Fitness Notes

Fitness isn’t just about rigorous exercise. In fact, I looked up and found this definition of fitness in the dictionary:

The state or condition of being physically sound and healthy, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition. A state of general mental and physical well-being.

Overall fitness is maintained in various ways and relates to our daily lifestyle. For most of us, this means sitting by our desk for hours, usually in front of the computer. The result: neck and back pain.

Daily exercise can help, but a single session of one hour, accompanied by 8-10 hours of crammed sitting by your computer is not enough. The key here is taking breaks.

As a webmaster, I know how easy it is to get all wrapped up in your work and stay immobile for an hour or two. That’s very bad news for your body. You have got to find someone or something to remind you to take proper breaks on a regular basis. Here are a few tips -

1. Download one of the many free “take a break” reminders. I use EyesRelax by TechMech. It’s very easy to install and configure. I have it set up for a one minute break every 15 minutes and a longer 5 minutes long break every hour. Here are similar applications reviewed by Download.com.
2. When it’s break time – get away from the computer. Walk around the house or stretch where you can’t see the screen. The idea is to get up and take the pressure of sitting off your lower back. You can use the time to do something else – just not on the computer.
3. Don’t forget your fingers! When it’s break time, move your fingers around, fan them and stretch them.
4. Finally, your eye muscles need exercise too. When it’s break time, try to look outside the window for a while. Experts recommend looking at objects at least 20 feet away from you for a while, then switching back to something closer. Repeat this eye exercise during some of your breaks.

Oops, break time for me here – see you later!

I know losing weight is good for me. I think most overweight people do. But how to harness that knowledge into actual weight loss motivation? For me, I need those actual reminders about just how important weight loss is.

A tweet by @JoyceSchneider1 led me to just the kind of article I needd this morning:

Amazing Facts about Your Heart & Blood Sugar

Joyce Schneider, a gifted writer and cook,  is the wife of Robert G. Schneider, M.D., a cardiologist who specializes in the metabolic syndrome, the relationship between weight, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (heart attack & stroke). Their website Cardiologist Wife is full of concise information, delivered in an easy to read and, in my case, extremely effective way.

For example, take this sentence: “Your blood sugar drops with just a one-pound weight loss. In fact, with just the first ounces off, you’ve made yourself immediately healthier.”  Now, that’s the kind of information that motivates me. Thinking about having to shed a couple of dozens of pounds can be intimidating, but just one pound? hey, even I can do that this week!

Thank you for the encouragement Joyce and Robert!

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist. The following is based on my experience, online research and common sense.

I went vegan eight months ago and never looked back. My reason was not health-related. I just refuse to benefit from the practices of the food production industry. I am not an animal rights activist – I just like cats and dogs and believe other sentient beings such as cows, pigs and chicken, deserve the same kind of consideration for their needs and welfare. I am actually ok with eating them, as long as they are reared with due consideration to their welfare – which not the case today.

With that out of the way, I have to say I find the vegan lifestyle fairly easy. It’s much easier than being vegetarian (which I have tried in the past). I have zero cravings for meats, dairy products or eggs. Milk just doesn’t taste as good anymore – don’t ask me why.

One thing people often ask is: “Without meat, eggs or dairy products, what’s left for you to eat?”

So, here I am today, sharing my favorite vegan sandwich fillings. They’re yummy, very healthy and easy to prepare.

I use only whole-grain breads, and choose these spreads/fillings:

1. Avocado – I absolutely love Avocado. We have two trees of Avocado in our backyard and we get a fresh organic supply during the season. Avocado is great as it is – all you need is a spoon – and it also makes a great sandwich filling. My husband sometimes has it with vegetables, especially tomatoes, but I just like to put a slob of avocado and tuck right in.
2. Hummus – Living in Israel, we have a fair selection of hummus spreads here. Some of them use vegetable oil or even starch which makes them less healthy than the original. I found a good brand (Rafi Cohen’s by Tzabar) that focuses on the original squashed chickpeas with tehini and it tastes real good.
3. Roasted Vegetables – these need to be prepared in advance, but you can keep them in the fridge, covered in olive oil, for several days. To prepare, just roast sliced zucchini, mushrooms, yellow and red peppers, cauliflower, and pretty much any other kind of vegetable you like. I like to sprinkle it all in olive oil and throw a few cloves of garlic into the mixture. I roast them in the oven, uncovered, until their tender and crispy. They get a thick texture that’s perfect for a sandwich. They even come with oil, and a garlicky taste, so no need to add anything else.
4. Halva – when in the mood for something sweet, Halva is a great option. It’s made of tehini, and you can get organic varieties using honey instead of sugar. I am talking of the Israeli/Middle-Eastern variety of Halva – has no flour or anything else. The main problem with Halva is that I have a sweet tooth and find it hard to stop at one piece…

Got more ideas for vegan sandwiches? Leave them here in a comment!

I am definitely at the point where I enjoy my workouts. I love getting out there and doing my running-walking mix. In fact, last Friday, I did a wonderful trail not too far from where I live, out in nature, and it was so awesome I almost drove up there again today.

But, here’s the rub. It would take me too long. Driving there and back, plus the long hike I was fantasizing about – I figure at least two hours, possibly more. Who’s got the extra two hours in the middle of the week? Out the window went that idea went, and I settled for a routine 45 minutes workout in the nearby streets.

I am sharing this story in order to illustrate that I don’t have all the time in the world to exercise. I am a working Mom. Between raising two kids, two cats and a husband, the gazillion projects I manage online, friends and family, time always seems scarce.

We all have so many tasks and chores in our lives, squeezing in the exercise can sometimes seem impossible. Up until a few years ago, I really did think I simply do not have the time to work out. Every minute I didn’t have to put into managing the home, I would try to put into managing my business.

My husband was the one who made me see the light through us having a lengthy talk about one important thing -

Priorities.

You see finding time to exercise can seem impossible, when you put it alongside things like work and managing a home. Now, stop for a minute and think about what exercise really means for your life:

Your Good Health.

Now, let’s try and look at the priorities again: work vs. good health? money vs. good health? clean home vs. good health? Which is really more important to you?

Is getting diabetes in your 40’s worth the clean house, the extra money or career achievements?

As we both considered that, things suddenly became crystal clear. Of course my health is more important. This isn’t about a fun stroll in the park. It’s about making sure my kids have a healthy Mom for years to come. Nothing is more important than that.

So now, I do have the time to exercise. It comes before house chores and before my work. I no longer have to find time to squeeze in my workouts into a busy schedule. I schedule the workouts first, and then build the rest of my activities around that. I still rant about lack of time, but now my rants are not about lack of time to exercise. Priorities. That’s all it is.

I haven’t ran or done any exercising in about a week. I thought I had a great excuse too: I have a cold. Nothing too dramatic, no fever, no flu aches, just your average cold, with sneezing, some coughing, congested sinuses… you know, the common cold. For at least three days, all I wanted to do is rest in bed. Not that I did – I am a Mom and Moms only get full bedrest if their minding a fetus at the time.

What I did take a break from was my C25K running plan. I figured, if you’re sick, you need to let your body heal, right? And isn’t rest part of the healing? This view was shared by everyone around me, so nothing was easier than skipping a week of practice, albeit with some pangs of regret over losing momentum.

Looks like I was wrong though. I finally did some reading online today and turns out not only you can exercise and run when you have a cold, it’s even recommended. Not talking about anything with a fever, or the flu, but if your symptoms are limited to coughing and sneezing, some head pain and a stuffy nose, running may actually help you feel better.

I found this interesting article about this subject, where they cite an actual research about this:

The investigators found no difference in symptoms between the group that exercised and the one that rested. And there was no difference in the time it took to recover from the colds. But when the exercisers assessed their symptoms, Dr. Kaminsky said, “people said they felt O.K. and, in some cases, they actually felt better.

In other words, exercise won’t make you heal faster, but it should make you feel a bit better. At the very least, you won’t be worse off for it and you will be sticking to your plan.

So, I guess no more excuses for me? I think I might just put the theory to the test this afternoon!

I may be a mere humble novice when it comes to running, but one thing I learned fairly quickly: shoes matter. A lot.

Even I can tell the difference. A new pair of quality running shoes makes me run better and helps me avoid my typical running injury: runner’s knee.

Here are my running shoes tips – hope you find them helpful:

1. Read up. Running shoes is hi-tech science these days, with custom-made solutions for various issues. Read shoe reviews and runner’s reviews before you make up your mind. Remember: what works for your best friend won’t necessarily work for you. I highly recommend the six articles in Runner’s World Foot Diagnostics section.
2. Invest in a visit to a proper running store where they analyse your gait and let you know what kind of shoe works for you. Once you have that, shopping elsewhere and even online becomes much easier. I’ve done the gait analysis routine twice already and in my case, my gait actually changed a little bit in the space of a year (probably due to my weight loss).
3. New shoes literally have more bounce in them. I can feel the quality deteriorating over time, and being overweight, I prefer to err on the side of caution and change to a new pair of shoes earlier than recommended by the manufacturer. For me, that means a new pair of shoes every six months or so.
4. This is a personal choice, but since going vegan this year, I’ve decided to opt for vegan shoes too. No, I don’t eat my shoes… I just prefer for them to be made without the involvement of livestock corporates. I’m going to dedicate a post to the vegan shoes issue soon and recommend a brand for you too.

That’s it, basically. Not a running shoes shopping guide, just my own personal take on the topic. What’s your take on shopping for running shoes? Leave me comments or tweet me @israelimom!

I just love the acronym – C25K. It sounds so professional and almost military-like. And the best part most people don’t know it, so it has a mysterious note as well

So what is C25K?

C25K stands for - Couch to 5 Kilometers.

Get it? Couch potato to/2 5K of running.

From this:

To this:

(Dogs are optional)

The idea is to gradually get yourself from zero running to running three miles or five kilometers. Gradually being the key word here.

It may sound strange to real couch potatoes (I know I was one for many years!) but running can actually be addictive. It’s too easy to have a good run and then, high on adrenalin, keep going, running for longer than you had planned. It may feel good while your high on the endorphines, but it’s a recipe for a sports injury.

You see, it’s not all about your mind. Your body has to adjust to running. Muscles, joints, ligaments, they all go through physiological changes that enable long runs. Push it, and you risk an injury that will put a stop to your running, at least for several weeks.

The famous C25K program was developed by the experts of CoolRunning.com as a way to ensure a smooth transition from total couch potato to a runner. It’s made of week-long units, each consisting of three workouts. The workouts are combined of walking and running intervals, measured either by time or by distance. The idea is to run slow, so as not to hurt your body, gradually increasing run times and decreasing the walking/rest periods.

So I’m following the C25K program. Here are my own personal adjustments:

• I’ve decided to take it even more gradually, and repeat each week twice. It’s my fourth week but I’m still on week 2 of the program. My goal is to keep running for the long term and avoid injuries, so why rush it?
• Each session includes five minutes of brisk walking as your warmup. Warm body tissue is less prone to injury, so I’ve decided to have a 12 minutes long warmup instead. I have read this is recommended for runners over 35 years old, and figured better be safe than sorry. Besides, that’s seven more minutes of burning calories!
• I use Robert’s Ullrey’s podcasts for my training. Robert made these awesome MP3 tracks you can use where he guides you through the C25K session, letting you when to run and when to walk. With some nice upbeat music in the background, and his relaxed voice encouraging me, these podcasts are invaluable to me.  You can download the MP3 podcasts right here.

If you’re a couch potato and consider going for it, I highly recommend this program. It’s available, free of charge, right here. And if you’re new to running, make sure you go over their section for beginners. Leave me a comment here if you do – I’d love to hear about other new runners!

Third week into my new running regime, I can answer this with a “yes!”.

Why run? basically, because I want (need) to work out. Walking just gets too boring after a while. Running is harder but much more fun.

If you saw me, you’d probably raise an eyebrow. I am a 37 years old overweight mother and I don’t look like an athlete. I was never the athletic type in my life. I was the kid that avoided running in school. I even avoided running in the army, strolling along the path during officers course, while the other cadettes were running along.

I guess the Internet made me start running. Reading about fitness, running came up again and again. People seemed addicted. I really wanted to give it a try, but wasn’t sure where to start. Then I found the Couch to 5K running program. Well, couch potato I was, so I had a good starting point! I decided to give it a try, skeptic as I was.

It was like a miracle. Gradually, week by week, I managed to complete the plan. Two and a half months later, I did it – I ran my first 5K (actually, a bit longer). For real runners, it may sound funny – it’s only five kilometers (or three miles). For a couch potato like me it was nothing short of a miracle.

It did come at a cost though – during the last month of the program, I had to end each run with elevated feet and ice packs on my knees. I gave myself some recovery time afterwards. It lasted a bit longer than anticipated… Then we traveled, and then I just got lazy, and here I am less than a year later, having to start the C25K all over again…

I’ve decided to go at it at a slower pace this time around, to try and minimize the risk of injury. Instead of taking 9 weeks to finish this, I am taking 18, repeating each week’s program for another week. Hopefully, this will let my body adjust more gradually and protect my knees.

Wish me luck!

The FIRM Total Body TransFIRMation Kit is a ten-piece, Low Impact workout set designed for rigorous exercise of an aerobic style with a duration and intensity set by an accomopanying video CD set, complete with 210 minutes of very informed and excellent workout programming. Perfect for toning and for general fitness, it contains secrets to weight loss training as well as full body aerobic training regimens.

Accomanying parts include this set of CardioWeights which are the Firm’s most effective fitness tool yet, with a pair of 1-pound handles and 8 pounds of additional weight, letting you customize your workout depending on your strength or fitness goals. The packaged information on the CD’s is priceless and it includes four different impact exercise regimes, from fat-burning focus to a focus on cardio vascular workouts and pure strength training.

For more on this most interesting training aid, and for user reviews as well, click here

Stamina Rowing Machine works an incredibly wide array of muscle groups in a truly compact and moveable package which is easy to put up and store without taking up the room of machines twice its size. The machine’s ball-bearing roller system and the adjustable cylinder reistance arms mimic the feel of rowing on water near perfectly. It’s tough steel frame and aluminum center beam are engineered to last for long years.

Rowing is one of the very best and most effective low impact aerobic exercises around. It utilizes all the major muscle groups from back to arms, legs, abdominals and buttocks. Stregnthen your back while getting an ample aerobic workout which will increase endurance and heart strength at the same time. At the same time, you can lose body fat by working out without the pain or risk of impacting joints. The fat-burning quality of aerobic exercise involving rowing not only discards fat and develops tone, but it also supplies a heart rate workout of almost any duration.

For more on this cool product and for user reviews, please click here.