Prevent a stroke with 4 simple tips new york city certified dietitian

Prevent A Stroke Today With These 4 Simple Lifestyle Changes: New York City Certified Dietitian Teaches Clients to Take Control of Their Health

Contemplating the possibility of a stroke is terrifying. 

According to the American Stroke Association, every 40 seconds someone suffers a stroke. In the time it will take you to read this blog, approximately three or four people will have experienced a stroke. (More alarming is that every 4 minutes, someone dies from a stroke, making it the 5^th leading cause of death in the United States.)

Almost all of us know someone who has had a stroke. Considering that 800,000 people in the US alone suffer from a stroke (www.cdd.gov/stroke) , annually, it’s not surprising. Just seconds of a stroke can change our lives and the lives of the ones we love dramatically …  forever.

But when we replace terror with education and take control of our health, we can prevent, treat, and beat a stroke www.strokeassociation.org .

May is stroke awareness month, and knowing how to prevent strokes (as 80% are preventable) and recognizing when someone is having a stroke are two ways I want to help educate and, hopefully, prevent you or someone you love from experiencing a stroke. Moreover, just by sharing the warning signs http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/WarningSigns/Stroke-Warning-Signs-and-Symptoms_UCM_308528_SubHomePage.jsp , and thinking  F.A.S.T. (F.A.S.T.: Face drooping. Arm weakness. Speech difficulty. Time to call 9-1-1.)   you can act quicker, getting yourself or someone you know or love the treatment she needs as soon as possible. Time is everything when someone suffers a stroke.

As a certified dietitian in New York City, many of my clients come to me because they want to take control of their lives again. And they can. You can! There are things you can do, changes you can make in your diet and lifestyle, to prevent a stroke (regardless of family history!).

1.       Lower Hypertension in as Little as Two weeks: Get heart healthy. http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/best-nutritionist-personal-trainer-advice-healthy-heart/ : High blood pressure is the open door to stroke (doubling or quadrupling your chances http://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/8-things-you-can-do-to-prevent-a-stroke).  Change your diet to the DASH http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/high-blood-pressure/ diet, filled with vegetables, fruits, and other tasty options, which has been proven to lower blood pressure significantly in as little as two weeks.  Learning to control hypertension through dietary changes can lower your risk by half!

2.       Cut Your Chances of Having a Stroke in Half: Quit Smoking and Drink in Moderation.  It’s never too late, as the body’s ability to mend and heal is phenomenal. Cigarettes thicken your blood and increase plaque buildup in your arteries, accelerating clot formation. Within a year, the excess risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease will plummet to less than half of a non-smoker.  As for alcohol, studies have shown that one drink per day can actually help with hypertension (think of those lovely French dinners with red wine.) But after one drink, your risks skyrocket. So put away the cigarettes and keep drinking to a minimum.

3.       Shave off Ten Pounds And Walk Your Way to Health: Stay fit. Exercise and keep your weight down. Right now, the United States is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. By just losing ten pounds, you can significantly lower your chance of stroke. (http://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/8-things-you-can-do-to-prevent-a-stroke . Make small goals to get healthy. 

Don’t focus on the scale or the numbers http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/registered-nutritionist-certified-personal-trainer-bmi/ ,instead focus on your health. Make movement a mindset http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/12-nyc-personal-trainer-tips-to-stay-active-in-winter/.  Independent of helping you maintain a healthy weight, exercise can lower blood pressure, increase the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and improve the overall health of blood vessels and heart. Work your way up to exercising five days/week, thirty-forty minutes each time. 

4.       Reduce Your Risks Through Education and Screenings: Make sure you are checked for diabetes, heart irregularities. Get your blood pressure checked. There are some things we can’t control: race, age, gender, family history. But by being aware of having higher risks, we can make sure we take extra care to make healthier choices and ask for stroke screenings when we have a checkup.

Education is the first step toward prevention.  You can take control of your life and reduce your chances of stroke in half by making some simple dietary and exercise changes. 

By making some changes in our lifestyle, whether it be walking to the grocery store every day instead of driving, or reducing our salt intake, we’re on the right path toward a healthier heart.  Today is a great day to take control of your health and reduce your risk of suffering a stroke.

Websites for more information about prevention and treatment:

Stroke.org http://www.stroke.org/stroke-resources/raise-awareness-stroke/national-stroke-awareness-month/resources#images

American Stroke Association 

http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/AmericanStrokeMonth/American-Stroke-Month_UCM_459942_SubHomePage.jsp

National Stroke Association
http://www.stroke.org/about-us

CDC http://www.cdc.gov/stroke/

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7 exercise tips for expecting parents certified personal trainer new york city

7 Exercise Tips for Expecting Moms (and Dads) from Certified Personal Trainer in New York City: Keep Fit and Healthy

Last week I discussed how to satisfy those pregnancy cravings with healthy options to incorporate must-have nutrients in your diet while expecting. This week, let’s talk exercise.

As you know, pregnancy is divided into three periods – approximately 13 weeks each. The periods mark specific development times in your baby and physical changes in the mom.  During the first 13 weeks, a baby’s body and organ systems start developing. Though not much weight is gained during the first trimester, many moms feel pretty rotten – exhausted and nauseous.  During the second 13 weeks, babies start to grow skin and hair. A heartbeat can be heard. And Mom’s start to feel the strain of carrying a baby on their lower backs and legs. Leg cramps are common in pregnant women. In the third trimester the baby’s growth is lightning-speed.  Moms are feeling the pressure of the baby on their bladders, have trouble sleeping, may start to swell in their extremities, and experience shortness of breath and hemorrhoids. Those are just the physical aspects of pregnancy, not to mention the excitement, stress, and feelings of being completely overwhelmed combined with overjoyed.

I know. You’re so swollen, you feel like you’re sloshing. You might be tired, have back pain, and feel more penguin than panther. Some women, though, hit a second-term high and feel invincible with energy through the roof. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, finding time to fit exercise into your pregnancy world is healthier for you (both physically and emotionally) and that beautiful baby you’re carrying. (Always, always check with your health care provider before beginning any new exercise regime or program while pregnant.)

The benefits of exercising while pregnant include: helping maintain your muscle tone and strength (as muscle tone can be lost during pregnancy), increased energy and immunity, preparing your body for labor, keeping stress levels down (exercise boosts levels of endorphins and serotonin), and helping you sleep better. There is research to support that babies born to mothers who exercise throughout pregnancy tolerate the stress of contractions better and have less complications during later labor and delivery.

I work with many pre-natal women in my New York City practice, and here are 6 exercise tips I’ve found to be successful for expecting parents:

1.       Make it a Family Affair: Exercise with your partner and kids (if you have older kids). Having to be accountable to one another will help motivate and keep each other on track!

2.       Listen to your body: If you’re hurting, stop. Don’t exhaust yourself. Keep in mind, you’re building another human being. That’s a lot of work. So, make sure you listen to your body before starting any exercise.

3.       Keep fluid intake up: During pregnancy, you need to boost your water intake to 12 – 13 glasses a day. This will help prevent hemorrhoids, constipation, cramps, and keep urinary tract infections at bay. If exercising, you’ll need to drink even more to reduce core temperature during exercise and to replace fluid lost during exercise.

4.       Low-impact exercises: Swimming, walking, yoga … all of these are low-impact exercises that keep you fit without straining joints. Avid runners can continue to run during pregnancy, but if you’re not a runner, now’s not a time to start. Swimming is particularly fantastic because, later in the pregnancy with more weight gain, it’s a relief to be weightless in the water.

5.       Pelvic floor exercises: Pelvic floor muscles run from your pubic bone, at the front, to the base of your spine. They support the bladder and sphincter (www.nhs.uk).  During and after pregnancy your pelvic region takes a blow. In turn, you might experience mild stress incontinence, discomfort, and feel … loose.  Kegel exercises are the best way to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.

a.       Find the right muscles: When you’re doing Kegels, you shouldn’t tighten your buttocks or thighs. Pelvic floor muscles are the muscles that stop urine when you’re going to the bathroom.  (Though don’t do Kegels while urinating, as this could increase your risk of a UTI because you might not empty your bladder completely) (www.mayoclinic.org).

b.      Practice: Initially begin contracting your muscles for short periods of time. Build up and try to tighten for five or ten seconds.

c.       Repeat: Try to do this three times/day. At least ten repetitions. Build up to more. (Do them while watching TV!)

6.       Dance and Aerobics: It’s perfectly okay to get your heartbeat up. If you go to dance or aerobic classes, make sure your instructor knows you’re pregnant, and keep exercises low-impact.  When in doubt, sign up for classes that are designed for pregnant women, specifically. This is a great way to meet expecting Moms as well.

7.       Weight Training: Many pregnant women are surprised when I recommend a solid weight-training routine. Weight training is a great way to hold on to muscle during pregnancy. It can keep the core, back and abdominal, muscles strong to support the growing fetus. It also can prepare a strong upper back and legs for the mom for lifting and nursing after delivery.

Finding time and energy to exercise while pregnant can be a challenge.  The benefits of exercising and keeping a healthy exercise habit while pregnant are beneficial to both you and your baby. Again, we’re not running marathons here. Here are some book recommendations with practical examples, photos,  and solid explanations for the positive changes you’ll experience as an expecting mom with exercise.

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Certified dietitian Nyc five nutritious pregnancy foods and tips

Certified Dietitian NYC Pre-natal Nutrition Advice: Healthy, Nutritional, Vitamin-Packed Snacks for All Pregnancy Cravings

Pregnancy is strange.

Certainly it’s miraculous. But ask any woman, and she’ll probably tell you it’s uncomfortable, exciting, daunting, terrifying, painful, overwhelming, nauseating, exhilarating. And, most definitely,  it’s … strange. First a woman grows an organ – the placenta . Then she grows another human being.  It’s the ultimate in awesome biology and chemistry and whoa!

Add the “opinionmeter”, that doesn’t have an off switch, in which anybody who sees a woman with a baby belly is an expert on what she should eat, how much weight she should gain, what vitamins she needs, the baby needs … and pregnancy becomes incredibly confusing as well. Just Google pregnancy, and you’ll get millions of sites with “perfect advice.”

There is no universal advice for anything. And before you change your diet in any radical way, please consult with your obstetrician to make sure whatever you’re doing will be helpful and healthy. Consider making an appointment with a certified dietitian who specializes in working with pre-natal and post-natal moms to help you meet your calorie and nutrition needs during pregnancy.

That said, all pregnant women need food – healthy foods that satisfy hunger and boost energy, keep acid reflux and indigestion at bay, and provide vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that both mom and baby need.

Here are my 5 favorite pregnancy foods and nutrition tips to quench those pregnancy cravings! They are quick, inexpensive, healthy and, most importantly, delicious.

1. Potato chips: Sometimes we just get the munchies, and grabbing a bag of store-bought chips packs  a high-fat, high-sodium punch.  Replace potato chips with oven-baked sweet potato chips or kale chips http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/baked-kale-chips/.   Roasted pumpkin seeds and toasted almonds are a great way to curb the potato chip crave and add protein to your day.
   
2. Sweets: Ahhh … now it might feel like it’s the time to indulge. But high-sugar foods can leave you low on energy and add empty calories to your diet. Replace store-bought cookies with pumpkin bran muffins http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/pumpkin-bran-muffins-recipe/. Make a batch and freeze them to keep them fresh. These low-sugar, high-fiber muffins hit the spot when it comes to curbing the sweet-tooth crave (replace the pumpkin with carrots and zucchini if you’d like). If you’re in a rush and don’t have time to bake, replace cookies and cakes with cut-up fruits and berries with a dollop of vanilla yogurt. Mango, papaya, strawberries, kiwi. Sprinkle with brown sugar for this sweet indulgence.
   
   
3. Acid reflux and indigestion: When your esophagus is on fire, nothing sounds good. Oftentimes, women who are taking pre-natal vitamins have a tough time with the high-iron content in the vitamins. Always discuss any discomfort with your obstetrician. To ease the indigestion try these tactics: eat smaller portions, sip on liquids, and stand up or sit up after eating. Also, instead of just slashing foods from your diet, listen to your body. When does your indigestion flare up? There are no universals, and it’s important to respond to what is happening to your body instead of automatically taking foods out of your diet.
   
   
4. Up the protein: During pregnancy, women need 10 grams more protein  in their diets daily, so find creative ways to introduce proteins into your snacks. Instead of just eating an apple, add cheese slices to it.  Add boiled eggs to tuna fish. Cook lentils and add them to your salads.  Dip celery or carrots in peanut butter or hummus for a high-powered protein snack.  Edamame with sea salt is a perfect evening snack when you’re ready to put your feet up and watch a movie.  Make a black bean, cheese quesadilla for a high-fiber, high-protein afternoon snack. All of these healthy alternatives boost your protein and quench the cravings.
   
5. Breakfast cereal: Starting the day with a healthy, nutritious charge is critical. And we need things fast and easy. Cereal aisles have up to 130 different brands of cereals all touting their nutritious values. “Why not reach for America’s original breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes? Each serving has a reasonable 2 grams of sugars and only 100 calories. But wait: it’s made from refined grain, so it delivers little dietary fiber (1 gram) and is considered high-glycemic.” (Breaking the Fast, Harvard Health Letter, www.health.harvard.edu).  That doesn’t mean we can’t eat cereal, but we should be aware of what they may have in excess (sugar and salt) and what they may lack (fiber). Look for fortified cereals with folate (a pregnancy must). But there are other options for breakfast when you’re short on time? Try overnight oats http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/overnight-swiss-oats-fruit-recipe/.
   
    All you need to do is get up and serve. Low-fat yogurt smoothies are delicious. Dump a cup of low-fat yogurt in the blender with your favorite berries, banana, and blend. Top with almonds or granola for a power breakfast.  And lunch for breakfast? A grilled cheese sandwich with whole grain bread and mozzarella cheese is a quick, delicious way to start off your day.

Being mindful of what you’re eating while pregnant will also help you form healthy habits that will stick throughout your life. For those moms-to-be out there, I wish you a healthy, nutrient-packed pregnancy. 

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The ten minute abs of steel fallacy personal trainer nyc

NYC Personal Trainer Takes on the Empty Promises of Getting Washboard Abs: If It Sounds Too Good To Be True …

Build Abs of Steel! The Ten-minute Six-pack Workout! Abs of Steel … Guaranteed! 30 Days to Abs of Steel!

Everybody’s thinking summer, and many, in turn are thinking about bikinis and washboard abs. There are programs, challenges, and guarantees that feel like they’re too good to be true. Well, I hate to tell you this. They’re too good to be true.

Honestly, if it only took ten minutes a day to get a six-pack, everybody out there would have abs of steel. So, what’s not working in these foolproof bikini body plans? Myths abound, and there’s a lot of money selling products or plans that make empty promises.

Our abdomen muscles are under layers of fat on our bellies. Each of us has  different body type. If there is extra body fat covering those abs it does not matter how many minutes a day we do of abs. It’s more about losing the fat on top of the muscles. And the only way to get rid of fat is change our diets and do cardio exercises. So ten minutes of crunches and sit ups aren’t going to erase our  layers of fat. 

 So, buyer beware:

1.       Get a six-pack in 10-minutes a day: No. You can’t. You might improve your abdominal strength, but you won’t see it unless you’re doing a heavy cardio plan with a changed diet.

2.       Fat suits, fat belts, vibrating machines, electro-stimulation machines will give me great abs: These are gimmicks. They won’t change the composition of your body which is unique to you and only you. Save your money and invest in a gym, a personal trainer, a nutritionist to learn to build habits that will last a lifetime.

3.       Okay, maybe not 10 minutes, but an hour a day: Again, this falls into the fallacy that doing ab exercises gives you great abs. They don’t. To have great abs, you need to burn fat. To burn fat, you need to do extensive cardio.  Also, you have to take into account your body type and nutrition.

4.       So, doing abdominal strength workouts is a big waste of time: Not at all! Here’s why …

Even if you don’t have a Mr. December body, having strong abdominal muscles is incredibly important. We all have abs.  These are our core muscles that connect our lower and upper bodies. Our core is the big link, as in Harvard’s healthbeat http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-real-world-benefits-of-strengthening-your-core  blog says “necessary motions either originate in your core, or move through it.” Abs are part of everything we do. In the real world, we need these core muscles to be strong and flexible, as a strong core does oodles to keep us healthy including:

1.       Helping with lower back pain:  According to the Mayo Clinic  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/basics/definition/con-20020797?reDate=26042016 “[b]ack pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor or miss work and a leading cause of disability worldwide.” A strong core is a direct link to lessening back pain. And it’s way better than over-medication.

2.       Improved balance and stability: When I work with seniors, one of the most important things we work on are our core muscles to help improve balance.  For athletes of all levels, from beginners to professional, core strength is critical to success.  Even sex gets better when we have good core strength.

3.       The day-to-day thing called life: Having a strong core helps us with everything: standing, sitting, reaching for the can of soup at the top of the shelf, picking up our kids at the park … Every activity we do, as we quoted in Harvard, originates or passes through our core. Everything

4.       Great posture http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/basics/definition/con-20020797?reDate=26042016 Good posture is important for brain and body health. Since we’ve become a nation of professional sitters, strengthening our core can help us have better posture at work, at home, and keep us healthier.

So, instead of falling for the false promises of ab workouts and gimmicks of belts and shocks that guarantee steel and six-packs, we should consider the innumerable benefits of strong abs and a healthy lifestyle that includes cardio, good nutrition, and core strengthening exercises. 

Our everyday lives will be greatly improved. And, perhaps, a six-pack will be an unexpected side effect (instead of the end goal!).

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Registered Personal Trainer in NYC Talks About the Building Bone Fallacy: It’s About Maintaining Bones, Not Building

Catchy headlines offer us solutions to everything. As we’re celebrating a month of foolish and foolproof headlines when it comes to diet and exercise, I couldn’t not discuss bone health.

5 Ways to Boost Bone Building Power. Weight-Bearing Exercises to Stop Osteoporosis.  8 Workouts for Strong Bones. These headlines, though have some truth to them, are incredibly misleading as exercise does not build strong bones, at least in not a significant amount.

Being concerned about bone health is real. “[M]ore than 700,000 spinal fractures and more than 300,000 hip fractures occur annually in the United States ..” (Jane E. Brody, 12 Minutes of Yoga for Bone Health, well.blogs.nytimes.com, December 21, 2015). 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/12-minutes-of-yoga-for-stronger-bones/ .

Older Caucasian, Japanese and Chinese women as well as women who weigh less than 127 pounds, smokers and alcoholics are more at risk for osteoporosis. Though it effects women nine times more than men,  men are still at risk, and less likely to check for it because of the discrepancy in numbers.  Moreover, called the “silent thief,” most people aren’t aware of having osteoporosis until they fracture a bone. Bone fractures because of osteoporosis are more common than heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined. (osteoporosis.ca).

The idea that exercise builds bones may have come from the fact that those who are bedridden lose bone density. So, it seems to reason that those who are active build bone density. Studies show, though, that the changes in bone density after an exercise regimen are negligent. (Gina Kolata, Exercise is Not the Path to Strong Bones, nytimes.com) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/health/exercise-is-not-the-path-to-strong-bones.html?_r=0

Essentially, what exercise does is help us maintain and not lose bone density.  So when headlines and personal trainers say that exercise will build up bones and stop osteoporosis, it’s misleading because no research supports these big claims. Bone density is just part of the picture for healthy bones and preventing breaks, but starting an intense weight bearing program isn’t going to turn frail bones into unbreakable ones!

This doesn’t mean we should dismiss the importance of exercise. In fact, earlier I discussed the four pillars of effective senior fitness program http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/registered-personal-trainer-four-pillars-of-senior-fitness-program/ which includes cardio, strength training, flexibility and balance exercises. The more we exercise, the stronger our muscles and bodies will be and the less bone density we’ll lose, keeping the bone thief at bay. http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/registered-personal-trainers-osteoporosis/

And the ways exercise help battle osteoporosis are important:

1.      Exercise reduces the rate of bone loss. (AND, it can, maybe, help increase bone density, though minimally.)

2.       Exercise improves our balance. This is critical for keeping healthy and on our feet, reducing falls and risks of breaking bones.

3.       Exercise improves fitness and strength. Again, strength will help us with balance, which will keep us stronger and safer.

4.       Exercise improves reaction time. The older we get, the slower we get. It’s just part of this beautiful program we call aging. That said, by exercising, we can improve our reaction time, keeping us more independent.

I recommend 30 minutes of exercise, five times each week. But any amount of exercise is better than nothing. Don’t be discouraged. Find something you love to do that incorporates the four pillars of exercise: cardio, strength training, flexibility and balance. Also, it’s important to have a Calcium and Vitamin D in your diet to complement the exercise you do. A combination of all of these things help maintain bone strength and keep you healthy!

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Registered Dietitian Gives Tips to a Healthier Pantry - Spring Clean Your Pantry to Make Room for the Flavors of the Mediterranean

Time to clean out the pantry and think Mediterranean!
What’s the hoopla about those olive-oil, wine-drinking, cheese-eating skinny people over there? It’s simply not fair. Haven’t they heard about fat-free products? Don’t they know that they’re walking cholesterol bombs?

The Mediterranean Diet has been touted by registered dietitians, nutritionists and physicians as one of the healthiest diets in the world. The Mayo Clinic says it’s “associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and cancer, as well as a reduced incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.”

We’ve all heard how important a variety of fruits and vegetables are. But the Mediterranean diet also includes crusty bread drizzled with olive oil, olives, wines and cheese, among what many consider to be big diet no-nos. Not only the ingredients of the Mediterranean diet are important, so, too, are the quantity, quality and preparation of them that makes a huge difference to our health. It’s all about nuance.

The Mediterranean diet is a healthy flavor bomb. It’s time to conclude our spring cleaning with cleaning out our pantries – making some practical, easy changes to become healthier, eat better, and all the while indulging in the flavors of the Mediterranean.

• Replace salt with the medley of Mediterranean flavors and spices – saffron, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage and oregano. Reducing salt in your diet can improve your blood pressure.
• Replace butter and other fats with olive oil. Olive oil is the cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet. Its beneficial properties include reducing the risk of cancer, lowering blood cholesterol, lowing blood pressure, as well as helping our bodies stave off Type II diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis.
• Replace white rice with whole grains. Replace crackers with almonds, cashews, or any number of nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts). Replace chips with olives. Sprinkle salads with soy and sesame seeds. Use legumes in casseroles, soups and pasta sauces and reduce the amount of meat you use (making it healthier and less expensive). These high-protein, fibrous snacks and sides are power foods.
• Replace mac and cheese with omelets, frittatas, scrambled eggs with veggies are a Mediterranean mainstay. Eggs are in.
• Replace that burger with fish tacos, grilled steak with grilled fish, roast beef with baked fish. Try to eat at least two to three servings of fish each week.
• Got dairy? Yogurts and curded cheeses are a big part of a Mediterranean diet. Cube feta in your salad. Spoon sugar-free yogurt over eggs instead of sour cream. Scoop yogurt on your granola and cut-up fruits.
• Replace white pasta and white breads with whole grains, quinoa, and even sourdough.
• Bring the Mediterranean, and health, to your pantry and enjoy some of these delicious recipes.

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Personal Trainers and Nutritionists in NYC Promote National Physical Fitness and Sports Month - Make Movement a Mindset

I have to go to the gym every day and do a hard workout for it to count.
I have to lose 10 pounds in the next month to get into my bathing suit.

No pain, no gain.
Being hungry is a part of every diet. I just have to get used to it.
I can’t eat carbs or sugar if I’m going to lose weight and have the body I want.
*cue music* da-dum-da-dum.

Registered dietitians and personal trainers have a bank of catch-phrase kisses of death – beliefs many people have regarding diet and exercise that float around out there like germs. These very ideas doom people to fail their diet and exercise goals.

The extremism of these goals, focusing on numbers and time, instead of behaviors, turn health into a game where only points seem to matter: the number of minutes, the number on a scale, the number on the size tag in a pair of pants, the number of pieces of bread you can eat or scoops of sugar.

Any personal trainer will tell you that health and fitness is much more complex and, in a way, simpler than that. May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, a month dedicated to educating people about and promoting physical fitness. Being fit doesn’t mean going to a gym for two hours every day. Being fit isn’t just for bikini bodies and supermodels. Fitness is something for everyone, all body types and ages. Being active means so much more than going to a gym, feeling pain, and losing numbers on a scale.

When we shift the focus about fitness from arbitrary numbers to becoming healthy; from equating fitness with starvation and pain to incorporating movement and activity into our everyday lives; from a crash diet we endure to look good in a bikini to a healthy body, only then can we succeed in our goals.
To celebrate National Fitness and Sports Month, we want to encourage you to start lifetime fitness habits because:

• In adolescents, physical activity improves bone health, heart health, and mental health. It really boosts their self esteem!
• In adults, physical activity can lower the risk for Type II diabetes, heart disease, some kinds of cancer
• Physical activity keeps your bad cholesterol down and good cholesterol up.
• Plus, it helps you feel better, look better, all while improving your sleep.

Being physically active does not mean going to a gym every day. There are some simple things you can implement into your daily routine to up your activity without costing you a penny. The first thing you must do, though, is change your mind set. It’s time to find ways to make movement a priority in your life.

• Take the stairs! Always. Up and down.
• Stand up and talk to a colleague instead of texting her.
• Park in the spot farthest away from the grocery store and walk.
• Never just “sit.” While watching TV, do crunches or pushups. While talking on the phone, walk around the house.
• Set movement goals. If your destination is within half of a mile of where you are, walk it. Then slowly add to it. (Obviously, as long as you’re safe!)
• Incorporate one “exercise activity” into your life that you love, whether it be line dancing or taking a walk in the park, gardening or tai-chi. Carve time out every week for this activity.
• Make active time family time. Go for a walk with your kids after dinner. Instead of watching cartoons, play hopscotch or throw a ball, jump rope or rollerblade.
• Make your health a priority. With work, family, and pressure, we often let ourselves come last. It’s important to remember that being active is to help you be better at work, with family and more.
• Some people need a little peer pressure. Accountability is a big deal. Share exercise goals with someone and “report” to her. Cheer each other on.
• To celebrate National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, we encourage you to find ways to bring movement into your and your family’s life.

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