It’s three o’clock in the afternoon, and you feel the munchies creep into your consciousness. Might you be conditioned to get those mid-afternoon cravings after years of buying afterschool snacks from the ice cream truck or local mini mart on the way home from school, during your youth?

Do you snack in the afternoon because you are hungry or because it is learned behavior? This is a question much like the endless pondering of the chicken or the egg.

Regardless of why you have the mid-afternoon munchies, there are strategies you can follow to beat the cravings monster and the ever-expanding waistline.

When you feel the attack of the Snack Monster, follow some of these suggestions to keep your cravings at bay:

1. Drink water. The human thirst mechanism, sometimes, disguises itself as hunger or a sugar craving. Stay well hydrated to prevent over-eating and sugar binging, which both will lead to the late afternoon crash.
2. Go for a walk. Many times, people will feel the urge to snack out of boredom. By changing your activity and catching fresh air, even for a few short minutes, you can stave off the urge to splurge at the vending machine.
3. Select a nutrient dense snack. If the above two strategies still leave your stomach twisting with hunger, choose a snack containing a good source of dietary fiber, protein, and/or monounsaturated fat, which will be more filling, leaving you satisfied faster and longer. For example, these snacks can be any one of the following:
   • up to 12 medium almonds
   • ½ medium avocado drizzled with honey (or sprinkled with sea salt, balsamic vinegar, and feta crumbles for a savory avocado salad snack)
   • apple slices or celery sticks with two level tablespoons of organic peanut or almond butter
   • small Greek yogurt with ¼ cup of granola
   • whole wheat or whole grain crackers with smear of soft cheese or one slice of hard cheese

Being healthy does not mean you have to suffer, blaming your parents for allowing your stop at the local 7-Eleven for Twinkies, and cursing the retired ice cream man, as you try to resist the evil Munchie Monster. You can outsmart the menace by taking any of the above approaches to staying lean and mean.

Photo credit: Google Images-www.funny-potato.com

The summer days are longer, children are getting ready to go back to school, and the weather is still fair. The summer season brings a lot of activity. Whether the increased activity involved greater physical training for local fun runs or sexier swimsuits, longer workdays with longer daylight hours, increased travel to various destinations, they are all stressors to the body. This continued burden leaves it, sometimes literally, aching for rest and recovery.

Any time a person undergoes physical, mental, or environmental change, the body reacts physiologically and emotionally. According to Dartmouth University’s learning center, some physiological responses include elevated heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, tightened muscles, dry mouth, and headaches. Emotional responses may include negative thoughts, restlessness, and inability to sleep.

Those reactions are similar to the human response to months to years of physical overtraining, as when athletes train at high intensities for long courses of time. Athletes’ training schedules consist of workout cycles of varying intensities, modes, and duration. Weeks of rest are strategically planned in order to keep the athletes performing optimally.

When a body is exposed to bouts of stress, it adapts and becomes stronger. However, when bodies are forced to perform under continued exposure to physical, mental, and environmental stressors, without time to rest and recover, this continued stress becomes strain and can result in orthopedic injury, weight gain, physical and mental fatigue, mental disengagement, and insomnia.

Unfortunate in our culture is the common perception that rest equates to laziness. Nevertheless, even computers need to reboot in order to function normally. Scheduling time to rest to “recharge the batteries” is permissible, especially when it yields results like “new and improved” energy for performance of our daily activities.

Outdoor exercise irritating your sinuses?

Swimsuit season is nearing. The anticipation of donning summertime bikinis incite feelings of anxiety and urgency in some people to make better use of their workout clothes. However, for many people this time coincides with allergy season.

Rather than dismiss physical activity through the months of Spring, make use of some other exercise options in order to attain the enviable summer season bod:

1. If you have a gym membership, use it.
2. Without a gym membership, you may still workout indoors by taking advantage of workout videos you find at the local library or finding neighborhood studios that allow you to take group classes for per session fees.
3. Still like exercising in the open air? Commit to early morning workouts, when the pollen count is low and other nasal irritants have not yet been stirred up.
4. Avoid outdoor workouts on windy days and the day after; refer to suggestions 1 and 2, above.

To prevent any more irritants from entering the body and causing annoying allergy symptoms after exercise, immediately wash the clothes that you had been wearing, wash your face, and shower. Saline washes for your eyes and nasal passages also help some allergy sufferers, as well.

During this time, it is wise to add more foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids to your diet, such as cold water fish (like salmon and halibut), flaxseed oil, and walnuts. Omega-3 fatty acids aid your body with suppressing inflammatory responses to allergens, which cause teary eyes and runny noses.

Some studies also suggest that foods high in anti-oxidants also aid in inhibiting inflammatory responses to airborne irritants. Anti-oxidant rich foods include an array of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables.

Allergy sufferers do not have to become victim to this season’s wind and pollen count while prepping for the warmer summer months. Make adjustments to your workout routine and be prepared to join the swimsuit clad population on the beach very soon.

I remember hearing statistics that more than 3/4 of the world’s most successful business people (top 10% of salary earners) workout before they start their workdays. This connection is not coincidence, although, there are varying reasons as to why. It could be that those people are creatures of habit and need to stick to routines that include exercise in the morning. Some might say that people who appear more physically fit have a discriminating advantage in climbing the corporate ladder. Some might also observe that those who are drawn to exercise in the morning are former athletes who are more competitive and are able to bring that to the playing field at work.

Whatever people may speculate, a common thread is that the majority of people “at the top” are exercising in the mornings.

Just yesterday, Hannah Siegel and David Wright of ABC News reported (see video above) Naperville Central High School, west of Chicago, IL, where the students who were not scoring well in their math and reading classes were assigned to physical education class in the first period of their day. Paul Zientarski, chairman of the Physical Education Department at Naperville, wanted to see if they could “jump start their brains.”

The result is staggering! Those students’ math scores are up 20%. They are also now reading at an accelerated 1.5 grades higher than their current grade-level. Students have also reported that they feel they are able to focus better.

Before the United States begins to cut PE programming to save money and push it into the classroom, they need to take a good look at what’s going on at Naperville Central High. Those of us in the fitness biz know; physical activity and the workplace/classroom need not be separate. As the test results have shown, in order to stay ahead of the curve, the two need to be joined.

In the study, “I-Min Lee, M.B.B.S., Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues examined weight changes associated with different physical activity levels in a study that included 34,079 healthy U.S. women who consumed a usual diet (average age, 54 years) from 1992-2007.” These women moderately exercised 7.5 hours or less per week.

In short, their findings were that only the women in the study who exercised approximately, 60 minutes per day were able to minimize creeping weight gain.

As we age, (both men and women) we generally have lesser basic caloric need. However, we do not eat less as time goes on. At one time, we may have thought we were consuming sufficient calories. As time has passed, we now may be overeating, as our caloric need has been lessening; thus, causing creeping weight gain, which is also known as creeping obesity.

It is possible to stave off the creeping weight gain. Besides the obvious, reducing your meal portion sizes, ensure that you are physically active. It is not secret that as we get older and more vibrant, we also become more busy, and 60 minutes per day seems very unrealistic. However, I have a few simple suggestions that can help you sneak in those 60. After all, those 60 minutes do not have to be sweated out in one continuous bout.

1. Park your car 5 blocks away from your building. The brisk 10 minute walk to and from your car will easily knock out 20 minutes from your 60 minute requirement.
2. If you work in a multi-level building, take the stairs to use the restroom  2 floors from your own. This extra activity will sneak in another 5-15 minutes, depending on how frequently you go.
3. Take brisk walking breaks mid-day and to and from lunch. This too will subtract 10-20 minutes from your daily recommendation. (Are you counting, if you are doing all of the above, you have completed 35-55 minutes of moderate physical activity.)
4. Put iPod speakers in your kitchen. Set it up, while you prepare your dinner, and dance dance dance! in the privacy of your own kitchen. There! Another 5-30 minutes.

Feel free to comment with any other suggestions!

Tell your kids to put on their thinking caps and get creative. The USDA and the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative have partnered in promoting an Apps for Healthy Kids contest.  Straight from the Let’s Move blog:

“We are calling on you, America’s creative genius, to develop innovative, fun, and engaging tools and games that encourage children, especially “tweens” (ages 9-12) – directly or through their parents – to make more nutritious food choices and be more physically active.

A total of $40,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to top submissions in two categories:  tools and games.  In addition, a Popular Choice Award will be determined by public voting.  We’ve got a stellar panel of expert judges, who will review the projects. Following the announcement of the awards, winners will be honored at a White House event in Washington, DC. Judges, members of the White House and USDA staffs, media representatives, and other guests will be invited to attend as well.”

Go to www.appsforhealthykids.com for more details and to enter!

On the Let’s Move website, Mrs. Obama tells her story that as a mother in a working family, prior to their residence in the White House, she struggled to feed her children healthy food. She fell victim to the ease and convenience of fast food and delivery pizza. She saw the result in her children.

Childhood obesity is not a condition that afflicts the underprivileged. Highly caloric, yet nutrient poor foods are all too convenient and inexpensive options in all neighborhoods.

The following are a few suggestions for making healthier options more accessible to ourselves and our loved ones at home.

• On Sunday or grocery day, wash and cut all vegetables, so prep time is cut down during the week.
• During the weekend make stews and soups that can be refrigerated and/or frozen to be heated up throughout the week for lunch, dinner, or snacks.
• Buy non-fat granola, dried fruit, and chopped nuts in bulk. Pre-package them into small snack bags (that can be re-used to be conscientious of our environment), so that they are in convenient single size portions. You can top yogurt with them for parfaits.
• Put small, balanced meals/snacks into containers in the refrigerator to avoid the “there’s nothing in the fridge” feeling. For example, put some grapes, cheese, and crackers into a container with compartments; sandwiches cut into quarters; vegetable sticks with dip.

If you have any other suggestions, please add your comments.

Our first lady has been striking harmonious tunes in my choir!

First, she announced that she was turning the White House garden into an organic vegetable garden and sent the message to Americans to eat locally and organically grown fruits and vegetables. Besides Sesame Street appearances, she challenged her executive chef, Cristeta Comerford (who, teamed up with Bobby Flay, won the challenge, by the way), and Food Network Iron Chefs to create delicious and creative dishes from the produce that was grown in their garden.

Now, she is empowering families to take on childhood obesity. I have said many times before, on and off  my soapbox, being healthy can be easy:

• Take the more physically active option throughout the day–walking to work, taking the stairs, standing while talking on the phone, go to the park with the family instead of watching television.
• Eat your fruits, instead of drinking them.
• Drink more water.
• And very simply put, move more.

In Mrs. Obama’s words, when speaking at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, she wants “to put in place common-sense initiatives and solutions that empower families and communities to make healthy decisions for their kids.”

It’s not news that daily cardiovascular exercise is good for our health. Those of you who get in, at the minimum, 30 minutes per day/5 times per week, are on track to living a long and healthy existence.

However, some morbid news came from Australian researchers after following 8,800 individuals’ lifestyle habits. When comparing people who watch two hours or less television, daily, and those who watch more, “those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 percent increased risk for CVD-related death. This association held regardless of other independent and common cardiovascular disease risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, unhealthy diet, excessive waist circumference, and leisure-time exercises.” In fact, these results apply not only to couch potatoes but translate to people who spend their days mostly sedentary–sitting without moving for hours at a time. What’s a busy, bread-winning, adult to do?

I have four letters for you: M, O, V,  E. Four tips for incorporating more movement into your busy, yet physically stagnant work day and TV watching marathon:

1. Fidget! As long as it isn’t noisy fidgeting, you are moving without disrupting work. By staying constantly moving, not only will you be extending your life, according to Australian researchers, but you will prevent some chronic pains.
2. Drink lots of water, so you will make more bathroom runs. While you are getting up to use the restroom, you may as well use the one on a different floor or across the building to get in a little extra exercise.
3. Change positions at least every 30 minutes. For example, stand for a minute or two, stretch, or pace.
4. Sit on a stability ball instead of a chair, or put a balance cushion on your seat pan, so that you are forced to move and change positions throughout your day.

Freebie: 5. Join V4Fitness.com, a site presented by yours truly, Balanced Strength Inc., where we help you create long-lasting healthy living habits, and the exercise of the day is something you can do from where you are sitting!

See what I had to say about starting a successful journey to optimal health & fitness. You can also see other featured fitness professionals had to say, as well!

http://thecravecompany.com/la/2010/01/13/best-of-fitness-tips-for-the-new-year/