Brown Bag Adventures

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It’s back to school time and now we full timers rejoice. The weather is still good and the campgrounds are deserted, since all the families have to get back to school. I’m going to celebrate this beautiful fall weather and join the kids in packing a brown bag lunch and take myself on a hike.

It has been years since I fixed my kids brown bag lunches, but I’m so glad to see it is still a practice, particularly with those who care about what goes in their kid’s mouths. Whether you have kids or are a solo, maybe it’s been a while since you put some excitement into your midday meal. I have some ideas to mix and match your standard fare and benefit from the healthy way to eat. If you haven’t made yourself or others a lunch for a long time, here are some ideas for taste treats as well as health building brown bag fillers.

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Pedometers

By Lynn Difley
Now I have to admit I’m not much of a gadget person, not quite a Luddite, but I have my suspicions about anything with wires, gears, or encased parts. But here’s one I love and I highly recommend to everyone, gadget lover or no.
A pedometer is a nifty little gadget that counts your footsteps by sensing your movements. You can pay as little as a few dollars, or a lot more, and sometimes they are given away as promotional items. What a great deal.
Pedometers measure distance and speed, or calorie expenditure, may have a stop watch, a heart rate monitor, count steps per minute, and some even have GPS features and computer uploading capacity. You can go as high or low tech as you like. A pedometer can become addictive as you learn to use it. A pedometer senses your body motion and counts your footsteps. This count is converted into distance by knowing the length of your usual stride. Wearing a pedometer and recording your daily steps and distance is a great motivating tool. You can wear a pedometer all day, every day, and record total steps. Or you can wear it just when you go out for a walking workout.
All pedometers count steps, although they may use different methods to do so.
The simplest pedometers only count your steps and display steps and/or distance. This is all you need to track to keep yourself motivated. Set a goal of distance or steps for each day. The recommended number of steps is 6000 for health, 10,000 for weight loss when you count all steps during the day. For weight loss, an uninterrupted walk each day of 4000-6000 steps is recommended.
Your pedometer should be accurate, and experimentation will help you decide where to wear it for best accuracy. Read the instructions to set the pedometer to your individual stride length–to be sure it accurately measures your distance. Distance accuracy depends on setting your stride length correctly. A pedometer should be comfortable to wear all day and be held securely by its clip which is fastened to your waistband or belt. The display should be easy to read without removing the unit from your waistband. It should be protected so that bumps don’t punch a button and reset the count. It should be easy and intuitive to move between functions.
The many functions that pedometers include are a matter of personal preference; you can spend more and get more features, or find a bargain and be happy with your basic step and distance counter.
Keeping records of your daily steps and distance can be a big motivator. Write down the daily totals and set goals to keep you going. Pedometers have been shown in clinical studies to increase daily activity, and in so doing, reduce blood pressure and body mass. The pedometer can improve your health in all the ways that increasing physical activity is of benefit.
If you have a competitive streak in you, you may find yourself setting up contests to further motivate you to get walking. How about a bet with family members–most steps gets a pass on washing dishes or other mealtime chores. Or keep yourself as your chief contestant. Try every day to increase the total steps taken; you can keep this up for some time, if you keep the increments modest. Who knows you may end up walking a super endurance marathon!

Number One Health Prescription

What is the best way to improve your health, the one answer to most health conditions, and the fountain of youth? The premier health prescription? Walking. Yes, the most basic of all exercise forms, placing one foot in front of the other can do more towards improving your health than any pill, surgery, treatment protocol or supplement.

• It has an effect on every part of your body.
• Walking can help kick-start a weight loss program and keep it going through the plateaus and rough spots.
• It can help you to quit smoking.
• It will lower your blood pressure and balance your cholesterol.
• It will help those with arthritis, diabetes, obesity, heart and circulatory difficulties, depression, mental instability, anxiety attacks, and circulatory disorders.
• Walking keeps the cardiovascular and immune systems working at peak capacity.
• Walking helps keep your arteries young and healthy, warding off cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and memory loss.
• Physical activity keeps your immune system youthful and powerful. Many forms of arthritis are regarded as a breakdown of immune function.
• Walking will decrease your risk of cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, macular degeneration and even cancer.

Walking is the best thing you can do for your body, and for your health in general. You will find that once you are established in a daily walking habit, your life improves in many little ways as well as the big improvements mentioned.

Make 30 minutes of walking your priority every day. Just walking. Don’t worry about speed, pace, heart rate etc. Just start walking. Warm up by walking slowly for the first 5-7 minutes. You need to prepare the body for this powerful medicine, increasing the depth and rate of breathing, elevating the body temperature, warming up the synovial fluid in the joints, and increasing circulation throughout the whole body.

Now you’re ready for the walk. Just get going. Keep going for 15 minutes, turn around and walk back. After you finish, mark the calendar, and continue to do so every day for the next month. That’s all there is to it. Put on a jacket if you need it. Sun hat and sunglasses. Lace up your sturdy walking shoes and go for a walk. Give yourself and your family the greatest gift there is–a happier, healthier, more youthful, stronger and more energetic you.

This is your prescription and your priority, a daily 30-minute walk. If you need to, reward yourself for daily continuity- a star on your calendar, a prize for the first week of achievement, whatever it takes to keep you going for the 30 minute walk a day.

Keep it up for 21 days and it will be a habit!

Now you will feel so much better you won’t even think of giving it up. You are on the road to health and vigor, keep on trucking! I’d love to hear from you as you go along, to cheer on your successes and listen to your complaints–I’m behind you all the way!

Exercise in a Pill?

By Lynn Difley
So here’s the latest insanity. Buck Rogers stand back. Headlines: “Exercise in a Pill - Researchers Find Two.” Double insanity. So the scientists have found a drug that seems to boost biological benefits of exercise by helping cells burn fat better and boosting endurance. Just as Alice in Wonderland found, “One pill makes you larger, one makes you small”; so one of these pills may help people enhance their exercise and training–look out world-class athletes! With this one, scientists were quick to determine markers, so that those who abuse this magic pill can be detected, as in the case of competitive athletes. The second pill is designed for couch potatoes.

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Can’t Remember?

By Lynn Difley

As I started to write this blog I realized I was thirsty, so I got up to get a glass of water. By the sink, I noticed that the plant needed water and was looking a little peaked, so I went under the sink and got the Schultz’s. Well, since I was giving the plant some fertilizer, maybe the other ones needed some, so I filled the plastic jug and mixed up a gallon batch to make my way around to give a shot to the rest of the plants. Over by the window, I noticed the bird feeder was nearly empty. Better fill it before I get a crowd of enraged finches on my hands. Once the bird feeder was filled I saw that the weeds were choking out the camellia plant and grabbed the trowel to take care of those pesky weeds. Well, they weren’t the only ones I found and next thing I knew it was lunchtime and I had a big pile of weeds to dump in the compost heap, so I did that and headed back inside. There was my computer patiently waiting and so I sat down to get to work and realized now I was really thirsty! Do I dare get up for a glass of water?

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Diet Debate Standoff: Low Fat, Low Carb, or Mediterranean

Lynn Difley
The latest news on the diet quandary filled the headlines this week. A 2-year study compared low fat, low carbohydrate, and Mediterranean diets. The study involved 322 people in Israel, more male than female, most of them obese. The group was unique in that they all worked together so it was easy for a dietitian to monitor their food intake.
The low fat diet allowed folks 1500 calories a day for women, 1800 for men, with no more than 30 percent of the diet obtained from fat.
The Mediterranean diet emphasized lot of fruits and vegetables, the same caloric restrictions as low fat, but allowed 35 percent of the diet to be obtained from designated healthier fats, such as olive oil and nuts.
The low carbohydrate diet had no caloric restrictions, but kept carbohydrate level to 20 grams a day for the first two months, increased to no more than 120 grams at any time.
So guess what the results were? The low fat net loss diet was 6.5 pounds, compared to 10 pounds for those following the Mediterranean diet, and 10.3 for the low-carbs.
Other health related factors, such as blood pressure, physical activity, and cardiovascular and liver function improved in all three groups. The greatest improvement in lipid levels occurred with low carbohydrate eating, while those in the Mediterranean diet group achieved the most favorable changes in fasting blood sugar and insulin levels.
Testers say, “Clearly one diet doesn’t fit all.” This could be good news for those who have struggled to count calories or fat grams; maybe a carbohydrate-restricted diet is best for them.
Whether you have followed any or all of these diet plans, maybe one of the most significant facts in the diet face-off is the weight lost. This was a two-year study, and the calorie restriction was fairly significant, yet the most weight lost, 10 pounds doesn’t seem like a whole lot to me. Would you be willing to count carbs for two years, to lose 10 pounds? If you have a lot of weight to lose, what method would you pick, or what have you tried in the past that was effective? Could it be, as Gina Kolata says in her book “Rethinking Thin” that maybe we are becoming a race of larger humans? That the standards currently set for ideal weight are no longer appropriate? That those are our examples, the cover girl and boy and movie star physiques that we admire and envy are the aberrant form, that we are evolving to a larger body type and it is healthy to carry more than 5% body fat? We all know it is possible to be heavy and healthy? Is it possible that it is not only possible but is becoming the norm and our current ideal weight charts and goals need to be revised to allow for the new body shape and weight allowance?

Feed Your Brain?

By Lynn Difley
Since the days of Hippocrates folks have been looking for ways to improve their health through foods. While the popularity of this notion comes and goes with the times, the basic premise of paying attention to food intake with a mind to optimal value for health remains valid. Most of our current studies have established the power of a healthy diet to improve cardiovascular health and decrease the risks of cancer; diet also has a profound effect on the health of your gray matter.
Giving your brain the right kinds of foods can boost its endurance levels, thought processes, acuity and cognizance, as well as all over mental function. Isn’t it handy that experts tell us that what is good for the heart is also good for the head? If you follow the heart-health recommendations you help preserve cognitive skills while decreasing the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
The brain depends on a vast network of blood vessels to provide adequate nutrient, energy and oxygen supply to its cells. Transportation of these supplies depends on the health of the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular transportation system is critical to both the heart and the brain. Elevated cholesterol levels contribute to clogged arteries in both. Diets high in saturated fats, cholesterol and trans fats increase risk of arterial disease. Studies have also established a connection between brain health and vitamin B. Many health experts recommend taking a daily multi-vitamin tablet to cover all bases. Maintaining a healthy body weight is also just as crucial to the brain as it is to the heart. Excess weight increases risk of vascular disease, cognitive problems and dementia. A heart healthy diet, in addition to regular physical activity will promote weight loss and arterial health while decreasing the risk of cognitive decline.
The best way to protect the brain from degenerative disease is to reduce the damage of free radicals by consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables– the antioxidant supply house. A study on aging in Chicago found that eating 2.8 servings of vegetables per day (far less than the recommended minimum 6) slows the rate of mental decline by roughly 40% compared with eating less than one serving daily. Green leafy vegetables produce the strongest benefits–so Popeye was right!
While the consensus is that a multivitamin is a good way to get your necessary minimum quantity of vitamins and minerals, experts declare that the best source of antioxidants and vitamin E is your food. Consuming a variety of foods–trying to include a “rainbow” of color hues in the veggies you eat is superior to taking a pill. Consuming the vitamins in their natural form provides the broadest range of complementary nutrients, photochemical and oxidants to maximize brain health. The best place to find the source for maximal protection to your gray matter is in the produce section, and the best weapon for ultimate brainpower and heart health is your daily exercise practice.

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Heart Attack: Lowering the Risk

By Lynn Difley

The Risk of Heart Attacks: What We Can Do Before They Happen

We just read in the papers that Tim Russert, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and the American network’s Washington bureau chief, died on Friday of a heart attack. Russert collapsed and died at work in NBC’s Washington bureau after returning from a trip to Italy with his family, and despite resuscitation efforts, died. His death is a sad reminder that cardiac arrest can strike anyone without warning—and that when it does, it is often fatal. The first warning of heart problems is often the heart attack itself.

Sudden cardiac arrest accounts for 310,000 deaths in America every year, or 850 a day—more than those caused by breast cancer, lung cancer, stroke, and AIDS combined. But despite how common the condition is, doctors know little about what predisposes one person to it and not another.

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A Healthy Breakfast is Good for You

Hooray For Some Good News

By Lynn Difley

Well, it’s about time we heard some good news and I can’t wait to pass it on. Yes, you and your mother and your grandmother were right, it is good idea to start the day by eating breakfast. There may be a change in menu selection, the bacon, eggs and hash browns have gone the way of the fourteen hour manual labor on the farm day, but the practice of beginning your day with nourishment has now been recommended by all the nutrition and health experts. I’m astounded that we are finally told to go ahead and eat, after so many admonitions about what not to eat.

The reasons we need to gather around the dinette before taking off are numerous. Our body requires a steady supply of energy to function well. The brain especially needs nutrients to function well, since it has no storage units (such as spare tires, love handles, etc) to draw from. If you do not have an ongoing supply of food supplies, the body interprets the lack as a famine and sets the metabolism dial on a fasting mode. This enables you to survive should there be no food sources, but in our day of abundant supply, it means our body conserves every available calorie as a savings supply, and that we don’t want. The first meal of the day helps keep the metabolism switch on burn mode, which means the calories we consume will be used for body functions and not hoarded in unsightly storage units. Studies show that one of the common factors in successful weight loss is eating breakfast. Hooray for breakfast!

What is the perfect morning meal? We know that for optimal nutritional value whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, dairy and healthier sources of fat are the best choices. You may not want to go for fish, beans and veggies first thing in the morning, but you can concentrate on the complex carbohydrates, fiber, fruits and low fat dairy.

Our tradition of cereals (thank you Dr Kellogg) serves us well, but it can be loaded with dangerous pitfalls.

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The Road to Fitness

Well if anyone knows about traveling, it would be those of us who participate in the RV lifestyle. We dedicate as much of our lives to traveling as we can afford, and may even go into overdraft situations just to spend a little more time on the road.

Picture yourself trying to travel from Texas to Maine as quickly as possible. Now imagine taking a turn towards California. You’re way off course, right? It’s very similar when you realize you want to start taking the healthy lifestyle path.

The road to good health is very much like traveling the freeways and highways. It seems like a straight shot- exercise, eat healthy foods, stop smoking, stay away from too much liquor and drugs, deal with stress effectively, treasure family and friends, etc. Not a problem, until we get started. We spend a few days without a hitch, maintaining course and making good time (with sensible stops for stretching and relaxing of course). But suddenly, before you know it, you are headed off down a bumpy side road, with little understanding of how you got there. The best thing to do is backtrack and find just where you veered off the road so you can get back onto the straight and narrow.

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