Healthy Tips as 2015 Comes to an End
In this, our last Healthy Living segment for 2015, we compile some of the top health tips offered by our medical, mental health and fitness experts during the outgoing year. It is our hope that this flashback will help you to maintain a healthier living over the last few weeks of 2015.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
In the past few weeks we brought you a number of tips from some of our favorite experts. To close of the year we want to give you a roundup of advice to keep your mind and body in tip top shape right through to 2016. Let’s start with the body, here’s some advice from health & fitness coach Ed Williams on how to get ready for the inevitable feasting.
Ed Williams
Ed Williams, Health & Fitness Coach [File: December 3rd, 2015 ]
“Let’s say this weekend I’m going to visit my aunt and there will be lots of food or you’re really going to have a weekend where it’s going to be challenging because there’s going to be lots of food or whatever. The way you can prepare for that is if you do a depletion workout. The muscles are like sponges they have glycogen in them and that’s the source of quick energy. Now when we do a depletion exercise, we squeeze this glycogen out of our muscle. That’s why we call it depletion. It has to be intense though. So, the muscles are like sponges, so when you take glycogen out they have capacity to take more. So when you go on your binge. You can eat free because all the calories will go to replenish your muscles instead of storing them around your waist.”
Now even with the addition of a depletion workout you may still overindulge a bit on Christmas day, but don’t worry you can try this yoga pose, demonstrated by Om Shanti’s Michelle Williams.
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams, Owner/Operator, Om Shanti Belize [File: December 17th, 2015]
“There’s one particular pose that you can do after you’ve eaten and actually it is even particularly good when you’ve overeaten and that’s called hero’s pose. But the other poses, I’d like to suggest that you wait a little while—between half an hour and maybe an hour—and then you go into your stretches. Hero’s Pose is sitting on your heels with your knees together. That’s one variation. You can also use props like bolsters or blocks and people with knee problems use it to be elevated a little bit. It is just sitting with your hands on your ties and just lengthen your body and just deep breathe. This can be done right after you’ve eating. It’s just a matter of calming the system, allow everything to flow and work its way down. And continuing to breathe. There’s different variations; you can actually take your hands back, about eight inches away from your body and gently lift your chest and take your head back and that’s just gently stretching the abdomen.”
How about mental health? What happens if you’re the only one stuck with the blues while everyone is enjoying the Christmas merriment? Mental health Therapist had this piece of advice.
Jennifer Lovell
Jennifer Lovell, Mental Health Therapist [File: December 10th, 2015]
“The thing is that I wouldn’t put on this happy face. If I am feeling sad, I’m feeling sad and I will explain to you why I’m feeling sad. We all have to have one person that we trust that we can talk to and share some of the burden. Whenever you have a burden, you need someone that you can share that with. But I clearly would not say you go out there and put on a happy face and then go out there and cry. It would go away, but it will take time.”
Of course if the feelings of sadness persist, it is time to see a professional counselor.
The final piece of advice is for those ready to take on the challenge of a healthier lifestyle in the New Year. Nutritionist Robyn Daly told us earlier this year that the best place to start is with exercise.
Robyn Daly
Robyn Daly, Nutritionist, MOH [File: September 24th, 2015]
“First of all start exercising that’s one big tip that you can’t go wrong with, if you exercise you can have more of the foods you like, it also keeps a heart healthy, it reduces stress, it addresses mental health as well, we can actually maintain our weight by watching what we eat and also exercising. So having that moderation as well I would say try not to engage in foods that are high in sugars, high is salt and high in fats. Those three food tips and exercising are to me small little advice that I can give people and we would say once you practice those, those are the steps to having a healthier lifestyle.”
Here’s hoping that some or all of these tips will prove useful to your over the holidays. Have fun, be safe and most of all enjoy!
