A refreshing approach to looking and feeling your best.
Summertime health & fitness have never looked better. Beauty comes from within; and with that in mind, it’s time to refresh your body, renew your goals and revitalize your wellness strategy. Feeling good is just as important as looking good so, as you gear up for summer and outdoor fun, take a minute to review your overall plan, ensuring it incorporates exercise, nutrition and savvy beautification.
Mind
The most active muscle in your body is your brain and staying mentally active has been shown to promote healthy brain function. Performing simple activities, such as doing crosswords and playing cards or chess, offers a simple and effective way to exercise and strengthen your mind and memory, while physical training can give your brain cells an oxygen boost. Keep it fresh. Try learning new sports, such as sailing, skiing, even ballroom dancing – all can offer surprisingly invigorating workouts. Check out your local dance studio or water sports outfitters. Benefits include improved health and an enhanced social life.
The good news is we’re living longer, healthier lives. Research shows that we can even reverse the signs of aging if we factor in certain lifestyle choices, such as increasing strength, restricting calories, getting quality rest and decreasing stress.
Body Building
Island living makes it easier to find healthy activities. The key to pursuing fitness is to keep it varied and interesting. From tennis to golf, swimming, walking, biking or jogging on the beach, the critical element is to keep your body moving. But, in addition to recreation, your body needs daily exercise, 30 minutes of cardiovascular, varied with strength training. From personal trainers to private gyms, the trends point to cross-training for building muscle and improving endurance. “It also helps avoid injury,” said local health and fitness expert Don Foxe. “You use different muscles in different ways, the best way to overall fitness.”
Consistency is key. Set aside the time, start slowly and build. If it’s fun, you’re more likely to keep doing it. Try a class, listen to music, and try to recapture how you felt when you were young. Playing was fun and exercise can be, too. Having the right equipment is important. Invest in a good, supportive pair of walking or running shoes to avoid hip and knee injury. Buy a yoga mat, get down and do some yoga moves and stretches. Elastic tubing is perfect. It weighs nothing; you can pull it out anytime and do everything you can at the club, strength training, resistance, and conditioning. Pedometers are also helpful tools; they make you aware of how much you’re moving. “But if you just want to move and have fun, try Zumba, the fitness class with Latin music and dance,” suggested Foxe.
Cross-training is offered in more ways than one. Belly dancing, a very effective, fun and unique exercise, is becoming more popular, and increasing interest in pilates and yoga has generated more classes at every level, from beginner to advanced.
Yogilates, for example, is a dynamic class, which combines traditional yoga with pilates mat technique.
Pilates, one of the fastest growing forms of exercise, is known for strengthening core muscles and decreasing stress. Pilates focuses on engaging the mind with the body and breath while it strengthens and lengthens.
“Pilates also increases flexibility, coordination, alignment, and balance, and yoga goes hand in hand with pilates,” said local proponent Lynne Anderson.
Balancing mind and body, yoga is known to have many health benefits. Yoga builds strength and tones muscles while reducing stress and tension. It also can improve circulation, digestion, concentration and focus. Many are drawn to yoga for these reasons, and also because it is usually offered in a small, intimate settings.
Yin yoga, one form of the popular exercise, is “a gentle practice, which builds flexibility and increases range of motion,” according to expert Jean Rioux.
Eating Well
With mouth-watering melons, freshly caught fish, local berries and greens, it’s easy to eat well and prepare healthy summer menus.
Most of us are familiar with the USDA’s Food Pyramid. These easy to follow dietary guidelines instruct us to eat plenty of grains, fruit and vegetables, and make healthy choices, such as soy milk, low-fat milk, and cheeses. This does not mean sacrificing flavor; today’s innovative menus feature seasonal fruits and fresh ingredients, such as grilled pears with watercress salad or mixed sweet berries in a ginger sauce, proving you can eat well and keep saturated fats and cholesterol low.
“The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook” offers tantalizing recipes that encourage you to enjoy eating superb foods that also happen to have health benefits. It advocates a healthy weight pyramid, based on a foundation of vegetables and fruits, rather than grains and carbohydrates. This can lower risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer since fruits and vegetables have fiber, antioxidants and vitamins, which work together to combat certain diseases. Healthy fats, such as avocados, olives, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils, can reportedly help prevent heart disease, as can fish – many contain omega-3 fatty acids, shown to lower triglycerides, and help regulate blood pressure. Simple suppers will refresh your palate without breaking your resolve; such as macadamiaencrusted salmon served with grilled radicchio, and grilled fish or chicken paired with fresh greens or sweet corn salsa.
Proactive routine & Renewal
Rejuvenate yourself and reset your personal destination to achieve fitness and better health. Take walks on the beach, around the neighborhood, work in your garden, bike to the store, play some tennis and have friends over for a casual summer meal. Make healthy choices. Think about where you want to be, not just at the end of the summer, but as you live your life well.
