Items tagged health

The Value of Buddies

One of the things I love about my work is seeing the friendships that are being made here at Catalyst. From what started out as a Women’s Strength class, we now have a group of 12 women going off on a 4 day tramp this summer.

Women’s Strength Class

From one of the bootcamp classes, a day hiking group has formed, and once a month they meet up and go exploring for the day.

Hiking Group

From running our Active Women’s Retreats, there is now a group of friends who keep in touch, and are planning a catch up and glass of wine at Rimu Bar soon.

Adventure Weekends

Us humans are generally quite social by nature, and once we find or meet others who share similar views and values, we want to spend more time with them. We like doing things as a team, or in a group, and it’s very rewarding to witness the friendship and comradery that is happening. I was recently away for two weeks, and some of the class members arranged to carry on with their workouts, making the commitment to each other to turn up at the usual class time, and have a training session together.

If you are struggling to find the motivation to exercise during the winter, or if your training sessions are feeling a bit boring and uninspiring, consider asking some of your friends to join you. Make the commitment to each other to turn up and work out. If none of your friends are keen on that, then come along and join in with one of the groups or classes at Catalyst. You may start out as a new class member, but it won’t take long and you will be “one of the guys/gals” and you’ll have a new group of friends to motivate and cheer you on.

Karyn Holland
027 223 9561

Sometimes The Best Way is Too Easy

One of our members has lost a lot of weight. He has also got a lot fitter. He looks fantastic, and it’s happened reasonably quickly.
A few people have asked which diet he has been doing…….. Is he Paleo, or Keto, or is he a vegan or vegetarian, or perhaps gone Low carb high fat (LCHF).
The reality is far better…. He’s done none of these. What he’s done is followed the Common Sense Diet. Along with regular and varied exercise, he has steadily transformed himself into a fit lean version of himself

The Common Sense Diet. Three meals a day and modest serving sizes. Sure, he stopped drinking alcohol, but I’m sure that the occasional drink wouldn’t make that much difference. He hasn’t eliminated any main food groups, he eats as much in season whole food as possible, and he still has a takeaway once a week. Sounds good doesn’t it.

I’m a firm believer that we don’t need to spend money on fancy products or diets. The ability to lose weight and be fit and toned is already within us. The hard part for most is finding the desire to educate ourselves and make the changes we need to make.
For most people, it’s not carbs that are the problem (our bodies need carbohydrate) it’s the sugary processed carbs that do the damage. It’s not bread that’s a problem, its eating half a loaf a day that would make most people feel bloated. It’s not alcohol as such that’s the problem, it’s the 2-3 glasses everday that add too many calories.

So, how about trying the common sense diet?……
3 small meals a day of fresh seasonal whole food. Minimal alcohol. No/minimal snacks. And most days do 30-60 min of a mix of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise.
If you find something you eat doesn’t agree with you, don’t go rushing off to get allergy tested, just don’t eat it (common sense right?) Learn to tune in and listen to your body, eat less, move more, and eat healthy food.

Festivity and Food

fes·ti·val

[fes-tuh-vuhl] http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.htmlShow IPA

Noun

A day or time of religious or other celebration, marked by feasting, ceremonies, or other observances: the festival of Christmas; a Roman festival.
A periodic commemoration, anniversary, or celebration: an annual strawberry festival.
A period or program of festiveactivities, cultural events, or entertainment: a music festival.
Gaiety; revelry; merrymaking.

Adjective

Festal: a festival atmosphere of unrestrained joy.

Food is a naturally festive thing. If you think about it, many of the festive occasions we celebrate throughout the year include festive meals like Christmas and New Year, Easter, Epiphany on the 6^th of January, and Shrove Tuesday in February, which is celebrated by eating pancakes, or Halloween with all is sweetness and spookiness.

In many European countries like France, Spain and Italy, a celebration without food is unthinkable and there are many such occasions throughout the year. And so, here too in New Zealand, we have our traditions and rituals around food and celebration.

Thanks to our diverse, multi-cultural mix we now enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year and Pasifika, Diwali – the Festival of Light, and next week, Matariki, our native winter solstice. None of these significant events in a year would be complete without food.

Aside from religious festivals, we use food to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries too, special occasions like christenings and confirmations, weddings, births and even funerals. Whenever, and wherever we have a special occasion, food is never very far from our thoughts especially when it comes to families.

So where does this tradition come from?

The word Feast first appeared in language around the thirteenth century and while exact feasting origins are unclear, long before that families and community celebrated feast days. Offering a sense of belonging, providing entertainment, celebrating seasonal changes and harvest bounty, feasts, festivals, fetes, fiestas, gatherings and get-togethers, whatever you care to call them, were and are, a time for sharing, goodwill and celebration.

On our home turf, being a relatively young culture we have tended to adopt European festive foods and habits to celebrate festivals and religious holidays, baking Hot Cross Buns at Easter time, eating Turkey and hams at Christmas, scoffing down Trifle and Mince tarts.

When I was growing up in my Pakeha community in Wellington, a Hangi was a rare thing but now we can experience this amazing communal feasting tradition more often, especially when visiting a Marae, and we can even buy Hangi Take Out!

As our culinary horizons have widened, and with the influx of a broader cultural mix, our food experiences have expanded and so have our tastes and waistlines. Where once we celebrated an occasion with roast lamb, mint sauce and Pavlova with lashings of cream, it’s now more common to see the barbeque being fired up to cook a marinated, butter-flied leg of lamb with fresh salads and new potatoes, and naturally something sweet to finish like a fresh tropical fruit salad.

But as we have become more prosperous and processed foods much more readily available, celebration is becoming much more of a daily ritual. Our waistlines are expanding and our wellbeing is deteriorating as a consequence.

Diabetes is now epidemic in this country especially amongst young people, and we are sadly, number three in the world obesity statistics. Is this because food is more widely available? It certainly isn’t getting any cheaper.

Instead of that festive Sunday picnic at the beach with the family, it’s easier to go out for a quick meal, grab a carb-loaded morning tea with coffee, or fetch Take Out home and sit on the couch to watch TV. Are we eating our way to ill health while we celebrate?

I’m certainly not suggesting we stop celebrating or being festive, far from it. If anything we need to take more time to celebrate life and each other.

It’s more about the choices we make, being mindful around how we choose to include foods when we celebrate, and get moving!

There’s nothing wrong about having a festive outing to the park with the kids to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. And if we are going to indulge in some high energy foods, then the park or the beach is an opportunity to work off that energy intake with games and pastimes that leave us enriched with smiles on our faces.

Make informed food choices for you and your loved ones. Choose quality lean proteins, either animal or plant-based, whole grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables, instead of a Big Mac and fries or Wendy burger.

Hold back on the sodas and fizzy drinks, they are literally making us sick. Make water your favourite drink and have lots of it. Do have some sweet treats. Just be smart about it. Opt for fruit, fruit-based desserts and hold off on high sugar, processed cakes, sweets and pastries. If you must go in that direction these kinds of foods need to be enjoyed occasionally as opposed to daily or weekly.

Watch that alcohol consumption, studies are now showing us that even mild alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to certain cancers, especially for women.

Poach, steam, bake or grill, reduce your consumption of starchy carbs – rice, pasta, bread and potatoes for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Create a celebration around an activity like walking or an outdoor pursuit.

Make your daily ritual of breakfast and evening meals together as a family a festival, at the table, with the TV off, whenever you can. Conviviality and celebration enhance the all-important process of digestion and you are less inclined to eat as much.

Celebrate life by making smarter food choices and you’ll be around to enjoy the festivities, and your loved ones, a lot longer!

Sarah La Touche is a registered Holistic Nutritionist, and a member of the New Zealand Clinical Nutritionists Association.

She also runs walking tours in France and Spain. The forthcoming tour is walking the Camino del Norte from San Sebastian to Bilbao in September.

She is available to see clients for nutritional consultations and advice by phoning 027 315 1165 or email sarah@livingnutrition.co.nz.

To find out about the walking tours go to www.foodiesinfrance.com or email ds@foofiesinfrance.com

The Right Stuff – Joint Flexibility

How is Your Joint Flexibility?

As the years go by are you experiencing more musculoskeletal joint stiffness? Maybe your shoulders, knees, and ankles are not as flexible as they used to be. Has it become more difficult to bend over and pick up a dropped object or put on your clothes? Maybe to turn your head around to see the car in the next lane is uncomfortable or worse, impossible. The bad news is that left untreated, your joints will get stiffer as you get older. Ignored, our joints will loose a large amount of mobility. However, the good news is there’s plenty you can do to help prevent this. You can regain and retain much of your youthful flexibility, but only if you are willing to be proactive and do something.

Joints such as the shoulder, knee, and ankle are lubricated by synovial fluid. The Synovial fluid keeps the joints moist, provides oxygen and nutrition, and washes away toxic end-products of the normal metabolic processes. The joints in our spine are also lubricated and maintained in this way. Simply put, our bodies live for movement – Move it or Loose It! However, aging reduces the amount of available synovial fluid. The normal aging processes also increase the thickness of the remaining synovial fluid. Essentially, you have less lubricant available and the lubricant that you do have is thicker. The unfortunate result is stiffer joints, throughout your entire body.

Get Moving
One way to combat such physiologic aging is to keep active. This is a pretty big task for the people of today, in a world in which most of our time is spent at a desk or sat down. Our bodies were designed for physical work. However, as we have evolved from an agrarian to a more industrial society, and in recent times from an industrial to a service-based society, the type of work we do on a daily bases has changed dramatically. When we are not typing on a computer, we are at home watching TV or playing games on our electronic devices. None of these activities involves any actual active motion. If we want to look after our bodies, we’re going to have to be proactive about finding the time to do so.

So for those of you who already have included exercise as part of your daily routine, good for you. Some may still be struggling to get going and making the time for exercise. Years in practice have taught me that people make excuses to justify their actions (or lack of). The number one excuse, “I don’t have time”. Rubbish, the truth is people will make time for what is important to them.

Almost any type of exercise helps synovial fluid to become more available which allows the synovial fluid to be pumped into joint spaces and increases the lubrication into the joints. Exercise also raises the core temperature of the body, which subsequently decreases the viscosity of synovial fluid. The end product is increased joint flexibility. This benefit is, more often than not, experienced immediately. The benefit will be long-lasting, but only if you continue to exercise regularly.

Stay Moving
Thirty minutes of exercise per day, 5 times a week, will help us maintain as much joint flexibility as possible. Switching between a cardiovascular exercise day and a strength training day is the optimal exercise program. Yoga can give a total body workout which uses cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility. The types of exercise you do are not as significant as the long-term consistency of the exercise. Regular, vigorous exercise, will provide great benefit, not only will it improve your joint flexibility, but it will also help to improve your general health and wellness.

We Can Help!
One of the great benefits and focuses of Chiropractic care is improved flexibility of not only spinal joints but all the joints in your arms and legs as well. Consider how a loss of the spinal vertebral motion can lead to spinal muscle tightness and pain, which generally results in various other physical problems. For example, headaches, a lack of restful sleep, and increased irritability may all have a link with a loss of spinal flexibility. By increasing the mobility in your neck, mid-back, and lower back, chiropractic care helps your body function more efficiently. By removing the sources of the musculoskeletal irritation, chiropractic care can also reduce internal physiologic stress.

Tagged as: health

fes·ti·val

How is Your Joint Flexibility?