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I usually try to work out at least once over the weekend. Rather than hitting the gym, I try to do something active like hiking or biking. This weekend however, I found myself without a lot of spare time. Not only was it a school weekend, but my wife and I were in the middle of a move.  Here’s a funny thing though, with a little change here and there, I changed a weekend that was going to be bad into one that was fun, productive and physically active.

Stairway To Fitness

The biggest change I made was during the move.  Our old house was one the fourth floor of an apartment building.  So rather than make each trip up and down using the elevator, I did it using the stairs.  Total time was about the same but I was burning a ton of calories just moving.

Ten trips means 40 stories up.  It also means 40 stories down while carrying boxes, plants and bags.  This is about as good as an hour of cardio on the treadmill, except I also moved all my stuff.

Biking Trip

I also needed to go to the store to pick up a few things for the new house.  Rather than take the car, I took the bike.  The store is pretty close so the time spent is about the same, but I ended up with more physical activity and I actually saved money.

Gardening

We have a backyard at the new place which needs a bit of work.  Rather than put this off to a later day, I decided to do this yesterday.  About an hour of digging around in the yard, trimming branches and planting ground cover was another shot of good physical activity.  I needed to do this anyway this week so why not do it on a day when I need a workout?

What Can You Do?

• Going somewhere?  How about walking or biking instead of driving?  How about taking the stairs instead of the elevator?
• Got a yard?  Why not do the gardening yourself instead of hiring someone?
• Got friends who needs help moving?  Tell them you’re in and then revel in the fact that someone is going to feed you and thank you for working out.
• Shopping for a small amount of things at the supermarket?  How about using a basket instead of a cart?

It’s the little things that matter folks.  All these little things combined will turn your life from sedentary to active and isn’t that what you’re looking for?

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While the gardening helped, the most important changes were the stairs while moving and the bike to the store.  These are things most people choose not to do.  In our day to day lives, we usually choose the easy path.  The easy path is more comfortable and it requires less effort, but it’s also less beneficial.

I chose the less than easy path and it paid off.  I got a good workout while also being very productive.  What about you?  Is there something in your life that you could make a bit more physically active?  I realize it sounds counter intuitive, almost like asking you to do something the hard way on purpose.  However, when you think about it, aren’t you here and reading this because you want to get in shape?  If that’s the case, then the “hard” way might actually be the right way for you.

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I made it home late last night.  My back is feeling better but it’s still a bit painful.  So I spent the day resting and doing very light work.  One high light of my day is the fig tree in our backyard.  When we moved in it was looking a bit rundown but a little water later and it’s doing great.  I had a few figs with my lunch and they were incredibly tasty.  If you have the time and the resources, you may want to try growing some of your own food.  It’s a good way to get some physical activity while also letting you save on food costs and obtain some great tasting food.

And with that, here are some articles I thought you might find useful:

This article isn’t exactly fitness related but I found it interesting for a few reasons.  It’s about a visit by an American body builder to an Israeli research institute.  First, take a look at the man’s picture.  That’s about as toned as you can get without drugs.  Second, I loved his comment that we are all body builders, some of us just spend more time on it.  Finally, read how much time he devotes to this.  For all of you, and especially some of the women out there, who are afraid that a few hours at the gym will turn you into a body builder, it takes a lot more effort, time and dedication to get to where this man is.  So stop worrying about too much bulk and hit the gym.
@The Jerusalem Post

And while we’re talking about the gym, how about building one at home?  A friend of mine sent me a link to the following site.  It’s all about constructing workout equipment at home using pretty common materials.  If you’re good with tools and looking to work out at home, a bit of PVC piping and some rope might be a better investment than that $600 bowflex machine that will end up collecting dust in your garage.
@No clue what the site name is but it’s cool!

Changing the subject over to nutrition, here’s an article from Nutrition Action that talks about the 10 best and worst foods.  Take a look at that “worst” list.  Some of these sound healthy but aren’t!  A burrito with 1200 calories.  YIKES!
@Nutrition Action

US News and World Report isn’t exactly a hotspot of fitness articles, but this one was really impressive.  It’s all about ways to increase the efficiency of your workout.  Some of the tips have already been reviewed here on 60 in 3 in previous articles, but it’s still good to see them all in one place like this.  I highly recommend reading this article and then incorporating some of the tips into your regular gym routine.
@US News and World Report

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Yes, even a healthy life, a good weight and high level of fitness do not make someone injury proof.  Take me as an example, I have no idea what I did, but my back is in horrible pain this morning.  I think I pulled a muscle somewhere in my mid back.  Whatever it is, I had the most miserable night last night with very little sleep and plenty of pain.  At about 2:30am, I stumbled to the nearest gas station in order to pick up a bottle of Advil.  It helped, a little, but I’m back at grad school this morning and not feeling so well.  So rather than talk about fitness today, I’d like to talk about injuries, how to avoid them and what to do if you get them.

How To Avoid Injuries

• Don’t be stupid! - Yes, it sounds obvious but most injuries are actually easily preventable by not being stupid.  Don’t ride your bike without a helmet, don’t use broken equipment, don’t lift more than you should and so on.  Really, stupidity and carelessness are the number 1 cause of injuries.
• Use good form - Good form isn’t just for good fitness, it’s also for preventing injuries.  If your body is flailing around each time you lift a weight, you’re going to injure yourself eventually.  You’re trying to lift too much and you’re not doing it in a controlled manner.  That’s just begging for an injury.
• Don’t overdo it - Overtraining is dangerous.  Overdo the cardio and you’ll get a stress fracture like I did.  Overdo the weights and you’ll strain a muscle, like I did.

Those three items right there are enough to prevent the overwhelming majority of injuries.  Sometimes though, even with proper care, you still hurt yourself.  Which brings me to my next topic.

What To Do When You’re Injured

• Nothing - No, that doesn’t mean ignoring the injury.  It means rest, as in not doing anything strenuous.  If you’re injured, you need to rest.  Your body can heal most injuries but it needs you to not add more strain on top of the injury.  It doesn’t make you tough to keep training through an injury, it just makes you stupid.
• Take a pain killer or anti inflammatory - For some injuries, you may need a pain killer like an advil.  Yes, I hate medication as much as the next guy, but my body needs rest and if I’m in too much pain to sleep then I’m not getting that rest.  A tylenol won’t make you a drug addict.
• See the doctor - If it’s a serious injury, see a doctor.  If you’re not sure if it’s a serious injury, see a doctor.  If it doesn’t seem to be getting better, see a doctor.  Again, I’m not a fan of going to the doctor for every minor scratch or cold but I’m also not stupid.  I know my body and if it’s serious, I have no problem with going to see my physician.

Fitness Does Not Equal Injury Proof

In fact, being fit might lead to more injuries.  You’re doing more, you’re more active.  For example, I go hiking, I work out, I bike.  All of these things have a higher injury rate than my former lifestyle of sitting in front of the computer eating microwaved pizza pockets.  So what?  Injuries are a part of life.  Don’t be afraid of them, just try to prevent them where possible and deal with them when you have to.

###

I had a blast during my class field day yesterday.  Yes, I had a miserable night but I don’t regret running around yesterday.  I’m going to rest today and tomorrow and hopefully be back to normal on Sunday.  If I’m still feeling bad on Monday, I’ll go see a doctor.  Now I just need to get through this statistics session!

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Every once in a while, I like to share a healthy meal idea with you.  Today, it’s breakfast time.

What You Need

• One small cucumber
• Some Cheese.  Any kind will work.  I’m partial to pepper jack.
• A handful of blueberries

Preparations

This is an ultra simple breakfast.  Just slice up the cucumbers and the cheese.  Stick one on top of the other and you’re done.  The blueberries are great either between bites of cucumber and cheese or afterwards.

Calories

What calories?  Well ok, that’s not quite true.  Depending on the amount of cheese you use, this meal could have a few hundred calories in it.  So be careful not to overdo the cheese.  The cucumber has almost nothing.  Blueberries do have some calories in them but relatively few.  Using my portions, I get about 300 calories in a breakfast like this.

Nutrition

This is an amazing meal in terms of nutrient.  Zero emptry carbs, good amount of protein and fiber, plus the blueberries are a great source of antioxidants.  It’s hard to find a better way to start your day.

Cost

Most expansive part of this breakfast is usually the blueberries.  However, if you keep that part under control, you’ll probably spend around $3 each time you eat this meal.

Time

Preparation time is about 1 minute.

Small Editorial

When I told a friend about this, he said “wait, that’s not a breakfast, that’s an appetizer.”  Folks, there’s no rule that says what you can or cannot eat on a given part of the day.  There’s nothing that says you can’t have an egg for dinner and there’s nothing that says an appetizer can’t be breakfast.

###

What a great day to start the day.  I feel full, it tasted wonderful (those blueberries were amazing!) and I got a good start to a very nutritious day.  Now I’m going to go take a short walk to the post office.

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One of the articles I linked to in yesterday’s weekend roundup spoke about the importance of social networks when it came to health. A social network is your friends and family, the people who are close to you and provide you with support. A good social network reduces stress and gives you someone to rely on. They encourage, motivate and accept you. A bad social network stresses, discourages and demoralizes you.  Today, I’d like to focus on one particular part of your social network, your partner.

Of All The Wonderful Things My Wife Helps Me With, This I Appreciate The Most

My wife is an amazing person, something I don’t tell her enough .  She’s smart, creative, funny and beautiful.  She’s been an incredibly positive influence in my life.  For all the great things I could thank her for, it’s her support that I appreciate the most.

When I need help, she’s there.  If I need someone to talk to, she’s there.  If I have an idea and I need someone to talk about it with, she’s there.  We support each other through school, work, new puppies and moving houses.  This support has proven to be invaluable for me in so many areas, health being one of them.

How Does Support = Good Health?

My wife and I don’t workout together.  We’ve tried but it just didn’t work out.  We’re still planning to take a few classes together but for the most we work out separately.  Yet, her support is still there when I work out.

• She motivates me through some days when I’m not really thinking about working out.  I think of her and of the long and healthy life I wish to lead with her and I start exercising again.
• She helps me make good decisions.  For example, when I say “Let’s go to the buffet!” she points out that just the week before I said buffets were bad for me.
• She helps me when I’m stressed just by being there and giving me someone to talk to.

What To Do?

The first and most important item is communication.  If you want feedaback you need to provide information.  If you want support, you need to communicate.  That’s a lesson I’ve learned myself.  It’s a hard lesson to learn, especially for someone used to being independent and self sufficient, but there’s an amazing amount of return on this one.  Some examples:

• If you’re planning to make some effort to change your health, communicate about it with your partner.  Tell them why you’re doing it and what you’re planning to do.
• If you’re having a problem and trying to figure out a solution, communicate with your partner.  Tell them what the problem is and ask them for their opinion.  Even if you think you know more about fitness and health than your partner, they might have insight on you that you missed.  It’s amazing how the people close to us see our habits in ways we never imagined.
• If you need motivation, think about your partner.  It’s hard sometimes to visualize good health and remember why it’s so important.  It’s not that hard to visualize your loved ones and think about all the good years you hope to enjoy with them.

What If I’m Single?

Well, getting a partner just for better health is probably a bad idea.  Instead, why not find a friend who you’re close to and can serve in the same function?  How about a sibling or parent?  They’ve known you all your life and probably have a lot of useful insight into who you are.  Good friends are a great options since they’re supportive and spend a lot of time with you.  Remember, you’re not looking for a workout partner here, you’re looking for a communication partner.  You need someone you can talk to, not someone to jog with.  If you can also jog with them then that’s great, but it’s not the main goal.

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Find someone you care about and who cares about you and then communicate.  That’s it, it really is that simple.  The benefits, health and otherwise, are immense.

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My wife and I moved homes this weekend.  The new place is even closer to the downtown and the train station which means less car use.  It also has a yard where we can grow some vegetables.  Plus the move itself was a heck of a workout.  Forget the gym, just try moving an entire household in one weekend.  Every muscle in my body is sore and we’re not even close to 50% done.

And on that note, here are some articles I thought you might find useful.

From the UK’s Telegraph newspaper comes this article showing that women who eat a large breakfast tend to lose (and keep off) more weight.  That’s something I’ve been preaching for a while, but it’s nice to see some proof.  A good breakfast, along with a good night’s sleep and some light activity, is a vital part of starting your day right.
@The Telegraph

Another interesting study comes to us from PsychCentral.  This one discusses the benefit of a healthy social network for overall health.  This reminds us of two things.  First of all, stress is an important factor for poor health and second, your friends and family have a huge amount of influence on your life.  Make sure you have a strong social network of people who will support you.  The benefits are amazing.
@PsychCentral

One more from the Telegraph.  This one talks about a vegan diet and yoga being factors in reducing the risk of cancer.  Now I’m not advocating that everyone stop eating meat so maybe we can see this as just one more proof that a life filled with good eating and physical activity is a healthy one.  Remember, even little improvements matter.  So if you can’t go all vegan, perhaps you could just reduce the amount of unhealthy meat in your diet.
@The Telegraph

And let’s finish this up with an article form our friends at Mark’s Daily Apple.  This one talks about how NOT to save money.  It’s a pretty simple article but with an important message.  Sometimes, what you think of as smart finances, really isn’t.  It’s not smart to buy in bulk if you’re buying junk food.  Buy something healthier and buy less of it or find a nice cheap source of healthy food.  It’s not that hard to do, even in the middle of an urban area.
@Mark’s Daily Apple

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For some strange reason, people assume that vegetarian means eating a lot of salads.  It’s not true folks, there are plenty of good non meat dishes that don’t involve meat.  However, I’m quite often asked about salads as soon as I tell people that I don’t usually eat meat.  Well, ok, I give up!  Yes, I do occasionally eat salads, and when I do, I’m still pretty careful to make sure that they’re healthy.  So follow along for a quick five tips on what to do at the salad bar.

Salad = Vegetables

The first and most common sense tip is to focus on vegetables.  You wouldn’t think this would be a necessary tip until you see some of the salads people get.  Tuna salad which is mostly pasta and tune with maybe a cherry tomato.  Potato salad that’s mostly potatoes and mayo.  Chicken salad which is mostly chicken, lettuce and dressing.  Taco salad which is mostly chips, beans, salsa, sour cream and that ever present lettuce.  These things are not healthy folks, even if they do include the word salad in their name.

You want salad?  It better be 90% or more fresh vegetables!

Go For Color

An easy way to make sure you have a good load of nutrients is to pick vegetables with different colors.  Sounds silly but it works.  Go for plenty of green with things like spinach and broccoli.  Add some reds with tomatoes and peppers.  Now toss in the yellows with zucchinis or bell peppers, mix in some orange carrots and top it off with a bit of white, gray and brown mushrooms.

Easy On The Toppings

Grabbing a healthy salad and then adding half a chicken to it is not healthy.  Want to add some protein?  That’s great, but in moderation.  A little blue cheese, some hardboiled egg, maybe even a chicken strip or two.  Maybe try some kidney or garbanzo beans.

Ditch The Dressing

A good salad doesn’t need dressing.  It tastes fine just the way it is.

Fruits Are Not Vegetables

Yep, there’s no doubt that fruit are good for you.  However, they also contain many more calories than vegetables.  So feel free to munch on some apples, oranges and other fruit, but filling your whole bowl with them might be a mistake (unless of course you were about to fill your whole bowl with a Philly cheese steak, in which case fruit are definitely a healthier alternative.)

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Salad does not necessarily mean healthy.  Many fast food places will lure you in with salads that have more calories than your average big mac.

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