Take a look at our February newsletter!
FEBRUARY 2023
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3 EASY WAYS TO WORK OUT ALL WINTER Try One Today to Keep Your Heart Healthy!
February is American Heart Month, and discovering that made me wonder: Have you checked the health of your heart lately? Most people have no idea how their cardiovascular system is doing. However, it’s smart to learn about your heart health proactively! I recommend touching base with your primary care physician this month and asking them to assess your heart. Your doctor might simply take your blood pressure and heart rate data, or if you’re at higher risk of heart problems, they could recommend an electrocardiogram (EKG). Either option will give you valuable information about your heart. From there, you can work on keeping it healthy! Exercise is one of the best ways to improve your heart health. Back in 2019, I read an amazing study from Harvard that showed just how important it is. The study involved 1,104 healthy firefighters around 40 years old. Researchers asked them to exercise on the treadmill and do as many pushups as they could in a minute. Then, 10 years later, they followed up with the firefighters to see if any of them had developed heart disease. The results were mind-blowing: Men who managed to do 40 or more pushups in a minute “had a 96% lower risk than those who could only do 10 or fewer pushups,” according to Harvard Medical School. Exercise truly is important! I know it’s the middle of winter, and motivating yourself to work out probably feels difficult when there’s snow on the ground. But you don’t have to wait for the tennis courts to reopen or the sun to come out to get moving. Here are a few winter-friendly workout options you can start today. 1. Turn your living room into a gym by doing squats, pushups, situps, burpees, jumping jacks, and other body weight exercises indoors at your own pace. 2. Follow along with an online fitness class or YouTube video. I like the Onnit Fitness & Nutrition channel (@onnitofficial on YouTube) for kettlebell workouts and technique-based exercise videos.
3. Join a gym or invest in a personal trainer. If you’re interested in personal training options, I highly recommend Coach Mel’s Group Fitness in Harwinton. Mel hosts more than 25 group exercise classes every week. Some are high-intensity workouts, some are strength classes, and some are designed just for seniors. You can learn all about your options at CoachMels.com. As you evaluate your options, remember that, above all else, your workout should be interesting to you. It should be something you’re invested in and will do consistently. Don’t waste time on boring workouts — they aren’t for you! If you want to start an exercise program but pain or another limitation is holding you back, make an appointment with my team right after you see your doctor. We can evaluate your fitness, address your aches and pains, and ensure you can exercise without hurting yourself. The sooner you call or come see us, the sooner you can work out your heart and prevent heart disease. P.S. As I write this, March Madness is only a few weeks away, and my UConn Huskies are looking good. I hope you’ll join me in cheering them on from your couch or even your treadmill. If we’re lucky, we may have a national championship to celebrate in April. –Kevin Smith
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How to Foster and Develop Intellectual Wellness Intellectual wellness differs from other types of well-being. You need to work hard and challenge yourself to stay intellectually healthy. If you’re looking to improve or nurture your intellectual wellness, here are three ways to do it. 1. Learn a new skill. One of the main components of intellectual wellness is working to acquire more knowledge. This doesn’t need to be physics or engineering but can be something as simple as cooking a new healthy recipe, learning to draw, or attempting a DIY home repair project. The important part is that mastering something new provides an information- based approach to the world around you. 2. Remove subjectivity. We view every situation with a pre-formed opinion or bias. The truth is our brains are wired this way to streamline thinking, but to be intellectually healthy, we must work hard to push past it. Remove subjectivity by learning a different way to perform a task or challenge yourself to understand (or simply read) the ideas of others. Be objective, even when you disagree with them. 3. Improve your critical thinking. Next time you’re engrossed in conversation, try being thoroughly engaged and think about what is being said. Ask questions to yourself and others, and hash out what you agree with and what you don’t. Work to keep your brain active in everything you do by finding a connection to everything around you.
YOUR INTELLECTUAL WELLNESS MATTERS! Challenge Yourself to Expand Your Mind
These days, as taking care of our health becomes more important than ever, we hear a lot about our physical wellness and how to improve it using nutritious foods and exercise.
But what about our intellectual wellness?
What is intellectual wellness? The University of New Hampshire defines intellectual wellness as “being open to new ideas, thinking critically, and finding ways to be creative.” Essentially, this means thinking about the world around you with an open mind and putting energy into what you’re thinking, not just allowing your brain to run idly.
Signs of healthy intellectual wellness include:
• Ability to see an issue from all sides • Purposeful exposure to ideas, beliefs, and people who differ from yourself
• Awareness of your core values • Capacity to learn new things
Balance: It’s More Than Just an Act
More studies reveal that balance is a great indicator of life span or disease. In fact, a recent study released by the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that people who could not balance on one foot for at least 10 seconds were nearly twice as likely to die within the next 10 years. But as we age, balance can become more challenging, and losing your balance can lead to falls or other serious accidents. Luckily, these mishaps are preventable with some help from balance training. Balance training just means taking a few minutes each day to perform simple exercises that help improve your balance, and according to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, doing so can reduce the risk of falling by up to 40%!
Here are a few simple exercises you can do at home to improve your balance. For safety, we recommend completing these exercises near a sturdy surface you can use for support if you need it. Standing March While standing, slowly march in place for 20–30 seconds. How fast or slow you complete this exercise is up to you, but once you feel it becoming easier, you can pick up your marching pace or move to a different floor texture, like carpet, grass, or hardwood, for a challenge. The idea here is that marching forces you to temporarily stand on one foot, even for a few seconds.
the chair without using your arms to help push you up. If this is too difficult, feel free to add a pillow or foam pad to the seat to reduce the distance between sitting and standing. Once you’re standing, slowly lower yourself back into the chair. Try not to fall back into it (which allows gravity to control the fall); instead, ease yourself into the seat. Repeat as many times as you can. Heel-to-Toe Walk Standing straight, place one foot directly in front of the other so the heel of your leading foot is touching the toes of the one behind it. Hold this position for 30 seconds before moving the back foot to the front of the previously leading foot, with its heel touching the other foot’s toes. Repeat as many times as you can.
Sit to Stand In a chair, sit with your feet
planted firmly on the floor in front of you. Then, rise from
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BRING ON THE BUGS! FOODS THAT HELP — AND HARM — OUR MICROBIOME
Inside all of us is a bustling community of bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses. But don't worry! These microbiota work hard to keep our bodies balanced and healthy. They are so crucial to our health that they’ve been labeled a supporting organ because of what they do to keep our systems running smoothly. And what we eat can have a significant impact on the well- being of our microbiota. So, here are foods we can eat to help these tiny residents keep our health in check as well as foods to avoid so we don't sabotage the benefits they provide. Foods That Help Our Microbiome The key to helping our little microbiota is by creating a lower pH level in our colons. To do this, we need to consume foods high in healthy fiber. The microbiota in our bodies break down these fibers using enzymes and, as a result, ferment the fiber inside our gut. This fermentation releases short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs, essential to lowering our pH. SCFAs make our colons more acidic and, by doing so, stop the growth of harmful bacteria that cannot survive in a low- pH environment. Foods that support increased SCFAs are indigestible carbohydrates and fibers. Our stomachs don’t break these down, so they arrive whole to our intestines, ready for our tiny microbiota to eat. These carbohydrates and fibers are called prebiotics, and while we can take many drugstore prebiotics as supplements, it’s always better to feed our little friends from natural food sources.
The following foods contain the highest amounts of natural prebiotics:
• Garlic • Onions • Leeks • Asparagus • Bananas
• Seaweed • Wheat • Oats • Barley
To get the most out of these prebiotic-packed foods, eat them as close to raw as possible!
Foods That Hurt Our Microbiome Just like foods can help give our microbiome a major power-up, many foods can harm it. Even worse, some foods encourage harmful gut bacteria to thrive and make us sick. Here are the top foods to stay away from:
• Artificial sweeteners (like stevia, aspartame, and sucralose)
• Fried foods • Red meat • Soft drinks
These foods help grow harmful bacteria and actively disrupt the environment of our microbiota, so it’s best not to include these so our little helpers stay healthy!
TAKE A BREAK!
Feta Chicken Burgers Inspired by TasteOfHome.com
INGREDIENTS
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber • 1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise • 1/2 cup chopped roasted sweet red pepper • 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Greek seasoning • 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground chicken • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese • 6 whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat broiler. Mix chopped cucumber and mayonnaise and set aside. 2. For the burgers, mix the red pepper, garlic powder, Greek seasoning, and black pepper. Add chicken and cheese; mix lightly but thoroughly (the mixture will be sticky). Shape into 6 patties about 1/2-inch thick. 3. Broil burgers, remembering to cook both sides thoroughly. Serve on buns with cucumber sauce. If desired, top with lettuce and tomato. Enjoy!
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1. Hacks for a Healthy Heart
2. Intellectual Wellness: What It Is and How to Improve Yours 3 Exercises to Improve Your Balance
3. Prebiotics to the Rescue! Feta Chicken Burgers
4. Improve Your Workouts With the Mind-Muscle Connection
USE THE MIND-MUSCLE CONNECTION Mind Over Matter Isn’t Enough!
Turn off distractions. Remember the music or podcast we mentioned earlier? Turn it off! This also includes silencing your phone or turning off any nearby TVs. It may take some time to get used to working out in silence, but with nowhere else to wander, the brain has an easier time focusing on those muscle movements. Visualize the muscles you are using. Every time you move, whether using a stationary bike, taking a walk, or lifting weights in a gym, picture the muscles you’re using in your head. Imagine the muscle fibers stretching and contracting with each movement. Use cues to remind you of your working muscles. Sometimes, our minds drift off during a workout, and that’s normal. But if you
Many assume working out is the muscle's job, pushing weights around as we enjoy a song or listen to a podcast. While this may be a fun way to pass the time, you're not doing your fitness any favors with your mind elsewhere. When you work out, you should use a "mind-muscle connection," or purposely think about the movement and contractions of your muscles as you use them. This is better because when your brain consciously focuses on your muscles and their contractions, it employs more muscle fibers to complete the task. You build strength in a more complete, well-rounded way. If you're not using a mind-muscle connection yet, don't worry! Here’s how you can start next time you’re ready to sweat.
find your head in the clouds more often than you’re thinking about your exercise, it might be time to use a few cues. A cue simply reminds you of what you’re physically doing. One way to incorporate a cue is to talk to yourself with each repetition. For example, if you’re performing a bench press, you can say “up” when you push the bar away and “down” when you lower it toward you. Utilize time under tension. The slower you perform your exercise, the more opportunity your brain has to talk to those muscles you’re using. Try holding each repetition for three seconds before moving on to the next, and as you hold, visualize those muscles for the entire three seconds.
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