Posted on Wednesday, 31st March 2010 by

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Once again it’s time to hit the road on our Bus To Great Health. In my last article, at stop #10 – Plan Your Journey, we learned the acronym GETFIT which taught us to set Goals, ensure adequate Evaluation of our journey, to have realistic Time frames, to get and stay Fit, to track and record the Information for our progress and to be Tenacious in our efforts.

I’m sure that all of you have set your goals, established your tracking parameters, and are tenaciously working toward a new you. If you haven’t, go ahead and do it now. I’ll never know.  Personally, I’m practicing what I’m preaching. To provide an example of how goals translate into action I am going to share one of my goals and how I’m going about achieving it.

My first goal for 2010 is: “By the end of this golfing season I will have increased the length of my drives by 20 yards.” This may not seem like a fitness related goal, however, in order to accomplish this goal I need to increase my physical strength, greatly improve my flexibility and stamina, and, of course, improve my golf swing. I’ve acquired a flexibility program specifically for addressing the golfing muscles and have been following it religiously since the beginning of the year. My treadmill and Soloflex have been getting the workouts of their lives, I’ve established a practice routine to work on my swing, and I’ve recommitted myself to my weight management program –yes, of course I’m using the Shaklee Cinch program. The golf flexibility routine is absolutely outstanding and I highly recommend it to everyone whether or not you’re a golfer. I can’t believe the difference in my mobility. I do this daily and it really helps. Check it out at Fredericks Golf. To date, I’ve lost 20 pounds and 1.5” from my waist, doubled the time I can spend on the treadmill (I have a NordicTrack manual treadmill) and, although I’ve only been able to play golf a few times so far, I can tell that my golf swing is longer and more fluid. I’ll have more details once I can begin measuring and tracking distances, but I have no doubt I’ll achieve my goal. With that as a backdrop, it’s time for our next stop on the Bus to Great Health.

#9 – Back To Basics. I’m sure you’ve all heard the old adage that without a solid foundation, any structures you build will soon crumble. This is also true where your health and wellness is concerned, and March is the perfect time to discuss these basics.

March is National Nutrition Month, a nutrition information and education campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association, designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. For more info on this visit www.eatright.org/nnm.

This year’s theme is Nutrition from the Ground up and fits perfectly into our back to basics concept. A healthier life doesn’t happen instantly. You need to start slowly, build a solid foundation, stay committed and tenacious and, over time, you’ll build that healthier life we all want.

Here are a few suggestions to improve your nutrition from the ground up as suggested by the American Dietetic Association and strongly endorsed by yours truly:

Focus on fruits and veggies. If you’ve been reading my articles, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I continually encourage everyone to eat a more plant-based diet. The quantity of fruits and veggies required varies by age and sex. More information on this can be found at www.mypyramid.gov. I know that not everyone likes all fruits and vegetables, so find those you like and add them to your diet until you get to the recommended amounts. Try adding a serving each day to a meal and increase it every few weeks. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

Support your local markets. With spring comes the new growing season and lots of fresh, local produce. Yummy! Get out there and support your local growers. You’ll not only be helping the economy, but you’ll be getting these important nutrients in their freshest and best form. Choose lots of colorful plants. They contain essential phyto-nutrients and antioxidants as well as essential vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Lo-Cal is not necessarily better. We often tend to classify foods as “good” or “bad” based on their caloric content. Often times, those lo-cal foods are void of the essential vitamins and minerals that we’re eating them for in the first place. A rule of thumb is that people, with an average lifestyle, require approximately 1500 calories/pound of body weight to maintain that weight, and each pound represents 3600 calories. Therefore, a 200 pound person requires 3000 calories/day to stay at 200 pounds. If that same person wants to weigh 175 pounds and goes on a 2000 calorie/day diet, they would be reducing their intake by 1000 calories/day and would lose approximately 1 pound every 3.5 days, and reach their goal in about 3 months. More specific info on how any calories you may need can also be found at www.mypyramid.gov. Of course, you can also drop me a note and I’ll be glad to work with you and help you reach any weight related goals.

The Basics and your taste buds. The basics of any well-designed eating plan emphasizes fruits and vegetables (fresh if at all possible), whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy, lean meats, poultry, fish, beans and nuts, and ½ your body weight in ounces of pure water daily. Within these foods you will find numerous opportunities to tantalize your taste buds. Get creative, try new things, experiment and you may find that you’ll have some new favorites to add to your weekly shopping list, and improve your health at the same time.

Finally, even though you may be following all these suggestions, getting all the nutrients we need for a healthy lifestyle may not be possible with food choices alone. Adding a quality supplementation program will guarantee that you’re getting your daily values of all required vitamins and minerals. The best I’ve come across is Shaklee’s Vitalizer strip. These convenient strips include everything you need on a daily basis and comes in formulations for men, women and seniors. To get more information and to order your supply, Click Here for Vitalizer.

In my next article I’ll focus on stop #8 on our Bus To Great Health, Prevention. Until then, I remain,

Yours in Good Health,

Cj

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