 1-mile cool-down, throw in speed bursts of varying times and distances, then follow each with a recovery jog.

The idea here is to practice running at a brisk effort (generally faster than your present 5K race pace), employing good running form and training your body to run anaerobically (meaning without oxygen). Push yourself until your breathing becomes labored and your pace begins to drop off. Rather than continuing to push yourself past this point (when you are running at a slow pace with deteriorating form due to fatigue), it’s much more beneficial to run fast for a shorter period of time and then to resume when you recover (that is, catch your breath).

“Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight-or-flight mode.”

The cat-cow pose warms up the spine beautifully, creating suppleness and stretching the back muscles. Start on all fours, as a cat or cow would stand. Wrists are placed directly under shoulders and knees are placed directly under hips. Look forward and lengthen into the crown of the head and into the tailbone. Slightly tip the tailbone up. Inhale the breath. Press the inner thighs away from each other, hugging the bone. Exhale and round the spine by curling the chin into the chest and lifting each vertebrae up toward the ceiling. Draw the tailbone in between the legs toward the pubic bone. The pubic bone moves toward the navel and the navel recedes and presses up to the front of the spine. Press the hands down and push the hands away from the body as you round the back. Repeat the lengthening on the inhalation and rounding on the exhalation nine more times, coordinating the movement with the breath.

YOGA IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART

In a recent study reported by Yoga Journal, a group of people who walked twenty minutes a day three times a week were compared to a group of yoga practitioners who did standing poses twenty minutes a day, three times a week. Guess who received the greater cardiovascular benefit? The yogis did!

“The primary conception of tennis is to get the ball over the net and at the same time to keep it within bounds of the court; failing this, within the borders of the neighborhood.”

Playing a game of tennis is a great way to get a workout, and you only need one other person to start a game of tennis. Playing tennis builds agility, hand-eye coordination, and works all the major muscle groups—and that helps your metabolism. Since the game is played in short bursts during which you’re swinging your racquet or sprinting after a ball, it offers fat-burning benefits similar to those found in traditional interval training. A 150-pound individual can expect to burn more than 400 calories each hour and enjoy a competitive sport in the process.

As you play tennis, don’t be surprised to find that not only are your tennis skills improving but your overall stamina, speed, coordination, agility, and flexibility are improving as well. According to Harvard’s Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger, individuals who play at least three hours of tennis a week cut their risk of death from any cause by half. Maybe that alertness really does come in handy if there’s a bus approaching.

Just remember to warm up your muscles first and take care to use proper hitting and serving techniques to prevent injuries. Tennis pros say that a couple of days each week on the court should be enough for a good workout.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO PLAY, SIGN UP FOR LESSONS

Almost anyone, from eight- to ten-year-old children to seniors in their seventies or eighties, can play tennis. Lean how to play now and you can enjoy it for a lifetime. Plus, tennis is one of those games where you need another player. If you are playing doubles, you’ll need three other players; so taking lessons is a good way to meet new people, get a workout, and feel great.

“I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.”

Studies show that spending time in nature promotes feelings of calm and relaxation. When you look at a beautiful sunset, enjoy the sounds of the pounding surf, or enjoy a beautiful view from the side of a mountain, the vastness of the world helps to put all the small frustrations back in the proper perspective. Find something active outside that you enjoy, and take time to put it in your schedule. You can incorporate nature with physical activity such as running, walking, or other activities and sports. Remember, regular physical activity is an important health behavior that can return multiple dividends. Not only will you feel better, look great, and manage your weight effectively, but you also will manage stress better by being active on a regular basis. Something as simple as a short walk can provide a powerful positive outlet for tension.