Staying Fit Through The Holiday Season
It’s that time again. Time to think about all the turkey, trimmings, pies, cookies and cocktail parties that start at Thanksgiving and run right through New Year’s. While this is supposed to be a season filled with joy and wonder, let’s not kid ourselves. It’s also a time filled with stress, as we figure out how to get all the shopping, decorating and other holiday prep done on top of work, taking care of the kids and our other daily obligations. But that doesn’t mean you should put the sneakers and workout wear away until 2012. In fact, the extra stress and calories thrown at us at this time of year should make finding time to exercise more important than ever. It could be just what your mind and body need to actually enjoy some holiday cheer!
It may feel like there are fewer hours in the day with everything that needs to get done. If you normally spend more than an hour at the gym or take 90-minute power walks with your friends in the neighborhood, chances are you’re going to need to spend some of those minutes elsewhere. So, here are some tips on how to fit fitness into your busy holiday schedule:
- Switch things up: Try working out in the morning. Trust me, I know this isn’t easy. I’m a post-work workout gal myself. However, at this time of year, if you can hit the gym, take a walk or pop in your Zumba DVD first thing in the morning, you’ll have gotten your exercise routine out of the way and you won’t feel so guilty about going to that holiday get together later that night.
- Try group exercise classes: Most classes run approximately 60 minutes and can take the guesswork out of planning your own routine. Give total body conditioning or strength training classes a shot as they get your heart rate up and hit all the major muscle groups in a 60-minute window. The group environment also gives you the opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone else who may have his or her own survival tips for the holiday season!
- Make shopping physical: If you drive to a mall, don’t look for the closest parking spot to the entrance. Also, be sure to change out of the heels or dress shoes into sneakers to help your body walk in good form while you’re rushing around.
- Arm yourself with healthy snacks: If you’re running from work to shop, chances are you’ll be hungry. So instead of letting the smell of cinnamon, chocolate or some other temptation get the best of you, have some almonds or a high-fiber snack bar in your bag.
- Don’t arrive hungry: Just like it’s a bad idea to go to happy hour on an empty stomach, don’t show up for Thanksgiving dinner or a holiday party feeling ravenous. If you’re eating late in the day, have portion-controlled healthy meals leading up to the “big” meal and a snack up to an hour before arriving at the feast. This will prevent you from grabbing the first high-calorie, high-fat item you see.
Be sure to check back on Wednesday when I’ll have some more eating tips to help you stay on track during this season so you can continue on your path to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
The Perfect Occasion to Celebrate You!
Happy Friday, everyone!
I’m especially looking forward to the weekend ahead as my fabulous friend, Ania, is coming to town to celebrate her birthday in New York City! Ania and I have known each other since the first day of first grade, so we’ve been fortunate to celebrate many birthdays and other fun life events together. Of course, we’ve helped each other through the not-so-great times, too, which is what being a friend is all about.
I figured this was the perfect time to write about how your birthday really is the one day on the calendar when you should celebrate you! It’s a time to think of all the things you’ve accomplished, while also setting goals for the year ahead. I can’t think of a better time to really assess your fitness goals and figure out what you want to do to feel better than you do today. Maybe this is the year you’ll take up one of your favorite “childhood” sports, like tennis. Maybe you’ve always wanted to train for a marathon or get a mountain bike for rides on the weekends. Perhaps it’s time to start having a healthier relationship with fruit, veggies and whole grains. Or maybe it’s just time to treat yourself to a good pair of sneakers and cute yoga pants for group exercise classes or walks around the neighborhood.
Of course, your birthday should be filled with more than just “serious” contemplation. It’s the perfect excuse to go out and have some fun! Party plans with Ania include tapas and sangria followed by dancing, which to me is one of the best ways to burn a few calories after some celebratory splurging! (Considering Ania and I have been known to dance nonstop for two or more hours at a time, we’ll be sure to burn off at least one glass of sangria!)
Whether you’re looking ahead to a new year or simply reveling in the celebratory moment, make your birthday your time to take control and decide what you want to do to have fun, feel fit and be fabulous!
Blame It on the Potato Skins
I had planned to come home after work and write another post about some sort of foam roller or core exercise, but the potato skins got in the way.
With Deanna Earlier This Year on the High Line
Work has been a bit overwhelming lately. Lots of deadlines, lots of demands. After a busy morning at the office, I was at a studio filming the December edition of “Health & Home Report.” When we wrapped filming the show, my boss let me shoot a couple of fitness-related videos for future shows. (Be on the lookout for those in early 2012!) Afterward, my makeup artist and dear friend, Deanna, decided to catch up over a glass of wine before heading home. That one glass turned into two and we both noticed they had loaded potato skins on the menu. Neither of us had indulged in either – a second glass or loaded skins – in quite awhile. Ultimately, Deanna and I decided both went extremely well with some quality conversation and laughter among friends.
So I find myself once again writing about familiar territory. You simply can’t plan everything all the time. You make a plan to go to the gym after work, but then you get a call from that friend you haven’t seen in months who is unexpectedly in town thanks to a business meeting. There’s no reason to feel “guilty” about blowing off your cardio kickbox class to get together with that friend.
For the same reason, I refuse to feel guilty about the loaded skins I shared with Deanna. I know tomorrow, I’ll “start over” with my healthy breakfast parfait featuring non-fat Greek yogurt, berries and “Newman’s Own Honey Flax flakes.” It will be a new day, filled with new opportunities to make health-conscious choices. To that end, I’ve already packed my sneakers and workout wear so I have no excuse for not attending the Zumba demo at the New York Sports Club two blocks from my office.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best laid plans can sometimes go awry, but not always for the wrong reasons. While an unexpected get together with family or friends may throw off your normal “routine,” it can open the door to laughter and good conversation. These are two crucial components in our everyday quest to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
The Little Things Mean A Lot
You’ve probably heard this a few times in your life: the little things mean a lot. The familiar expression can easily be applied to fitness. Whether it’s taking the stairs instead of an elevator or parking the car a bit farther away from the entrance to the grocery store, the little things can add up and have a great cumulative effect.
Photo by Leslie Hassler
There is one important aspect of training that can benefit from two small technical maneuvers. I’ve already written about the importance of core training, and can promise it’s a topic that deserves re-visiting many times in the future. The core is the center of gravity for the body and the origin of all movement. Comprised of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex and the thoracic and cervical spine, if the core is unstable or weak, the entire kinetic chain will be thrown off thanks to muscle imbalances. That’s when compensations occur and ultimately, you end up being a prime candidate for injury.
In order to train the core effectively, you want to first focus on the muscles needed for stabilization. (The six core muscles that fall into the stabilization category are: the Transversus Abdominus, Internal Oblique, Lumbar Multifidus, Pelvic Floor Muscles, Diaphragm and Transversospinalis.) There have been several studies indicating people who do not focus on stabilization of the core before working on strengthening the muscles in the core’s movement category (e.g. Rectus Abdominus, External Obliques, Erector Spinae) can suffer from lower back pain. The research shows this happens because of unwanted motion of the individual vertebrae.
The good news is there are two simple practices that can help you stabilize your pelvis properly before performing any core exercises:
- The “drawing-in maneuver:” Whether it’s a supine march, floor bridge, ball crunch or cable rotation, before you do anything, you want to pull your belly button in toward the spine. (Go ahead – give it a try right now!)
- Keep your neck in a neutral position: I usually tell people to try to imagine having an orange in between their head and neck so that you will look straight up at the ceiling when performing core exercises, like crunches. If you let your chin jut out, you can put extra stress on the cervical spine.
Don’t underestimate the impact a couple of simple steps can make on your core training. Like so many other parts of life, it’s the little things you do in your exercise routine that can help you have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Should I Exercise with a Hangover?
Happy Friday! For this lighthearted end to another work week, I thought I’d address a question I’ve been asked by a few people: is it okay to workout if you’re suffering from a hangover?
Physiology aside, on a personal note, I can tell you in my post-college and grad school life, I’ve probably tried to workout the day after not following my own “smart” happy-hour plan about a half-dozen times…and it never worked out well. I ended up feeling winded and/or dizzy after only 10 minutes on the elliptical, and strength training wasn’t even an option. Having a headache also made listening to my normally enjoyable tunes painful to my ears. These less-than-optimal workouts did nothing but make me feel weak and want to rush home, lie down and not move again for awhile. The most energy I could ever muster with a “light” hangover involved a walk around the neighborhood.
Think about it, if you’re dealing with a hangover, you’re most likely dehydrated, tired and a bit off-balance. None of these post-party effects mix well with a workout. It’s important to remember most exercise requires a decent amount of coordination to be performed effectively and above all, safely. I can’t even imagine trying to take a step aerobics class with an out-of-whack equilibrium. Cardio aside, there are a whole range of exercises from ball squats with a curl to press to crunches on a stability ball that could make you queasy just thinking about if you’re balance isn’t up to par. Also, your reaction time may be slower than usual, so if you plan to spar with a friend or even play a game of catch, you may end up with a boxing glove to the chin or a hard baseball to the face.
The bottom line is there’s nothing about working out that will make you get over a hangover any faster. What will help: getting some rest, drinking plenty of water and eating some nutritious food when your stomach allows. So if tonight’s your night to blow off some steam and get a little crazy, don’t beat yourself up tomorrow if you can’t jump out of bed and hit the gym or load the DVD player with your favorite Zumba workout. Rest up and know with a little time and a lot of fluids, your equilibrium will eventually steady itself so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
My Aching Calves – Part Two
So glad you came back for more information on how to stretch your way to relief of those tight, sore calf muscles!
I start by coming clean about what I call my “love-hate relationship” with the foam roller. My friend and former personal trainer, Rich, introduced me to the foam roller years ago, but I have to admit I stopped using it for quite some time. Now, I truly wish I stuck with it.
Just how does the foam roller fit in to flexibility training? It is an integral tool used in a stretching technique called self-myofascial release, often shortened to SMR. The idea is that by applying pressure to a muscle adhesion, commonly referred to as a “knot,” you initiate a process called autogenic inhibition. My NASM textbook defines autogenic inhibition as:”the process when neural impulses sensing tension are greater than the impulses causing muscle contraction. Stimulation of the Golgi tendon organ overrides the muscle spindle.” In simple terms, you use the foam roller to apply pressure to the most tender spot in your tight calf muscles and you will eventually feel the knot “release” itself.
Here’s how to effectively use the foam roller on the calves:
- Sit on the floor, and put the foam roller under the mid-calf of your right leg. You can cross your left leg over the right to increase the pressure. (This is optional)
- Roll back and forth ONLY until you find the most tender spot on the calf and then HOLD there for a minimum of 20-30 seconds. You need to hold on this spot to allow time for autogenic inhibition to kick in. Keep breathing in and out and before you know it, you will actually feel the muscle release. (This may take up to two minutes.)
- Repeat the same process for the left leg.
My Aching Calves – Part One
After a fun Friday night at Madison Square Garden where my dear friend Michele I did some serious shaking in our seats at the Pitbull / Enrique Iglesias “Euphoria” concert, I woke up with some strained vocal chords and some super sore calves. This made the decision on what to write my next blog about pretty simple. Regardless of whether or not you like to dance to Pitbull while wearing heels, overactive calf muscles present another common problem area for many people.
The calf muscles consist of the Gastrocnemius, the big muscle at the back of the lower leg; and the Soleus, the smaller muscle lower down in the leg and under the Gastrocnemius. Women aren’t the only ones who suffer from tight calves. Men who wear dress shoes for work everyday are also contending with some sort of heel in their footwear. Wearing heels puts your feet in a prolonged state of plantarflexion, which puts stress on the calves. When you add the heel factor to all the daily activities you use your calf muscles for, ranging from getting out of bed to getting up a flight of stairs, it’s no wonder they get tight.
Discomfort aside, there are more serious consequences to having tight calves. By having the Soleus and Gastrocnemius in a constant shortened state, they will demonstrate poor neuromuscular efficiency which can affect joint motion and alter movement patterns. Often, tight calves lead to tight hamstrings and tight hamstrings throw off the proper performance of everything from squats at the gym to walking in everyday life. This all puts incorrect loads on your knees and your back, and then your upper body function is thrown off, as well. Tight calves also put you at greater risk for ankle injuries and shin splints and even problems with your feet, including Plantar Fasciitis.
The good news is stretching your calf muscles isn’t difficult and not time consuming. Click here to be directed to a link featuring several effective stretches for your calves.
Another amazing tool that can help take the tension out of sore calf muscles is the foam roller, which activates a stretching technique called self-myofascial release. Be sure to check back in on Wednesday when I’ll post more about how using the foam roller helps me deal with my overactive calf muscles. Remember, I will never be able to adequately express the importance of flexibility training when it comes to staying on course along this lifelong journey to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
The NYC Marathon
I can’t think of a better way to end this work week than with a Friday shout-out to all those getting ready to participate in one of the most prestigious running events in the world: The ING New York City Marathon.
As a lifelong fitness enthusiast, I have to come clean and admit I’ve never been a runner. A major growth spurt over the course of a few short months back in elementary school led to knee problems, which caused me to shy away from running in my tween and teen years. (I’m pretty certain, however, improper conditioning during my varsity tennis years put definite stress on my knees which I’m still trying to correct today.) Through the years, I became a fan of swimming, cycling and today, the elliptical machine remains my cardio machine of choice at the gym. So I’ve always had great admiration for anyone who’s turned their love of the “runner’s high” into the pursuit of crossing the finish line in a marathon.
Of course, making it across that finish line involves months of preparation filled with discipline and dedication. As in years past, I know many people participating in this years’ marathon. They range in age from the mid-2os to the upper 40s…and beyond. I’ve listened in awe while they described increasing their running mileage week after week, and working toward one, long 18-20 mile run as the “grand finale” of practice. (After that, they “taper off” to three to six-mile runs to stay conditioned for the big day.) All their hard work is about to pay off, and I couldn’t be happier for them. So, to all those participating in Sunday’s marathon, I wish you good luck!
A few tidbits of information about the ING NYC Marathon:
- The first NYC Marathon took place in 1970. 127 runners paid a $1 entrance fee to participate and 55 of them crossed the finish line.
- Since 1970, 700,000 participants have crossed the finish line in Central Park.
- The course is 26.2-miles, taking runners on a five-borough journey around New York.
- In 2000, an official wheelchair division was added to the marathon.
- In 2010, 45,103 runners crossed the finish line.
Cold Weather Workouts
The pre-Halloween snow storm was an unexpected and not-so-pleasant surprise for most of here in the Northeast. Luckily, I dug out the gloves and ear warmers in time for Old Man Winter’s early visit. Now that these warm, woolly items are sitting in an easy-to-reach spot in my closet, I thought it was the perfect time for some important reminders on how to safely stick with your outdoor exercise routine as we head into a cold finish for 2011:
- Dress In Layers: Start with a thin layer of synthetic material (e.g. Under Armour or Nike DriFIT clothing) closest to the skin. Avoid wearing cotton as it takes longer to dry and the wet feel can give you a chill. Add a layer of fleece or wool and last but not least, finish off your outfit with a waterproof outer-layer.
- Protect Your Hands, Feet & Ears: My hands and feet are cold even on the hottest days of the year, so they’re especially vulnerable to wind chills and icy temperatures. So, in colder weather, I’ll often wear a thin pair of gloves under a pair of heavier ones, or even a pair of mittens. I know some people who have a “winter” pair of running or walking shoes that are up to one size bigger so they can wear thicker thermal socks or two pairs of regular ones. Finally, I’m a big fan of the wrap-around ear warmers or fleece headbands to keep the biting wind from wreaking havoc on my ears.
- Don’t Forget the Sunscreen: If you’ve ever gotten a nasty sunburn from skiing, you know the sun is just as strong in the cold-weather months as it is in the summertime. Remember to put on the SPF 30 before heading outdoors and don’t forget the the SPF-infused lip balm, too.
- Stay Hydrated: We hear lots of warnings about becoming dehydrated in the heat, but you can become dehydrated just as easily in the cold. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during and after your workout. (Here’s a refresher on why water is so important.)
- Special Populations: While most people can exercise safely in the cold weather, if you have a heart condition or suffer from asthma, be sure to check with your physician before starting a cold-weather exercise routine.
The good news is you don’t have to pack away your motivation to exercise with the bathing suit and beach towels. Using a little common sense and having the right gear will allow you to continue your love affair with the great outdoors through November and beyond so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Forget the ghosts and goblins. You know what’s really spooky about Halloween? The amount of calories, fat and sugar in one grab bag of treats!
This is a tough holiday for me, because along with my red wine, I really do love chocolate. Luckily, there are some treats that aren’t quite as scary as others when it comes to the calorie content. If you still need to stock up on some last-minute treats, here are some options that can help you feel a little better if your hand finds its way into that plastic pumpkin basket to grab a treat of your own:
- York Peppermint Patties: who says you can’t enjoy a full-size candy bar without a side order of guilt? This cool treat drenched in dark chocolate is 140 calories with 2.5 grams of fat. (Compare that to a full-size Snickers bar that has 280 calories and 14 grams of fat, and you’ve got a good reason to be satisfied by all that minty goodness!)
- Mini Three Musketeer Bars: You can enjoy three minis for 24 calories and less than one gram of fat.
- Hershey Kisses: Three smooches come in at 67 calories and 4 grams of fat.
- Tootsie Roll: One piece has 26 calories and five grams of fat.
- Candy Corn: You can have a whole handful of 10 pieces for only 64 calories and 0 grams of fat.
- 100 Calorie Packs: A good alternative to candy bars, these individual packs can satisfy your sweet tooth and take the guess-work out of portion control.
One final tip: if you’re taking the kids out trick-or-treating, chew on a stick of sugar-free gum while you make the rounds. Each stick usually only packs about five calories and with the sweet fixation already in your mouth, you may not be as tempted to sneak into the kids’ goodie bags for something else.I wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween! Remember, even this sweet holiday doesn’t have to ruin your quest to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
lauralovesfitness 