A Prescription for Fresh Air and Exercise

Because it’s such a beautiful day outside (and I’m stuck inside), I thought I would write a little bit about getting some exercise and fresh air, simultaneously, of course. On days like today, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to be indoors unless they have to be. Sadly, many of us have jobs and must be tied to a computer (almost literally). Or, maybe you attend classes at a local college and you’re stuck in a stuffy classroom right now. Someone’s got to do it, right? We can’t all go to Kaplan University. Or, can we? I don’t know. I just know I’m going stir crazy right now.

I actually shouldn’t complain too much because I take my laptop outside and work all the time. I’m pretty lucky in that way. I just setup a table outside and get to work. Except when I have to charge my battery (like now). It can be a little hard to see the screen when I sit in the sun, but that’s a small price to pay.

Anyway, I’ve been kind of shrugging off exercise lately, which I know is really terrible. I just haven’t been in the mood, I guess. Fortunately, I’m getting back into the swing of things. Yesterday, I actually wanted to go to the gym for the first time in ages.

But, the gym isn’t my first choice for exercise spots. I’ve got a really cool mountain nearby that I love to hike up on days like today. Believe me, it’s a steep hike, but the payoff is worthwhile: The view is nothing short of amazing (see above pic). Plus, it’s so peaceful up there.

But, you don’t need an awesome mountain with a hiking trail to get exercise outside. You can go for a walk, jog, run or bike ride. Oh, and that reminds me: there’s also a walking/biking trail around here that is top-notch. Can you tell I’m longing to go outside and get some exercise? It’s okay; my day will come very soon.

In the meantime, would you do me a favor and get out there and get some exercise for me? It’ll make me feel a little better, and I know it’ll make you feel a lot better. The fresh air will do you good.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Last week, I talked about how stress impacts our health. This week, I wanted to elaborate on that topic a little and talk more about the power of positivity. In my post, I mentioned that we’re in control of our own thoughts – which we can use to help reduce stress. After all, our bodies won’t know something is stressful unless we tell them. Let’s just learn how to stop doing that, shall we?

Here are a few things that bring us down along with suggestions on how to handle them with positivity:

1. Situations out of our control – Remember when you got stuck in that traffic jam on your way to that big meeting? And you got so angry that you cut off a police officer in an effort to try to get ahead of everyone? This situation is out of your control, so there is no need to worry. Make a phone call to tell your boss that you’re stuck, and sit back and relax. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your fault (because you were running late to begin with or took the wrong route) or if your boss is going to be fuming. That’s her problem right now. Worrying isn’t going to make anything better.

2. Other people’s thoughts – As a species, we’re kind of weird. I doubt wolves run around worrying what other wolves are thinking about them. But, we do it all the time. We worry that we’ve offended someone or that a new coworker doesn’t like us. What’s the sense? This is actually another situation that is out of our control. And, what’s more, it doesn’t matter what the other person thinks. Your life is still going to be your life.

3. Wanting to be angry at someone – I’m guilty of this one more often than I’d like to admit. There are times when things go wrong and I want so badly to be mad at someone, so I find someone to blame. The problem here is that you’re taking control away from yourself and giving it to that person. After you do that, it’s in their hands. You can’t make the situation better because you’ve given up control. So, you just sit there being angry. It’s always better to take responsibility (although it may sometimes be difficult) so you can handle the situation in a more positive manner.

Take a Breather from Stress

Stress wreaks havoc on the body. This is no secret. It’s also no secret that chronic stress is a major problem in our society today. We place too much importance on things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, and then when something goes wrong, we freak out. When we freak out, our bodies interpret that as physical danger, and we start the “fight or flight” response.

As part of this response, our senses get heightened. You can see better, hear better, and you’re ready to jump into motion at any second. You’re kind of left with a similar feeling as when you’ve had way too much coffee. Sadly, many of us have way too much coffee and then freak out over something that really doesn’t matter, making everything that much worse. But that’s another story.

It may seem like this all is great. Who wouldn’t want their senses heightened, right? Well, there are some problems that come along with this response. You see, the body only has so much energy to spend. So, when you go into fight or flight mode, your body isn’t really creating new energy; it’s stealing it from other processes that aren’t necessary to help you flee from danger. One such process is digestion, but there are many more.

If this stress reaction only lasted a moment, this wouldn’t be a major issue, but many of us deal with chronic stress, which means that it doesn’t really go away. And that’s pretty much how stress impacts your health. So, what can you do about it? Think positive!

In many cases, it’s your thought process that gets this stress reaction going. If you think something is a disaster, it will be. Your body takes its cues from your mind; there’s no independent thinking going on there, so if you want to relax, you have to start putting things into perspective. Ask yourself if the situation will matter in five years from now, or if it will affect the truly important things in your life. Can you learn to live with your daughter’s new tattoo? Will you still have your family and friends once this storm has passed? Usually, the answer to that question is yes, so calm down and deal with things as they come.

Has Your Food Become Less Nutritious?

A new study that has been published by Duke University indicates that the quality of our food is declining. The study evaluated packaged foods from various brands and found that since the nutritional labeling law went into effect, the nutritional value of food in general is diminishing.

That sounded very surprising to me because I expected the opposite to be true; however, if you think about it, there’s two ways this could have gone. When manufacturers were required to label the nutritional content, they had a choice: Compete on nutritional value or compete on taste. Most of them chose taste. This means that we can see things like fats and sodium increase while vitamins and minerals decrease.

As consumers, we seem to think that we’re protected somehow by this labeling system; so, we’ve become complacent. The truth is that we’re not really protected by it; it’s simply a form of transparency. If manufacturers were allowed to feed us rat poison, you’d find rat poison listed in the ingredients of some foods. The included rat poison would take the place of an actual food with nutritional value, so the overall nutritional value would be less. Just because the manufacturer has to disclose information doesn’t mean that said info is good for us.

Here are a few helpful tips for reading nutritional labels at the grocery store.

1. Always check the serving size. Is it what you intend to eat? Is it the same as the other brand you’re comparing labels with?

2. According to the American Heart Association, anything over 20 percent of your daily value is considered high. If you’re looking at vitamin C, high is good; if you’re looking at sodium or fat, high is bad.

3. Daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. If you eat more or less, your values should be adjusted. Just use the number as a guideline.