Whenever I see an interesting news article regarding food and nutrition it perks my ears and an article I read last week about Chia seeds really piqued my interest only because I've never heard it talked about before.
"Ch-Ch-Chia". Come on, you know the words to the song from those annoying Chia Pet commercials. So sing along.
Those things were kind of weird if you ask me. Spread some green mushy seeds across a clay sculpture, water it and watch it sprout green "hair".
They made a slight comeback in recent years with more creatures to spread the mush on, ranging from animals to Disney's Shrek.
But, did you know that Chia seeds are actually good for you? Who would've thought that a novelty item would actually turn out to have some tangible use?
It turns out that Chia seeds are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein. The ancient Aztecs ate lots of Chia seeds, including when they would go on long marches. The Chia seeds turned out to be a very good food for endurance, as well as staving off hunger. The fiber in the Chia seed expands in your stomach, making you feel fuller longer. As a matter of fact, Chia seeds can absorb up to 10 times their weight in water. That sounds like me after I eat a meal high in salt.
I've written before about how important Omega-3 fatty acids and fiber are to your diet, not only for fat loss, but for general health as well. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent heart disease and other heart ailments, lower triglycerides, lower mild hypertension, aid with circulatory problems, depression, brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, skin health, arthritis and other joint issues, hair health, diabetes, immune system, muscle function, fat loss, and the list keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Chia seeds are also fantastic for diabetics because they slow down the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose because of the fiber and protein content.
The Chia seeds are also loaded with calcium, B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals.
If you're a runner, you may want to give Chia seeds a try because they are known as the "Indian Running Food". Not very politically correct, I know, but that's beside the point. As I mentioned earlier, the ancient Aztecs would load up on Chia seeds before their conquests and long marches. They found that the seeds gave them more sustained energy.
I'm sure that you have probably heard of Flax seeds and Flax oil, but Chia seeds are actually more nutritious than flax in that they have more Omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein.
You can add the Chia seeds to just about anything. You can add them to your smoothies, salads, yogurt, cereal (both cold and hot), jellies, pancake and waffle mixes, sauces, etc. You're only limited by your imagination.
Here's the breakdown for 1 oz. of Chia seeds: Per 1 oz. serving they have approximately 9 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.
Kind of interesting isn't it? We keep trying to come up with more and more super foods, magic diets and prescription pills to fix what ails us, but the most nutritious foods are right under our noses and have been for centuries.
Not only things like Chia and Flax seeds, but fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole-grains, etc. Eat more of them and I guarantee you'll lose fat and be in better health overall.
Have a good day!
Ed Scow
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2008
Nigh Time Eating? Yes or No
One very common question I get is about eating at night.
People want to know if they should eat anything after dinner or if they should eat anything past a certain time or any other combination of this question.
I don't know where this idea of not eating past 6pm (or whatever time) got started. I'm sure Oprah said it at some point, so I'll blame it on her.
There is a little truth to not eating at night after dinner, but I think there's a bigger picture involved.
Why do you eat at night?
Are you really hungry or is there another reason?
I think the reason that you eat at night is twofold.
Number 1 is that you're bored. The day is winding to a close and you are watching some reality show because there aren't any scripted shows on thanks to the writers' strike (I miss 24) and you need something to do. So you go to the refrigerator or cupboard and grab some comfort food to take up the time.
The other reason is that you want to relax at night.
Everybody wants to relax at night. It's instinctual. Your body is naturally getting ready to sleep and you need to relax or wind down in order to sleep.
There's actually a scientific reason behind this as well.
Most snack foods are high in sugar. Sugar releases opiates in the brain that make you feel good.
When you feel good, you relax. When you relax, you are ready to sleep, which makes your body happy.
But these same feel good foods make you fat, which doesn't make you happy, it makes you mad.
So, the question still remains is it OK to snack at night or to eat past a certain time.
Of course it's OK to eat at night.
It's definitely OK to eat past a certain time. The thought that there's some magical cutoff in the day that if you consume anything after this magical hour you'll be gaining lots of fat is ridiculous.
The problem isn't eating at night, it's what you eat at night.
Are you eating the high sugar, fat-laden snack foods? Or are you eating something good for you like a piece of fruit or some fat-free dairy or some almonds.
All of those foods I just mentioned will help you relax and get ready for sleep, by the way and are good if you want to lose fat.
That's the key to eating at night. Eat healthy snacks. And remember, healthy doesn't have to be boring and healthy isn't inconvenient, either.
So take that Oprah! You can eat at night and lose fat too!
I think I should have my own talk show called "Ed".
I know for a fact that my "favorite things" episodes would be much cooler and there's no way Tom Cruise would jump around my furniture without getting a slap in the head.
Have a good week and snack well!
Ed Scow
People want to know if they should eat anything after dinner or if they should eat anything past a certain time or any other combination of this question.
I don't know where this idea of not eating past 6pm (or whatever time) got started. I'm sure Oprah said it at some point, so I'll blame it on her.
There is a little truth to not eating at night after dinner, but I think there's a bigger picture involved.
Why do you eat at night?
Are you really hungry or is there another reason?
I think the reason that you eat at night is twofold.
Number 1 is that you're bored. The day is winding to a close and you are watching some reality show because there aren't any scripted shows on thanks to the writers' strike (I miss 24) and you need something to do. So you go to the refrigerator or cupboard and grab some comfort food to take up the time.
The other reason is that you want to relax at night.
Everybody wants to relax at night. It's instinctual. Your body is naturally getting ready to sleep and you need to relax or wind down in order to sleep.
There's actually a scientific reason behind this as well.
Most snack foods are high in sugar. Sugar releases opiates in the brain that make you feel good.
When you feel good, you relax. When you relax, you are ready to sleep, which makes your body happy.
But these same feel good foods make you fat, which doesn't make you happy, it makes you mad.
So, the question still remains is it OK to snack at night or to eat past a certain time.
Of course it's OK to eat at night.
It's definitely OK to eat past a certain time. The thought that there's some magical cutoff in the day that if you consume anything after this magical hour you'll be gaining lots of fat is ridiculous.
The problem isn't eating at night, it's what you eat at night.
Are you eating the high sugar, fat-laden snack foods? Or are you eating something good for you like a piece of fruit or some fat-free dairy or some almonds.
All of those foods I just mentioned will help you relax and get ready for sleep, by the way and are good if you want to lose fat.
That's the key to eating at night. Eat healthy snacks. And remember, healthy doesn't have to be boring and healthy isn't inconvenient, either.
So take that Oprah! You can eat at night and lose fat too!
I think I should have my own talk show called "Ed".
I know for a fact that my "favorite things" episodes would be much cooler and there's no way Tom Cruise would jump around my furniture without getting a slap in the head.
Have a good week and snack well!
Ed Scow
Stop Stressin'
I’m writing this to you from the Palm Beach airport. I’m very early for my flight home from a seminar I attended over the weekend.
Why am I very early? Because I’m a crazy person who absolutely has to arrive at the airport early. Not just a few minutes early, but very early.
I didn’t know how long the cab ride would take because when I took a cab from the airport to my hotel it was midnight. Not much traffic at midnight.
I also didn’t know how long it would take me to get through security. That’s always my biggest worry. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m worried that I’ll be one of the lucky “random” few who get taken aside and searched…and not just wanded over and patted down, but taken behind closed doors and searched. I think I’ve seen one too many movies.
But all my worries seemed to be totally unfounded because my cab ride over was fast. Really fast. I think my cab driver averaged about 80 miles/hour and that may be a conservative estimate. Plus I don’t think he slowed down too much on the curves because I was getting tossed around quite a bit…and I was wearing my seat belt.
Then when I got to the security area I noticed there were only two people in line ahead of me and nobody behind me. And no I didn’t get searched…in any way. I actually schmoozed with the security people talking about Nebraska. Who thought anybody would want to know anything about Nebraska? Apparently I’m a curiosity to them.
But anyway, this all brings me to the point about stress. Why was I so stressed out about this? All I could really control was what time I left my hotel. Other than that everything else was out of my control. I had no control over traffic. I had no control over the amount of people in the airport, let alone the people wanting to get through security. So I really should have only stressed over what time I left the hotel…and that shouldn’t have been a very big stressor. But it was, and I am working on fixing that.
Stress is a bad thing for your mind and body. It’s bad for you physically and emotionally. You can’t have one without the other. If you are emotionally stressed, you will be physically stressed and vice versa. Think about the last time you were very stressed out emotionally about something. It could have been your kid screaming all day, or some project at work or even a fight with a spouse. You didn’t really expend any physical energy per se like if you were a construction worker or anything, but I’m willing to bet that by the end of the day you were totally drained emotionally AND physically. You felt as though you didn’t have any energy left whatsoever.
That’s because our bodies have the same reactions when it comes to stress, be it physical or emotional. That reaction is “fight or flight”. Your body instinctively reacts to a stressor by preparing your body to either fight the stressor or runaway from it. It sounds simplistic and when it boils down to it, it really is that simple..
When faced with some sort of stressor, your body reacts by flooding your system with the hormone adrenaline. Your body also releases a bunch of free fatty acids into your blood stream in order to give you a quick boost of energy to either fight the stressor or run.
I’m willing to bet that most of your stressors really don’t lead to hand-to-hand combat or a foot race, or maybe they do. I don’t know what you do on a Friday night for fun. But, for the rest of you, that stress reaction really doesn’t give you any benefit, rather it hurts you.
Over time the constant stress reaction can lead to an increase in inflammation which can lead to high blood pressure, and ultimately a heart attack or stroke.
Not only that, but the really bad thing it does is make you store more belly fat. I hope you caught the humor in the last sentence. I’m not really considering a little bit more belly fat something worse than a heart attack.
It leads to more belly fat because all of those free fatty acids that were shot into your bloodstream along with the adrenaline have to be stored somewhere since they weren’t used for energy. The easiest place for your body to store those fatty acids are along your abdomen in your fat cells. Sounds great, doesn’t it.
I would think that reason alone would help me to figure out some ways to beat stress before it happens and not after it. I’m working on it. I’ m working on getting it through my thick skull that I shouldn’t worry about the things that are out of my control.
For instance. As of this sentence I am now in the airplane somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot is talking about some gibberish in that stereotypical pilot voice – you know the one. Very low with the microphone jammed into his mouth so that you can hardly hear him and hear his breathing much more audibly, kind of like Darth Vader. I’ve always wondered what these guys actually sound like when they’re not on the intercom. I bet they have high pitched voices.
Anyway, back to how I’m beating stress before it happens. I personally would rather the pilot fly the plane rather than talk to us about some gibberish, but there’s nothing I can do about it so I’m trying not to worry about it. I suppose if I wanted to I could get up and go to the cockpit, knock on the door and tell him to just fly the darn plane, but in this day and age that wouldn’t go over too well. So I take a deep breath and go on typing.
How do you beat your stress? Do you do anything? Do you just let it stew until you BLOW UP? Do you internalize it? Do you drink? Do you eat? Those are all bad reactions to stress and will lead to more problems. They’ll lead to more body fat being stored if you are an emotional eater or drinker. They’ll lead to loss of friendships and maybe even a marriage or job.
You need to figure out what works best for you to beat stress in a healthy manner. Find a hobby. Get a massage once a week or every couple of weeks. It might sound expensive, but when you think about how valuable your health is and how expensive prescriptions and doctor visits can be is spending 50 extra bucks on yourself really that big of a deal? I think not.
The point is to find something to do before stress gets to you. Before you find yourself in a doctor’s office telling him your stomach always hurts or that you keep getting these splitting headaches. Or before you have a never-ending prescription of blood pressure medication or an extra 50 pounds sitting on your gut.
Or, if you already find yourself in that position, it’s not too late. It’s never too late. As long as you’re breathing you can find some way to beat stress. Just figure it out and do it.
That and always remember that you can’t control what other people do, you can only control what you do and your reaction to what other people do.
Ed Scow
Why am I very early? Because I’m a crazy person who absolutely has to arrive at the airport early. Not just a few minutes early, but very early.
I didn’t know how long the cab ride would take because when I took a cab from the airport to my hotel it was midnight. Not much traffic at midnight.
I also didn’t know how long it would take me to get through security. That’s always my biggest worry. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m worried that I’ll be one of the lucky “random” few who get taken aside and searched…and not just wanded over and patted down, but taken behind closed doors and searched. I think I’ve seen one too many movies.
But all my worries seemed to be totally unfounded because my cab ride over was fast. Really fast. I think my cab driver averaged about 80 miles/hour and that may be a conservative estimate. Plus I don’t think he slowed down too much on the curves because I was getting tossed around quite a bit…and I was wearing my seat belt.
Then when I got to the security area I noticed there were only two people in line ahead of me and nobody behind me. And no I didn’t get searched…in any way. I actually schmoozed with the security people talking about Nebraska. Who thought anybody would want to know anything about Nebraska? Apparently I’m a curiosity to them.
But anyway, this all brings me to the point about stress. Why was I so stressed out about this? All I could really control was what time I left my hotel. Other than that everything else was out of my control. I had no control over traffic. I had no control over the amount of people in the airport, let alone the people wanting to get through security. So I really should have only stressed over what time I left the hotel…and that shouldn’t have been a very big stressor. But it was, and I am working on fixing that.
Stress is a bad thing for your mind and body. It’s bad for you physically and emotionally. You can’t have one without the other. If you are emotionally stressed, you will be physically stressed and vice versa. Think about the last time you were very stressed out emotionally about something. It could have been your kid screaming all day, or some project at work or even a fight with a spouse. You didn’t really expend any physical energy per se like if you were a construction worker or anything, but I’m willing to bet that by the end of the day you were totally drained emotionally AND physically. You felt as though you didn’t have any energy left whatsoever.
That’s because our bodies have the same reactions when it comes to stress, be it physical or emotional. That reaction is “fight or flight”. Your body instinctively reacts to a stressor by preparing your body to either fight the stressor or runaway from it. It sounds simplistic and when it boils down to it, it really is that simple..
When faced with some sort of stressor, your body reacts by flooding your system with the hormone adrenaline. Your body also releases a bunch of free fatty acids into your blood stream in order to give you a quick boost of energy to either fight the stressor or run.
I’m willing to bet that most of your stressors really don’t lead to hand-to-hand combat or a foot race, or maybe they do. I don’t know what you do on a Friday night for fun. But, for the rest of you, that stress reaction really doesn’t give you any benefit, rather it hurts you.
Over time the constant stress reaction can lead to an increase in inflammation which can lead to high blood pressure, and ultimately a heart attack or stroke.
Not only that, but the really bad thing it does is make you store more belly fat. I hope you caught the humor in the last sentence. I’m not really considering a little bit more belly fat something worse than a heart attack.
It leads to more belly fat because all of those free fatty acids that were shot into your bloodstream along with the adrenaline have to be stored somewhere since they weren’t used for energy. The easiest place for your body to store those fatty acids are along your abdomen in your fat cells. Sounds great, doesn’t it.
I would think that reason alone would help me to figure out some ways to beat stress before it happens and not after it. I’m working on it. I’ m working on getting it through my thick skull that I shouldn’t worry about the things that are out of my control.
For instance. As of this sentence I am now in the airplane somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot is talking about some gibberish in that stereotypical pilot voice – you know the one. Very low with the microphone jammed into his mouth so that you can hardly hear him and hear his breathing much more audibly, kind of like Darth Vader. I’ve always wondered what these guys actually sound like when they’re not on the intercom. I bet they have high pitched voices.
Anyway, back to how I’m beating stress before it happens. I personally would rather the pilot fly the plane rather than talk to us about some gibberish, but there’s nothing I can do about it so I’m trying not to worry about it. I suppose if I wanted to I could get up and go to the cockpit, knock on the door and tell him to just fly the darn plane, but in this day and age that wouldn’t go over too well. So I take a deep breath and go on typing.
How do you beat your stress? Do you do anything? Do you just let it stew until you BLOW UP? Do you internalize it? Do you drink? Do you eat? Those are all bad reactions to stress and will lead to more problems. They’ll lead to more body fat being stored if you are an emotional eater or drinker. They’ll lead to loss of friendships and maybe even a marriage or job.
You need to figure out what works best for you to beat stress in a healthy manner. Find a hobby. Get a massage once a week or every couple of weeks. It might sound expensive, but when you think about how valuable your health is and how expensive prescriptions and doctor visits can be is spending 50 extra bucks on yourself really that big of a deal? I think not.
The point is to find something to do before stress gets to you. Before you find yourself in a doctor’s office telling him your stomach always hurts or that you keep getting these splitting headaches. Or before you have a never-ending prescription of blood pressure medication or an extra 50 pounds sitting on your gut.
Or, if you already find yourself in that position, it’s not too late. It’s never too late. As long as you’re breathing you can find some way to beat stress. Just figure it out and do it.
That and always remember that you can’t control what other people do, you can only control what you do and your reaction to what other people do.
Ed Scow
Sit Up Straight!
I’m wiling to bet that while you’re reading this, you’re slumping. Your back is not back against your ergonomically correct chair (hopefully it’s not a folding chair), your head is jutted forward and not sitting forward, and your shoulders are slumped forward.
Did you just check? Did you sit up straight? I bet you did…I know I just did.
Better posture while sitting at your desk, behind the steering wheel and standing will go very far in improving your health, fitness and overall way of life.
When your shoulders slump forward it causes your chest and anterior deltoids (front of your shoulder) to tighten and causes the muscles on the opposite side – your upper back – to stretch. Over time this will lead to muscle weakness, stiffness and knots/trigger points that can cause a lot of pain.
But having good posture doesn’t just mean the way you sit or stand, it also relates to the way you move. It involves the way you walk, run, reach, push, pull and carry. When you have correct posture while doing these things your spine is in its proper alignment. If your spine is not in its proper alignment your body will not perform at its peak. You will be weaker while moving, working and sitting, plus you will begin to notice back pain, neck pain, hip pain and even pain in your arms/wrists.
This will most likely lead to a trip to the doctor. I don’t remember the exact statistic, but somewhere in the range of 80% of all doctor visits have to do with back pain. That is a huge number that can be drastically reduced if you pay attention to your posture.
Poor posture also makes your muscles work harder than they should. Your body is designed to be in good alignment. When you’re in this proper alignment all your muscles are working as they should, which means they’re working efficiently. When you slouch, round your shoulders, let your stomach hang out or tip your pelvis forward your muscles now have to work harder to keep you upright or doing whatever activity it is you’re doing. This also leads to your heart having to work harder to pump blood to your muscles and in the end this all leads to you being tired or exhausted when you should still have energy left.
Having poor posture can even make you look fat. When you are slouched, either when standing or sitting, your abdominal muscles (which is more than the six-pack muscles) are not actively working because they don’t have to. One of the key functions of your abdominal muscles is to keep your torso upright and when you’re slouched they’re not working. As the saying goes, “if you don’t use ‘em you lose ‘em”. By standing/sitting up straight you will re-teach your abdominal muscles to work and if they’re working properly they are flatter, and if they’re flatter your waist line shrinks.
I’ve had clients who lose a couple inches off their stomachs instantly just by improving their posture and keeping their abdominals tight. I fall victim to this one, too. If I’ve been spending too much time I’m my feet I’ll often catch a reflection of myself and see that I’m slouching and letting my tummy hang. That’s when I tell myself “tighten up tubby” and I stand up straight, re-tighten my tummy and I’m flat again.
This little “trick” is also a what a lot of the fat loss supplement marketers use in their miraculous “before/after” photos. The before picture always features the person slouched over with their shoulders rounded and stomachs protruding. While the after picture features the person standing up straight and tall with their tummies taught. Remember that the next time you come across one of those advertisements.
Here are a few things you can do right now to decide if you need to work on your posture. The first thing you can do is stand with your back against a wall. Your heels should be a few inches away from the wall. Are your shoulders flat against the wall? If not, your chest/shoulders are too tight and your back is over-stretched and weak.
Is there more than a couple of inches between your low back and the wall? If so, your hip flexors (the muscles on the front of your legs) are probably too tight, as are your deep abdominal muscles. Plus your hip extensors (muscles of the butt and back of your thighs) are weak. Not to mention your low back is too tight.
Can you rest your head comfortably against the wall with your chin straight and eyes straight ahead? If not, the muscles on the front of your neck are too tight most likely from looking down at your computer screen for too long.
The next thing you can do is stand in front of a full-length mirror in your tighty whities. Stand relaxed – like you normally stand and don’t pose and flex before you do this test because you’ll just be embarrassed when your spouse walks in the bedroom. Don’t try to fix your posture before you check yourself out. Are your shoulders even or is one higher than the other? If so, I’m willing to bet that the shoulder of your dominant arm is higher than the other. This could be because you are on the phone a lot, or you leave your hand sitting on your mouse too much while sitting at your computer, or you drive with only one hand on the steering wheel.
Are your hips level or is one higher than the other? That could be due to a number of things ranging from tight butt muscles, tight hamstring muscles, tight low back muscles, etc. not to mention all the muscle weaknesses and imbalances.
The good news is that many of these imbalances, tightness and weaknesses can be improved with simple exercises and paying better attention to your posture.
Here are a few things you can do to improve your posture:
1. Get a better desk chair. If you’re using a folding chair, that is not good enough. Go out and spend a little cash and buy a sturdy chair with good back support.
2. Avoid sitting in any one place for longer than 30-45 minutes. Just get up and walk around while you’re at work or driving or at the very least, get up for a couple minutes and then go back to work. Doing this will lengthen the tight muscles and relax the over-stretched muscles.
3. Do planks. Those of you that train with me currently or in the past know what a plank is, but for those of you that don’t here’s how to do it. Get down on the floor, face down like you’re going to do a push-up. Place your forearms on the floor and pick your body up so that only your forearms and toes are on the floor. Your upper arm should be straight down from your shoulder and your stomach, butt, and back should be tight. Don’t let your back sag like an old horse and don’t stick your butt up in the air. Your body should be in a straight line from head to toes. Hold yourself there for anywhere from 30-180 seconds – it all depends on how strong you are. Do a couple sets of these. These are fantastic for strengthening your core muscles and giving them endurance.
4. Get a massage regularly. OK so I’m a little biased since I’m a massage therapist, but trust me it really is beneficial. I’d say that 90% of the clients I’ve seen over the years all have complained about upper back pain and it’s always related to poor posture.
5. Do the superman. Lay flat on the floor on your stomach. Stick your arms straight out in front of you and keep them a few inches off the floor. Now raise your upper chest/shoulders and legs off the floor while keeping your legs straight. Pause, then return to the starting position. Do this 10-15 times for a few sets. It’s kind of like a backward crunch. You won’t be able to bend backward very far, but this is a good one for strengthening the butt, low back and stretching out the chest/shoulders.
6. If you’ve been sitting at your desk or behind the steering wheel for a while do the desk stretch. Sit on the front edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor. Keep your shoulders down, clasp your hands together and raise your arms straight over your head, palms to the ceiling. Try to “lengthen” your abdomen by sticking your chest out slightly and straightening your back while inhaling deeply. Hold that for a few seconds and release. Repeat that 5-10 times.
7. Adjust your driver’s seat. Before driving off, adjust your driver’s seat so that you are sitting up straight and with good posture. Then adjust all your mirrors so that they will only be perfectly visible when you’re sitting upright. It is very easy to slouch while driving and adjusting your seat and mirrors to fit with good posture will help to ensure you keep your body pain free.
8. Never, ever rest the phone on your shoulder and mash your eat into it. This will kill your shoulder, upper back and neck muscles. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, get a headset or a Bluetooth headset for your cell phone.
9. Roll it Out. While you’re sitting at your desk or in the car you can roll your shoulders and neck in order to help keep those muscles loose so that they are less likely to tighten up and keep you in a rounded shoulder, hunched back position.
10. You should also flex your butt cheeks if you find yourself sitting too long. I know that sounds weird, but most people in our society have weak, underactive butt muscles. It is largely due to the fact that we sit too much. If your butt muscles are weak then most likely your back is weak. So flex your butt cheeks a few times every 20-30 minutes to keep them activated and working. Just don’t let on to your co-workers or family what you’re doing by squinting or grunting. They’ll think you’re weird.
11. Never, ever keep your wallet or anything else that’s bulky in your back pocket. Raising one hip off your chair by a few inches will lead to muscle imbalances, poor posture and very bad back pain maybe even sciatica. You may have had sciatic pain…it’s the shooting pain you get from your low back down your butt sometimes as far as your toes.
If you pay attention to your posture and work on improving it I guarantee you that you will see back pain go away for the most part, you’ll breathe better, be more alert and feel better all around. Having good posture is crucial no matter what your fitness goal is. If you want to lose fat, having good posture will instantly take inches off your waist line plus it’ll help your muscles work better. If you want to be stress free, having good posture will help you breathe better which helps you to relax. If you want to be more flexible, having good posture helps to keep your hips, low back and upper back/neck loose.
So remember, sit up straight, keep your shoulders back, stomach tight, chin up and eyes forward.
Ed Scow
Did you just check? Did you sit up straight? I bet you did…I know I just did.
Better posture while sitting at your desk, behind the steering wheel and standing will go very far in improving your health, fitness and overall way of life.
When your shoulders slump forward it causes your chest and anterior deltoids (front of your shoulder) to tighten and causes the muscles on the opposite side – your upper back – to stretch. Over time this will lead to muscle weakness, stiffness and knots/trigger points that can cause a lot of pain.
But having good posture doesn’t just mean the way you sit or stand, it also relates to the way you move. It involves the way you walk, run, reach, push, pull and carry. When you have correct posture while doing these things your spine is in its proper alignment. If your spine is not in its proper alignment your body will not perform at its peak. You will be weaker while moving, working and sitting, plus you will begin to notice back pain, neck pain, hip pain and even pain in your arms/wrists.
This will most likely lead to a trip to the doctor. I don’t remember the exact statistic, but somewhere in the range of 80% of all doctor visits have to do with back pain. That is a huge number that can be drastically reduced if you pay attention to your posture.
Poor posture also makes your muscles work harder than they should. Your body is designed to be in good alignment. When you’re in this proper alignment all your muscles are working as they should, which means they’re working efficiently. When you slouch, round your shoulders, let your stomach hang out or tip your pelvis forward your muscles now have to work harder to keep you upright or doing whatever activity it is you’re doing. This also leads to your heart having to work harder to pump blood to your muscles and in the end this all leads to you being tired or exhausted when you should still have energy left.
Having poor posture can even make you look fat. When you are slouched, either when standing or sitting, your abdominal muscles (which is more than the six-pack muscles) are not actively working because they don’t have to. One of the key functions of your abdominal muscles is to keep your torso upright and when you’re slouched they’re not working. As the saying goes, “if you don’t use ‘em you lose ‘em”. By standing/sitting up straight you will re-teach your abdominal muscles to work and if they’re working properly they are flatter, and if they’re flatter your waist line shrinks.
I’ve had clients who lose a couple inches off their stomachs instantly just by improving their posture and keeping their abdominals tight. I fall victim to this one, too. If I’ve been spending too much time I’m my feet I’ll often catch a reflection of myself and see that I’m slouching and letting my tummy hang. That’s when I tell myself “tighten up tubby” and I stand up straight, re-tighten my tummy and I’m flat again.
This little “trick” is also a what a lot of the fat loss supplement marketers use in their miraculous “before/after” photos. The before picture always features the person slouched over with their shoulders rounded and stomachs protruding. While the after picture features the person standing up straight and tall with their tummies taught. Remember that the next time you come across one of those advertisements.
Here are a few things you can do right now to decide if you need to work on your posture. The first thing you can do is stand with your back against a wall. Your heels should be a few inches away from the wall. Are your shoulders flat against the wall? If not, your chest/shoulders are too tight and your back is over-stretched and weak.
Is there more than a couple of inches between your low back and the wall? If so, your hip flexors (the muscles on the front of your legs) are probably too tight, as are your deep abdominal muscles. Plus your hip extensors (muscles of the butt and back of your thighs) are weak. Not to mention your low back is too tight.
Can you rest your head comfortably against the wall with your chin straight and eyes straight ahead? If not, the muscles on the front of your neck are too tight most likely from looking down at your computer screen for too long.
The next thing you can do is stand in front of a full-length mirror in your tighty whities. Stand relaxed – like you normally stand and don’t pose and flex before you do this test because you’ll just be embarrassed when your spouse walks in the bedroom. Don’t try to fix your posture before you check yourself out. Are your shoulders even or is one higher than the other? If so, I’m willing to bet that the shoulder of your dominant arm is higher than the other. This could be because you are on the phone a lot, or you leave your hand sitting on your mouse too much while sitting at your computer, or you drive with only one hand on the steering wheel.
Are your hips level or is one higher than the other? That could be due to a number of things ranging from tight butt muscles, tight hamstring muscles, tight low back muscles, etc. not to mention all the muscle weaknesses and imbalances.
The good news is that many of these imbalances, tightness and weaknesses can be improved with simple exercises and paying better attention to your posture.
Here are a few things you can do to improve your posture:
1. Get a better desk chair. If you’re using a folding chair, that is not good enough. Go out and spend a little cash and buy a sturdy chair with good back support.
2. Avoid sitting in any one place for longer than 30-45 minutes. Just get up and walk around while you’re at work or driving or at the very least, get up for a couple minutes and then go back to work. Doing this will lengthen the tight muscles and relax the over-stretched muscles.
3. Do planks. Those of you that train with me currently or in the past know what a plank is, but for those of you that don’t here’s how to do it. Get down on the floor, face down like you’re going to do a push-up. Place your forearms on the floor and pick your body up so that only your forearms and toes are on the floor. Your upper arm should be straight down from your shoulder and your stomach, butt, and back should be tight. Don’t let your back sag like an old horse and don’t stick your butt up in the air. Your body should be in a straight line from head to toes. Hold yourself there for anywhere from 30-180 seconds – it all depends on how strong you are. Do a couple sets of these. These are fantastic for strengthening your core muscles and giving them endurance.
4. Get a massage regularly. OK so I’m a little biased since I’m a massage therapist, but trust me it really is beneficial. I’d say that 90% of the clients I’ve seen over the years all have complained about upper back pain and it’s always related to poor posture.
5. Do the superman. Lay flat on the floor on your stomach. Stick your arms straight out in front of you and keep them a few inches off the floor. Now raise your upper chest/shoulders and legs off the floor while keeping your legs straight. Pause, then return to the starting position. Do this 10-15 times for a few sets. It’s kind of like a backward crunch. You won’t be able to bend backward very far, but this is a good one for strengthening the butt, low back and stretching out the chest/shoulders.
6. If you’ve been sitting at your desk or behind the steering wheel for a while do the desk stretch. Sit on the front edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor. Keep your shoulders down, clasp your hands together and raise your arms straight over your head, palms to the ceiling. Try to “lengthen” your abdomen by sticking your chest out slightly and straightening your back while inhaling deeply. Hold that for a few seconds and release. Repeat that 5-10 times.
7. Adjust your driver’s seat. Before driving off, adjust your driver’s seat so that you are sitting up straight and with good posture. Then adjust all your mirrors so that they will only be perfectly visible when you’re sitting upright. It is very easy to slouch while driving and adjusting your seat and mirrors to fit with good posture will help to ensure you keep your body pain free.
8. Never, ever rest the phone on your shoulder and mash your eat into it. This will kill your shoulder, upper back and neck muscles. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, get a headset or a Bluetooth headset for your cell phone.
9. Roll it Out. While you’re sitting at your desk or in the car you can roll your shoulders and neck in order to help keep those muscles loose so that they are less likely to tighten up and keep you in a rounded shoulder, hunched back position.
10. You should also flex your butt cheeks if you find yourself sitting too long. I know that sounds weird, but most people in our society have weak, underactive butt muscles. It is largely due to the fact that we sit too much. If your butt muscles are weak then most likely your back is weak. So flex your butt cheeks a few times every 20-30 minutes to keep them activated and working. Just don’t let on to your co-workers or family what you’re doing by squinting or grunting. They’ll think you’re weird.
11. Never, ever keep your wallet or anything else that’s bulky in your back pocket. Raising one hip off your chair by a few inches will lead to muscle imbalances, poor posture and very bad back pain maybe even sciatica. You may have had sciatic pain…it’s the shooting pain you get from your low back down your butt sometimes as far as your toes.
If you pay attention to your posture and work on improving it I guarantee you that you will see back pain go away for the most part, you’ll breathe better, be more alert and feel better all around. Having good posture is crucial no matter what your fitness goal is. If you want to lose fat, having good posture will instantly take inches off your waist line plus it’ll help your muscles work better. If you want to be stress free, having good posture will help you breathe better which helps you to relax. If you want to be more flexible, having good posture helps to keep your hips, low back and upper back/neck loose.
So remember, sit up straight, keep your shoulders back, stomach tight, chin up and eyes forward.
Ed Scow
As President I Will Fix Healthcare By Doing...
Given the presidential race and all the hullabaloo revolving around whose healthcare plan is better, I thought I'd dip my toe into the dirty water and give you my fix.
You may not like my plan, but it makes the most sense. It doesn't raise taxes and it will save you money and lead to a much happier lifestyle.
Are you ready for it?
It's called "Take Care Of Yourself, America!!"
Pretty easy, huh?
Think about it, though. There was a report that just came out that said that by the year 2017 for every $5 spent, $1 will be spent on healthcare. Take that number out farther, for every $500 spent, at least $100 will be spent on healthcare. That is insane! Think of the repercussions this will have on our entire economy.
And much of this spending is due to preventable health issues. Not genetic issues or things that are out of our control or routine physicals which we all should do. There will always be things you can't control, but a good chunk of healthcare spending (or sick care as I like to call it) is spent on things that need not occur.
I'm going to give you 2 areas of statistics to prove my point.
The first area is obvious...being overweight.
The last time a survey was taken over 60% of our population was either overweight or obese.
This can lead to a whole host of preventable health issues and diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, muscle pain, asthma, etc. The last time I checked all of those health issues require a medication or medical intervention of some sort, and a lot of it.
So, if as a population we were to take care of ourselves a little more and actually eat better and exercise this would greatly decrease the amount of spending on health care.
Many people think they exercise enough because they go for a walk occasionally or play some golf when the weather is nice, but it takes a lot more than leisure activity to lose fat.
Also, I have statistics on my side that says that the majority of people in this country do not exercise.
The CDC reported in their National Health Review that 53% of men NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity. Never!
It gets worse for women. A whopping 65% of women NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity.
Now you may be thinking that they used the word "vigorous", but vigorous is a relative term and when the government uses that term it usually refers to anything more than a leisurely stroll around the block. Plus what I didn't mention was that 65% of women and 53% of men never engage in vigorous physical activity lasting longer than 10 minutes. 10 minutes!
The second area I want to give you some statistics on are related to back pain.
Back pain is huge in this country and it's mostly because we're too sedentary.
We sit at desks all day, drive too much and sit on the couch too much.
This leads to muscle imbalances, muscle weakness and a whole lot of muscle pain.
As many as 50% of Americans report some type of back pain every year. Some of these may be minor, but as many as 30% of adults have thought their back pain needed a trip to the doctor to help alleviate. That's a lot of people considering our population is around 300 million.
There are some experts that say that as many as 4 out of every 5 people will experience back pain in their lifetime...and not just a little twinge here or there, either.
These next two statistics are staggering. In 2001, close to 14 million people visited their doctor to deal with their back pain, and I think it's safe to say that many of them went more than once.
A Canadian study reported that 40% of all work absences were due to back pain. I don't even want to know how much that equated to in lost revenue.
So do yourself and your country a favor, take care of yourself.
I guarantee that if we got more people exercising, eating better and paying better attention to their bodies that the cost of healthcare will go down.
The only problem is I can't force anyone to do anything, unless that is that you come to my boot camps or train with me...then I can get you moving.
But you know what? Neither can a politician.
You have to take the initiative for yourself and tell yourself that you're going to start exercising more, so get up and start an exercise regimen that includes resistance training and cardio.
Start eating healthier meals that includes lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and packed with fiber.
Start moving around more if you're desk bound or spend a lot of time behind the wheel. For every hour you spend sitting, spend at least 10 minutes up and moving around to keep your muscles limber and the blood flowing. This will do a lot to help curtail back pain. And if you already have back pain, get a massage from a good massage therapist. It will do wonders for your pain.
Think of the children. Sorry, that was too good to pass up. I had to get some politician speak in there when dealing with healthcare.
Ed Scow
You may not like my plan, but it makes the most sense. It doesn't raise taxes and it will save you money and lead to a much happier lifestyle.
Are you ready for it?
It's called "Take Care Of Yourself, America!!"
Pretty easy, huh?
Think about it, though. There was a report that just came out that said that by the year 2017 for every $5 spent, $1 will be spent on healthcare. Take that number out farther, for every $500 spent, at least $100 will be spent on healthcare. That is insane! Think of the repercussions this will have on our entire economy.
And much of this spending is due to preventable health issues. Not genetic issues or things that are out of our control or routine physicals which we all should do. There will always be things you can't control, but a good chunk of healthcare spending (or sick care as I like to call it) is spent on things that need not occur.
I'm going to give you 2 areas of statistics to prove my point.
The first area is obvious...being overweight.
The last time a survey was taken over 60% of our population was either overweight or obese.
This can lead to a whole host of preventable health issues and diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, muscle pain, asthma, etc. The last time I checked all of those health issues require a medication or medical intervention of some sort, and a lot of it.
So, if as a population we were to take care of ourselves a little more and actually eat better and exercise this would greatly decrease the amount of spending on health care.
Many people think they exercise enough because they go for a walk occasionally or play some golf when the weather is nice, but it takes a lot more than leisure activity to lose fat.
Also, I have statistics on my side that says that the majority of people in this country do not exercise.
The CDC reported in their National Health Review that 53% of men NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity. Never!
It gets worse for women. A whopping 65% of women NEVER engage in any vigorous physical activity.
Now you may be thinking that they used the word "vigorous", but vigorous is a relative term and when the government uses that term it usually refers to anything more than a leisurely stroll around the block. Plus what I didn't mention was that 65% of women and 53% of men never engage in vigorous physical activity lasting longer than 10 minutes. 10 minutes!
The second area I want to give you some statistics on are related to back pain.
Back pain is huge in this country and it's mostly because we're too sedentary.
We sit at desks all day, drive too much and sit on the couch too much.
This leads to muscle imbalances, muscle weakness and a whole lot of muscle pain.
As many as 50% of Americans report some type of back pain every year. Some of these may be minor, but as many as 30% of adults have thought their back pain needed a trip to the doctor to help alleviate. That's a lot of people considering our population is around 300 million.
There are some experts that say that as many as 4 out of every 5 people will experience back pain in their lifetime...and not just a little twinge here or there, either.
These next two statistics are staggering. In 2001, close to 14 million people visited their doctor to deal with their back pain, and I think it's safe to say that many of them went more than once.
A Canadian study reported that 40% of all work absences were due to back pain. I don't even want to know how much that equated to in lost revenue.
So do yourself and your country a favor, take care of yourself.
I guarantee that if we got more people exercising, eating better and paying better attention to their bodies that the cost of healthcare will go down.
The only problem is I can't force anyone to do anything, unless that is that you come to my boot camps or train with me...then I can get you moving.
But you know what? Neither can a politician.
You have to take the initiative for yourself and tell yourself that you're going to start exercising more, so get up and start an exercise regimen that includes resistance training and cardio.
Start eating healthier meals that includes lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and packed with fiber.
Start moving around more if you're desk bound or spend a lot of time behind the wheel. For every hour you spend sitting, spend at least 10 minutes up and moving around to keep your muscles limber and the blood flowing. This will do a lot to help curtail back pain. And if you already have back pain, get a massage from a good massage therapist. It will do wonders for your pain.
Think of the children. Sorry, that was too good to pass up. I had to get some politician speak in there when dealing with healthcare.
Ed Scow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
