Holiday Fitness Strategies

The CBS Early Show and their Fitness Contributor Minna Lessig provide some good tips for the holiday season. As you peruse the tips, you shouldn't feel overwhelmed but look for 1 or 2 strategies that are realistic for you to incorporate into your daily regiment.

Here are some more holiday fitness tips from Minna:

• Add exercise to your "to do" list and give it the same importance as your other errands.
  
  
• Maximize your time. Use your lunch break to walk to a nearby shopping center to do holiday errands. Try to do anything that gets you moving. All activities add up -- lugging a toddler around house, taking stairs instead of escalator when shopping, or going window shopping.
  
  
• Focus on fitness during the weekends. Get outside for an hour or more of skiing, snowshoeing, hiking or sledding with your kids. If you're in a warm-weather state, use the time for a long bike ride.
  
  
• Shoveling snow or chopping wood is a great workout. You'll burn several hundred calories doing either task. Just make sure to protect your back.
  
  
• Keep an exercise journal. This can help you stay motivated by making daily exercise goals for yourself and keeping track of what you have accomplished. This also might deter you from overeating.

The holiday season is the time for weight maintenance. Set realistic goals. Weight loss may be slower during the holidays.

There are many tempting foods and you should not deprive yourself. Make sure that you can enjoy the moment of splurging, and then return to your original preparation plan. Regaining control and getting back to your regular eating style and workout schedule is what is important. Feeling guilty will only weaken your motivation and prevent you from being active.

Keep track of how many calories you are burning and how many calories you are taking in.

Here are some popular Thanksgiving food and drinks:

• Eggnog, 1 cup serving, 342 calories 18 grams of fat
  
• Cranberry sauce, 1 slice, 1/2-inch thick, 86 calories 0 fat
  
• Stuffing, 1/2 cup, 178 calories 8.6 fat
  
• dark meat turkey, no skin, 3.5 oz., 187 calories 7.2 fat
  
• gravy, 1/4 cup, 30 calories 2 fat
  
• homemade pumpkin pie, 1/8 of a 9-inch pie, 316 calories 14 fat
  
• homemade pecan pie, 1/8 of 9-inch pie, 502 calories 27 fat
  
• Brussels sprouts, plain with salt, 1/2 cup serving, 31 calories 0 fat
  
• Carrots, plain with salt, 1/2 cup serving, 26 calories 0 fat

Here are some activities and the number of calories they burn (for a 150-pound person, on average):

• Stationary bike (at moderate level): 504 calories/hour
  
• Elliptical trainer (general): 648 calories/hour
  
• Stairmaster: 432 calories/hour
  
• Running (11.5 min/mile): 648 calories/hour
  
• Walking (17 min/mile): 288 calories/hour

Nutrition and Energy Tips for the Workday

Energy management should be one of the principal concerns of the working man, and yet the average guy fuels his body the way he gases up his vehicle: when it's running on fumes.It's a red ­warning ­light response, and it usually triggers a pit stop for a cafe au lait and a croissant. But there's a better way to wake up that doesn't involve overpriced coffee: Eat smart. And eat often. More specifically, snack often. By snacking on the right foods at strategic times, you'll keep your energy levels stoked all day, says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, R.D. Here's what to eat when, with the prep time you've got.

7 A.M.: Jump ­Start Your Body
They call it breakfast for a reason: You haven't eaten for at least 8 hours. Your blood ­sugar level is at its lowest ebb, and now it's time to fuel up with protein and some fat, but mostly with complex carbohydrates.

At home: Grab a bowl and mix together a 3:1 ratio of Fiber One cereal plus Honey Nut Cheerios (Or cereal of choice). Add 1⁄2 cup of 2 percent milk. That'll give you fat, protein,and long ­burning fiber, plus a little sweetness to spike your blood sugar and help wake you up. Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales gave 150 men and women either high ­fiber or low ­fiber cereal every morning for 2 weeks. At the end of the study, those people who ate the most fiber also reported feeling the most energetic. "Fiber helps slow down the absorption of food in the stomach, so you have more energy over a sustained period of time," says Elizabeth Kunkel, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of food science at Clemson University.

In the car: Munch on a pack of Frito ­Lay Trail Mix. These single ­serving tubes of nuts,raisins, and chocolate chips cost just a dollar, and you can dump one right into your mouth while you navigate rush ­hour traffic. The raisins provide potassium — a mineral your body needs to convert sugar in the blood into energy. As for the nuts, they're high in magnesium.When magnesium levels are low, your body hikes its production of lactic acid — the same fatigue ­inducing substance that causes your muscles to burn when you're pushing yourself to crank out that third superset.

At your desk: Dig into Knudsen Cottage Doubles while checking your e­mail. These to ­gobowls of cottage cheese come with a side of fruit. Eat them separately or stir the fruit in to the cottage cheese to make it more flavorful. Besides being high in muscle ­building protein,cottage cheese is a good source of calcium and phosphorus, two minerals that help build your muscles' energy reserves. Researchers in Denmark found that men who replaced 20 percent of the carbohydrates in their diet with a high ­protein food like cottage cheese not only had more energy, but also revved up their metabolisms, increasing the number of calories they burned each day by up to 5 percent.

10:30 A.M.: Prevent Midmorning Malaise
It takes your body 2 to 3 hours to break down the sugars in the food you eat, release them into your bloodstream, and convert them into energy. Go longer than that without eating again and your energy levels will start to fade.

At your desk: Drink a bottle of lightly sweetened tea — we like Tazo and Honest Tea. The sugar will help to elevate your blood sugar, while the caffeine improves your mental alertness. Compounds in the tea itself also help boost metabolism. Swiss researchers found that men who drank green tea burned more calories during the day than men who didn't;USDA researchers made a similar discovery regarding men drinking black tea. And if that weren't enough, drinking tea also helps prevent dehydration. "Losing just 2 percent of your body's water weight can decrease energy levels by 20 percent," says Susan M. Kleiner,Ph.D., R.D., author of Power Eating.

In a catered meeting: Skip the dough nuts and pastries and grab a handful of fresh berries instead. Since fruit breaks down slowly in the body, it provides a more gradual dose of sugar for the bloodstream. "Your brain is constantly burning sugar for fuel, so maintaining an adequate supply of sugar in your bloodstream at all times is one of the key strategies for keeping energy levels high," says J. Mark Davis, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.

Noon: Eat a Power Lunch
By lunchtime, your blood ­sugar level doesn't need an immediate boost. Instead, stock up on sources of long­term energy to get you to quitting time.

At a business lunch: Order the tuna fillet. The omega­3s found in fish are one of the primary building blocks of brain tissue, so they're vital for keeping your mind sharp."Omega­3s also increase the flexibility of red blood cells, boosting blood flow and the supply of energy ­providing oxygen throughout the body," says Douglas Bibus, Ph.D., a lipid researcher at the University of Minnesota and editor of Omega­3 News.

In the cafeteria: Drizzle olive oil and vinaigrette dressing over a salad topped withc hicken, ham, or hard­boiled egg. The oil in the dressing will help slow down digestion of the protein and carbs in the salad, stabilizing blood ­sugar levels and keeping energy levels high, says Richard Podell, M.D., a clinical professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson medical school in New Jersey.

At the drive thru: Order a Taco Bell bean burrito with extra hot sauce. Australian researchers found that men who'd eaten spicy foods stayed alert and energetic longer than men who'd eaten other foods. A burrito's power comes from its beans, which are rich in riboflavin and niacin — two vitamins your body needs to convert sugar into energy.

3:30 P.M.: Beat the Afternoon Slump
Work stress has taken its toll. Fight fatigue with these.

In the cafeteria: Grab a carton of Dannon Light n' Fit yogurt when your energy starts to waver. High ­protein foods like yogurt are good sources of amino acids, such as tyrosine. "The body uses tyrosine to create a chemical called nor epinephrine, which helps reduce the effects of stress, boost energy levels, and keep the brain alert," says tyrosine expert JanBerend Deijen, Ph.D.

At your desk: Snack on crackers and peanut butter, which provide quick carb energy plus long ­burning protein and fat.

Mulch Walking/Running Trail

With the dedicated help of Sue Brown and her staff, Washington College has a mulch walking/running trail on campus.

Trail Distance and Location:
1 Lap: .65 miles
2 laps: 1.3 miles

The mulch trail starts at the base of the bridge which takes you to the cemetery. It goes along perimeter of campus by cemetery and turns right past the softball field You will then walk between Shriver Field and the bank of the practice soccer field. The trail turns right at the end of Shriver Field, and goes between the 3 fields and the bypass (291/Morgnec Rd.). It then turns right at the corner of bypass 1 and the edge of the RR Bank, and you will finish back at the platform tennis courts and the bridge.

Trivia Question: Nov. 1-7

Which of the following is the most “desirable” reading for total amount of cholesterol per
mg/dl?
A) 240 mg/dl
B) 230 mg/dl
C) 220 mg/dl
D) 200 mg/dl or less

Wellness Bestsellers

Along with the walking, lifting, running, and sweating that we are engaging in day to day, I have offered some of my favorite books that have influenced my life. As we become healthier, I would also like to challenge your brain with this literature, and in doing so, it will add to our knowledge base and our overall health and wellness.

Training and Fitness:
Core Performance (This is for maximizing athletic performance)
Core Essentials (This is for the regular person wanting to improve all aspects of the body)
Core Endurance (This is for the our swimmers, runners, and bikers)
By Mark Verstegen

Mark Verstegen has been one of my main educational resources for performance training and keeping my body flexible, strong, and injury free.

General Health
YOU: The Owner's Manual, An Insider's Guide to the Body That Will Make You Healthier and Younger
YOU: Staying Young
YOU: On a Diet
By Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz

The "YOU" series of books are exceptional at explaining all aspects of healthy living. The simplicity and creative analogies used in this book will open your eyes to easy and fun ways to create a healthier you. They also have an interesting way of predicting your "Real Age". Through the book, they use daily stressors or positives that add and subtract years to your actual age. Check it out for more details

Nutrition and the American Way of Eating:
The Omnivores Dilemma
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants)
By Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is a brilliant writer who draws the reader into the issues of health in todays world. Through his research, he provides the reader with data and information about the Western Diet and the need for adjustments and change to become a healthier society as a whole.

Cardiovascular Training Tips

For all of the runners, walkers, ellipticalers, bikers, and rowers out there, I have listed a couple training tips that will boost your gains, occupy your mind, and burn more calories than some of our current programs.

Keys to cardiovascular interval training:
1.) Focus on % output: 100% would be sprinting or attempting to move as fast as possible

• If you are training, think of varying your % output (intervals) by going faster than normal for a desired amount of time and then rest. Sample: 1 min fast walk, 1 min slow walk, repeat.

2.) Elevated Heart Rate:

• This is a rarely used aspect of training, but it is one of the main reasons individuals don't get the results from hours of perceived cardiovascular training.
• Look to elevate your heart rate through greater intensity. Please be aware of not going too high, but challenge yourself.
  

Maximum Heart Rate Equation: 220-your age= Approx. Maximum Heart Rate

3.) Greater Muscle Recruitment: More Muscles Engaged, More Calories Burned

• Another benefit to training more aggressively is that your muscles (not just your heart) have to work harder to keep up the elevated pace.
• This will burn more calories while working out and many more post workout because of regeneration and muscle activation.

4.) Visual and Mental Cues: Instead of the daunting task of a 30 min run or 30 min walk, interval training uses Baby Steps. If you walk and talk and set incremental goals through your workout without looking at the total time/distance left, the 30min will be there before you know it.

• If you do not have the luxury of a stopwatch, speed tracker, heart rate monitor, and the other bells and whistles, do not fret.
  
• Outdoor Walker: Use telephone polls, streets, and other landmarks to push yourself. "Lets walk fast to the 3rd light post, after that lets walk slow for 3 more, and so on"

Sample Workouts: Treadmill, Elliptical, Stair Stepper, Walking, Running, etc...
Each workout can be modified to fit you. Please get creative but challenge yourself!

#1:
5 min warm up
10 repetitions of 1:15min hard(80%) and 45 sec slow/rest
5 min cool down

#2:
5 min warm up
3 reps of 2 min hard(70% of best effort) and 1 min slow/rest
3 reps 1:15 min hard(80%) and 45 sec slow/rest
5 reps 30 sec. hard(90%) and 30 sec slow/rest
5 min cool down

#3: Hills/Higher Resistance
5 min warm up
8 reps of 2 min uphill, decrease incline slow/rest
Increase incline or resistance with each interval
5 min cool down

Core/Abdominal Workout

This core workout targets all areas of your midsection from your obliques, to your lower abs, to upper abs, and to your transverse muscles. Some of the exercises call for 2 sets to failure, and that means that you perform the exercise until you cannot maintain technique because of fatigue.

Decline Straight or Bent Leg Raise: 2 x failure (Lower Abs)
Lying backwards onthe decline bench and holding the handle, draw both legs as high as possible. Lower your legs and repeat till failure.














Decline Twisting Crunch: 2 x failure (Upper Abs, Obliques)
Lying back in the decline bench, draw your self to your knees and as you come up twist your trunk so that your chest is facing to the left. Drop your body back down and repeat on the other side.


















Toe Touches: 2 x failure (Upper Abs)
While on the floor with your feet straight in the air, try to touch your hands to your toes while keeping the legs in the same position.













Elevated Mountain Climbers: Knee to Opposite Elbow, Knee Wide of Elbow: 2 x failure
(Transverse Muscles, Lower Abs, Obliques)
Start in a push up position and draw your right knee to your left elbow while keeping your body still. Then send your leg back, squeezing your glute (butt) and draw your right knee wide of your right elbow. Place your foot back on the floor and repeat with your left leg





















Physioball Reverse Back Extensions: 2 x 12 (Low Back) After jackknifing your body on the physioball, draw your feet as high as possible contracting your low back. Lower your legs and repeat.

Lower Body Strength Workout

The exercises below target the major muscle groups of the lower body (hamstrings, quadriceps, and glutes). Perform 2 sets of 12 repetitions for each exercise. If you focus on these core exercises, you will strengthen your low back, knees, and ankles while toning and burning calories.

Goblet Squats: 2 x 12












Physioball Hamstring Curls: 2 x 12


















Barbell Box or Bench Step Up: 2 x 8 each leg




















Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 12

Upper Body Strength Workout

The strength exercises below target the major muscle groups of the upper body. If you are just starting, do 2 sets of 12 repetitions for each exercise 2 to 3 times per week. As you increase your strength and efficiency in doing the workout, you can circuit the exercise, which means to do 1 set of each exercise back to back etc... without rest. After completing all exercises, rest 1-5 min and repeat 1 or 2 more times.

The weight used for each exercise should be challenging in the last 2 reps of each set. Err on the side of caution, but once you feel comfortable with the technique, increase continue increasing the weight for the most beneficial results and highest caloric burn.

Upper Body Exercises

Seated Chest Press: 2 x 12










Seated Rows: 2 x 12


Arnold Press: 2 x 12 ( The name is in honor of the Governor of California)


Lat Pulldown: 2 x 12

Exercise of the Week

Bridge Circuit: Perform both exercises back to back and repeat 2 times.
These exercises are for Core Stabilization and will strengthen your abs, low back, hips while improving shoulder stability and posture.

Front Bridge: Lie facedown while resting on your forearms w/ elbows under shoulders and bent 90 degrees, Push onto your elbows and make a straight line from ears to heels. Keep belly button draw tight. Hold for 30sec-1min and rest. Repeat 4 times








Side Bridge: Lying on your side, w/ elbow down from the shoulder. Draw hip up to the sky making a straight line from head to heels. Hold that alignment for 30 sec and switch sides. Repeat 4 times on each side.

Trivia Question

October 27th-30th

What is the best way to lose weight effectively?

A. Cut out in between meal snacks
B. Eat 3 square meals a day
C. Skip breakfast
D. Eat frequent small meals every 3 hour or so

Nutrition Tip of the Week

Perhaps we eat more simply because bathing suit season is over, and we can start hiding excess calories beneath our winter clothes. Whatever the reason, it's important to realize that fall foods (soups, stews, breads, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, pumpkins and all types of greens) can actually be healthier than foods of other seasons. They are typically packed with great nutrients, such as fiber, protein, beta carotene and vitamin C.

Here are a few tips to keep the fall tasty and healthy:

1. Soups are great for you if they're not made with cream or cheese. Just watch serving sizes -- we tend to eat whatever's in our bowls.

2. Stews can be hearty and fattening. Use loads of fresh vegetables, and go light on the meat and potatoes.

3. Avoid unconscious eating while watching football and the new fall TV lineup. Never bring the whole bag or bowl of anything to the couch or coffee table-- pre-measure it in the kitchen beforehand. When it comes to chips, make sure they're baked, not fried.

4. For pizza, watch the toppings--they can double the calories.

5. Celebrate the fall harvest in other ways besides making pies. Apples are low in calories when they're off the tree, not in a pie.

6. If it's gotta be pie, try making pumpkin pie with artificial sweetener, egg whites and low-fat milk. And of course, just have one piece. Keep in mind that pumpkin seeds have about 300 calories per 1/4 cup.

7. Turkey is healthy, as long as you keep it lean and white.

8. Get out and enjoy the fall weather. The air is cooler, the leaves are turning

Fall into Wellness Program

This wellness program focuses on promoting healthy living among Washington College Faculty/Staff. Through the program, we will challenge individuals to sign up and workout 35 of the next 50 days. Each member will be encouraged to do activities including, walking, running, dance, biking, household chores, gardening, weight lifting, etc..., but the key is to be active for at least 30 minutes a day.