If my grandma can do it, you can do it…

Posted on 28 August, 2012 | Leave a comment

Meet Tao Porchon-Lynch.

Okay… so she’s not really my grandma, but you get the point.

Usually, after a women turns 30, she hates to reveal her actual age and might even lie saying she’s 10 years younger than she really is, but for Tao Porchon-Lynch, she flaunts it. At 93-years-young, Lynch, who is originally from Pondicherry, a French colony in India on the Bay of Bengal, is proud to reveal her age and proves the cliche that age is really nothing but a number.

A couple months ago, Lynch was dubbed as the World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher by the Guiness World Records and has been practicing yoga for more than 70 years and teaching it for over 45.  She’s also has trained and certified  hundreds of yoga instructors since she founded the Westchester Institute of Yoga in Westchester, N.Y. in 1982.

She is currently teaching regular classes at various Westchester studios, across the country and even around the world, inspiring people not only to use yoga as an anti-aging regimen, but to help people tap into their human potential and appreciate life, just like she does.

“Feeling the energy of life within me opens the door to appreciate the life force behind everything in this universe,” she told me.

If this isn’t a perfect if-my-grandma-can-do-it-you-can-do-it example, then I don’t know what is. I caught her before jetting off to teach in Montana, and I was able to ask her a few questions that will help us on our journey to becoming healthy 93-year-olds one day. Hopefully you feel inspired to get up and start being healthy!

Q&A With Tao Porchon-Lynch: The World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher at 93

 

1) It seems that some people just can’t bring themselves to start exercising. As the oldest yoga teacher in world, what are your suggestions for people who are just not motivated to stay healthy? How have you stayed motivated all these years?

Motivation is inside of you. Learn to breathe and you will open up the door for what you want to do… Just get in tune with your inner self. If someone is too lazy to use the life force to activate the body, tune into the inner energy of the breath. Know that each action of your heart is the inner life force. No! I’m never thinking of being “motivated!” Since a child I wanted to live every moment of my life.

2) When did you start exercising?  

When I was young I watched some boys doing yoga and it interested me. I decided if they could do it, so could I.

3) How has exercise benefited your health over the years? What do your doctors say about your health? Are they impressed? 

I don’t believe in checkups!

4) Sometimes people do get motivated to exercise and go on a work-out spree for a good three months, but then they fall back into their same old lazy rituals and gradually fall back into the exercise-less lifestyle. What are some tips when people want to give up?

I don’t think of yoga as exercise, but feeling how wonderful it is to get new energy into my life.  It is the linking up of body, mind and spirit. Watching the dawn makes everything in nature pulsate with our life. Renewal of the life force makes us aware of it.

I start the day knowing there is no such word as “can’t do something,” only the verb “to be able.”  When you get up in the morning know this is going to be the best day in your life.

 5) Along with exercise, how healthy do you keep your diet? What does it consist of?

I don’t eat too much.  I eat slowly. I eat mostly fruit, fruit juice and green vegetables. I like cooked greens as well as salads.  I’ve never liked large portions of any food. I never eat meat because I can’t kill anything.

I think of the wonder of the earth and how it along with the sun and rain provide me with food. People say I eat like a bird. Well, that’s a good example how to feed the body. In the U.S. we eat too much which creates a heaviness in the body and stifles the energy.

6) As a yoga instructor, are you able to do all the yoga poses? Are you limited at all?

I have a hip replacement in one hip and a long pin in the other leg. The pin prevents me from doing some yoga poses.

Don’t spend your time thinking about what you can’t do. I don’t let pain take over me and I know if I keep using my limbs and let the power of the universe “breathing” be my guide, there isn’t anything I cannot do.

7) Everyone has a weakness when it comes to food. What’s your guilty pleasure?

 Ice cream, milk chocolate and wine.

8) What are your top 5-10 motivational tips for people to start getting healthy?

Don’t procrastinate.

Tomorrow never comes.

Look for the wonder of health being unnerved in our bodies and mind.

Know the secret of life dwells with every breath we take.

Live, live, live. Don’t waste your life restricting.

Look how dawn awakes nature and makes the darkness and ignorance of night fade away.

Let your body feel the  freshness of the energy of a new day.

Open up to help your body and mind become renewed.

Don’t allow it when you are so young to become stagnant. There are so many wonderful things to do and so little time to do them!!!

9) You are a perfect example of how people can exercise at all ages. What would you tell a lazy 20-something-year old who doesn’t think exercising is important? And what would you tell a 50-year-old who says they just can’t push their body to do it?

It’s important to keep the body moving at any age. Stagnant muscles cause stagnant minds!!!!

*All photos were taken off Google Images

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The Dens Workout Plan

Posted on 27 August, 2012 | 4 Comments

It’s the end of August and summer is just about over, and for some people, that means it’s back-to-school time. So watch out upcoming freshman! Avoid gaining the “Freshman 15” like I did my first year in college with The Dens Workout Plan.

Step aside all you sweaty, buff, smelly boys… Girls can go in the weight room too!

As you guys know from  last week’s post, it was around this time of the year a couple of years ago that I started becoming a regular at the gym. Initially, Dens taught me this workout so I wouldn’t pack on the pounds, but now I’m still using it to stay in shape.

So don’t think this post is just for the freshies goin’ off to college… this workout is meant for anybody who is avoiding any type of “15” weight-gain and for those who are trying to keep a tight figure.

So all you freshman, work out beginners,  gym-goers who need a new routine, and people who feel lost in the weight room… DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…

Behold… The Dens Workout Plan!

Step 1: Warm up

Your warm up session should be about 10 minutes. You can choose any of the cardio machines because any of them will do the trick (treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc.).

Make sure to always  warm up before your workouts with a good cardio session. It may be obvious, but  here’s why according to Dens, our go-to friend trainer:

  • Your muscles will be warmed up and ready to go when you start exercising
  • You’ll increase your body temperature, which allows proper oxygen supply to the body
  • Your muscles will be able to contract and relax more quickly during your workouts because using cardio to warm up helps increase blood flow to the muscles
  • It boosts your exercise performance

STEP 2: ARMS

1. Curls: When doing curls, make sure to keep your back straight and reframe from arching or hunching the back. Separate your feet shoulder-length apart and keep your elbows as close to your sides as possible. Then bring the weights up to your neck and extend your arms back down. Do these slowly to burn fat.
What does it do?: “It primarily works out the biceps. It’s good for toning the arms.”- Dens

For beginners, I recommend using 7.5 lbs. That’s what I did when I first started, but now I’ve bumped it up to 10-12.5 lbs. Use higher weights only when the workout has become too easy for you.

For beginners, do about 10-12 curls. It may seem like a small number but your going to do this three times. Once you have become more advanced, bump it to 12-15 curls. I’m currently doing 15. Do 3 sets of these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. These Things: Again, make sure your feet are shoulder-length apart. Grab a weight, bring it over your head, and drop your forearms to bring the weight in between your shoulder blades. Make sure to keep your elbows in the same place throughout the whole exercise above your head. Nothing but you forearms should move. Then lift the weight straight up in the air and drop it back down to the center of your back. Do these slowly to burn fat.

What does it do?: “These are good to shape the outside of your arms and it works the triceps. This helps the flabby underarm fat we all hate.” – Dens

If you are new to the workout, start out with 10 lbs, then when your body has gotten used to it and you’re able to increase the weight, start using 12.5-15 lbs.

Just like with curls, I suggest that if you’re new to working out, do “these things” 10 times. Then when your more advanced, bump it up to 12-15 times. Usually I do 12, but on a good day I do 15 🙂 Do 3 sets of these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI- In college, every time Dens, Maggie and I were going over what we were going to do at the gym, we’d never know what to call this workout so we’d say, “Ok, we’ll start off with running, then curls, then these things,” while moving our arms up and down to show what we meant. That’s where it got its name.

3. Cheerleaders: Grab your weights and hold your elbows straight out  in front of you with the dumbbells straight up in the air . Then spread your arms to the side like your flexing for the gun show. Make sure your arms only go to the side and don’t bring your elbows/arms behind your back. Be sure NOT to drop your elbows as well. Then push the weights straight up in the air above your head. Do these slowly to burn fat. Then repeat.

What does it do?: “Cheerleaders are good for chest and shoulders and keeping that area toned.” – Dens

Beginners should use 7.5 lbs. When you are more advanced, start using 10 lbs.

First start out doing 10 reps of these, then when it’s time, bump it up to 12-15 reps. That’s what I do now. Do 3 sets of these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Success!

STEP 2.5: LEGS  (Switch off arm and leg days. Don’t work on both in one workout session.)

1. Lunges OR Squats (I like to mix it up. Don’t do both in one day.)

When doing lunges, make sure you leave enough room between your legs so when you do the lunge, your knee doesn’t go forward past your ankles. As you lower your body, make sure both legs come to a 90-degree angle. Inhale as you go into the lunge and exhale when you come back up. Make sure to switch off legs. Do these slowly to burn fat.

What does it do?: “They work a ton of muscles, mainly the butt, the hamstrings, and your quads. With these, you can say good-bye to your flabby thighs.” – Dens

Beginners start off with 7.5 lbs. and when you are able to, start using 10-12.5 lbs. Personally, I think 12.5 lbs. is too heavy, so I use 10 lbs. If you are a beginner, do 5-8 lunges on each leg. If you are more advanced, do between 8-10 on each. Do 3 sets of these.

1.5. Squats

Keep your legs shoulder-length apart. DO NOT let your knees go forward past your feet! That can do damage to them. You want to keep most of your weight in the back of your heals for balance and pretend you are sitting in an imaginary chair. That’s how far you should go. And make sure to keep your upper body tall and your back straight when squatting. When you go down, stick your bum out as far as you can too. Do these slowly to burn fat.

What does it do?: “Squats are a great exercise for definition in your entire legs. It works all the muscles from your feet to your butt.” – Dens

Beginners start off with 10-15 lbs. When you are at a more advanced level, pump it up to 20-25 lbs. Currently, I am doing 20 lbs.

Whether you’re a beginner or not, you should be doing 3 sets of 8 with these. No more or no less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Calves

Grab a weight and hold it on one side. Let’s just say you hold it with your left hand to your left side. Stand on your toes on your right foot and go up and down. Your toes never leave the floor, you simply just stand on your tippy toes and go back down. Do the same with the other side.

What does it do?: “It gives great definition to the calves.”- Dens

Beginners use 15-20 lbs and do 20 reps. When you’re more advanced, start using 20-25 lbs. and do between 20-30 reps. That’s what I’m doing now. Do 3 sets of these.

3. Good Girls, Bad Girls

For the record, I did not come up with this name. I’ve heard personal trainers use it all the time and you’ll know why with these pictures. But these leg workouts are pretty straight forward since they are on a machine, so take a seat and spread your legs. There are two of these machines though so make sure you do both. One you push your legs out and the other you push them in. Do these slowly to burn fat.

What does it do?: “These work your adductors and abductors- that’s like your inner thigh and your outside of the hips to your butt.” – Dens

This one you push out. Beginners, you should use 30-50 lbs, and if you are more advanced, you should do 50 lbs or higher. I currently do 60 lbs.

This one you push in. Beginners should do about 10-12 of these, and more advanced people should do between 15-20. Do these 3 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Umm… does this good girl, bad girl machine belong in the gym… or delivery room?

STEP 3: ABS

1. Side-To-Sides

Grab a weight and keep your feet shoulder-length apart. Then do not move your legs, but tilt your upper body to the side (like you’re doing crunches but on the side) bringing the weight lower down your leg. Then bring yourself straight back up. Make sure to keep abs tight while doing this and do them slowly to burn fat.

What does it do?: “These work your oblique muscles for your abs. These help get rid of the love handles.” – Dens

Beginners should use 12.5-15 lbs. Advanced people should bump it up to 15-20 lbs.

Beginners do 15 on each side and advanced people do 15-20 each. Do each side 3 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Leg-Lifts

Grab a yoga mat and lay flat on the floor facing upward. Place hands under your bum with your palms on the floor, fingers toward your feet. Extend your legs up and bring them to the floor. The closer your feet get to the floor the better it is for the abs. And don’t worry about keeping your legs completely straight when you bring them up because they can be slightly bent.

What does it do?: “Its primary function is to work the inner core, but it also defines the legs.” – Dens

Beginners try doing 10-15 of these. Then when your more advanced do between 20-25 of them.

Do 3 sets of these.

3. Crunches

There are two kinds that I do. The first one are normal crunches where your legs are up in the air at a 90-degree angle. Place your hands behind your head, and with your abs, bring yourself up forward as much as you can.

What does it do?: “When your knees are up, your working your top abs.”- Dens

Start off doing 40 of these, then add more when you feel you are able too. Currently I do 50. Do 3 sets of these.

The second kinds are laying-down crunches. It’s the same concept as the regular crunches, but instead of keeping your legs at a 90-degree angle, you lay them flat on the floor with your toes pointing up.

What does it do?: “When your feet are on the floor, you are working your lower abs.” – Dens

Same with the other crunches, start out with 40 and then boost it up. I am currently doing 60 of these. Do 3 sets of these.

STEP 4: CARDIO

As you remember in my last post, finish off your workout with a cardio session at the end, because like I said, cardio post-workout burns more fat than pre-workout. And just like with the warm up, choose any cardio machine because any of them work. For me, I like to do 20 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the treadmill (total of 30 mins).

FINAL TIPS:

  • Do this work out 3-5 times a week (I do 4-5)
  • Switch off arm and leg days. Don’t do both in one day.
  • When doing arms I go in this order: curls, these things, then cheerleaders. Then I start over and do them two more times instead of doing curls 3x, these things 3x, and cheerleaders 3x. Same goes for leg and ab workouts.
  • Make sure your you do everything SLOWLY to burn fat
  • Make sure to break a sweat! If you don’t, boost it up by doing more or adding more. REMEMBER, using less amount of weight with more reps is better than more weight and less reps.
  • If this workout causes you pain (not soreness), don’t do it.

*All photos were taken by photographer Richard Urwin Wheeler.

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Learn how to burn fat quicker at the gym

Posted on 24 August, 2012 | 4 Comments

Typically, when I go to the gym, I like to start my workouts with a 20-30-minute cardio session, move on to abs, then finish the workout with weights. But lately, I feel like my usual routine hasn’t been doing much for me, so I figured I’d switch it up… or pump it up.

In the past few weeks I’ve started doing cardio for an extra 20 minutes along with my typical weightlifting, and damn do I sweat! You know what they say, when the body’s sweating, the fat is crying :). But even though I was a human version of the Niagara Falls, I found out that my extra cardio wasn’t actually burning the fat like I thought it was doing. These tears meant nothing!

A friend of mine and a 24 Hour Fitness trainer who works at the gym I go to in Orange, Brady McManus,  stopped  me while I was ahead and gave me a helpful tip. Boosting up my cardio was the right idea, but he told me to keep doing what I was doing. It turns out, I didn’t need to add any minutes on the treadmill at all.

His tip: Just flip the routine.

Start off weightlifting AND THEN do your cardio session. (He recommends to stretch and do warm up cardio for 10 minutes before lifting though to warm up the body).

Here’s why according Brady:

“The best way for the body to burn fat while doing cardio is to have your body depicted of carbohydrates. As you intake carbs, your body stores the glycogen in the liver, then your body waits to use that as fuel. When you are walking or running or doing any form of cardio, your body can use either the stored glycogen or fat stored. The only problem is your body won’t use any fat store until glycogen is all burned up. But when your body does weight lifting first, you burn the glycogen, then when you do cardio or anabolic exercise, there is no glycogen to continue the burn and you will burn fat.”

-Brady

Let me translate this science lecture for you.

Basically in order to burn fat stored in the body, you have to burn glycogen first. If you start your workout with cardio, you will start burning glycogen NOT fat.

I know what you’re thinking… “Wouldn’t weightlifting burn the fat then since I just burned the glycogen running?” Well, it doesn’t quite work that way.

“It takes longer to burn glycogen during running,” so you won’t burn enough doing that. Then when you lift weights, you’ll continue to burn glycogen, not fat, he says. “Glycogen burns faster during weightlifting. It [allows] to burn the fat when doing cardio after.”

Glycogen come from carbs – pasta, bread, potatoes, cookies… you know all the good stuff. So the first thing I thought when Brady told me all this was, “Great I’ll eat no carbs  so I don’t have any glycogen! Then I can cut right to the chase and burn the fat!”

But nope. It doesn’t work that way either.

“Glycogen you can think as fuel to your tank. If you don’t eat carbs you aren’t fueling your tank. You can do low carbs but no carbs isn’t the answer.”

So there ya go. If you’re anything like me and your sick of seeing no results, burn fat quicker by doing this. I just started and you should too!

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One is the loneliest number… Work out with a friend!

Posted on 22 August, 2012 | Leave a comment

The first time I met Dens she was wearing running shoes, Nike workout shorts, a sweaty baggy T, and a bun on top of her head. We were in the Northeastern gift shop and like typical freshman, Maggie (my best friend from high school and college roommate) and I were lost and had no idea where our classes were. Frustrated that I was missing the first half of class, I spotted Dens  with a map in hand and I frantically jumped out in front of her, “Hey can I borrow that map?” She thought I was ridiculous. Here she was in her workout clothes, and I was of course wearing something high maintenance because it was my first day of classes, YET I was sweating more than her because I was so flustered. At that point, I was late, whatever, so I made small talk with her while checking out the map. “Oh so what sports do you play here?” I mean obviously she’s an athlete and just got done with practice… who would be walking around in that outfit on their first day!? “I don’t play anything… I just worked out at the Marino Center [school fitness center]. You should try it sometime.”  Before parting ways, we took down Dens’ number and started off our friendship with a trip to the gym that week.

Thank God we were lost that day because little did we know that we were about to meet one of our new best friends and personal trainer.

Maggie, me, and Dens our first weekend in college together. Look how in shape we were 😉 Oh and if you guys were wondering, Dens is short for Danielle!

From two different sides of the country, Southern California and Connecticut, Dens and Maggie and I were completely different species people but we all had one common interest… getting skinny. Looking back it’s funny because we were freshman, probably weighing in at 115 pounds and obviously didn’t need to lose weight. It was more the idea of staying in shape and not gaining the “Freshman 15” that bonded us three. Dens grew up playing all different kinds of sports and always went to the gym in high school. Maggie and I weren’t really gym-goers back in the day- I played volleyball and she played basketball  (her position was the bench). Now that we were in college and were no longer in sports, we needed workout tips pronoto, especially after spending an entire summer laying out and eating crap all the time. We were as dumb as the dumbbells we were using (Workout joke! Dun Dun Che!)

That’s where Dens came through. She taught us all we know when it comes to working out. She taught us what weights to use and how to use them, cardio routines, stretches, everything! She even tried being our nutritionist but I was too picky to eat anything she’d suggest. It was us three against Marino Center, 4 times a week, every week, all throughout college. Anyway, we stuck with the Dens Workout Plan and ‘til this day we still use them, and I use them even when I’m not with my best friends. Now that we’re working in different parts of the country, I may be doing my workouts alone, but it was the friendship that got me started.

Here are my reasons why you should work out with a friend:

  1. You’ll be more motivated to actually go to the gym
    1. Let’s face it, if we don’t absolutely have to go to the gym, we won’t. Excuses are everywhere. I slept in too late, I had a long day of work, I have to be somewhere soon… yeah yeah yada yada. Having a gym partner can eliminate your temptation to come up with an excuse to skip the gym. Why? Because someone is relying on you to go with them and cancelling plans on other people is annoying and embarrassing.
  2. Workouts are more fun
    1. Workouts become more fun when you’re with a friend. In my case, none of us had classes together. Dens was in

      Walking to the gym with a friend was always part of the fun too. One time on the way to Marino, my umbrella completely went inside out and the wind was literally blowing us away. We were traumatized when we got into the gym but it was hilarious at the time.

      physical therapy, Maggie was in psychology, and I was a journalist, so the gym was our social hour – a time to share stories from our day. I hate to say it but the gym was our number one spot for us to catch up on the latest gossip and drama. But don’t think we were those girls just laying on the yoga mats not really working out and just socializing… no no, we always broke a sweat. We never spoke during cardio, that was quality time with the iPod, but in between lifting, crunches, and stretching, we’d always share a laugh or two. Plus the time goes by quicker when you’re having fun.

  3. Competitiveness
    1. If Dens bumps up the weight five more pounds, I’m going to bump up the weight. If Maggie is going to run an extra ten minutes, I’m going to run more too. Working out with a friend can push you to work harder and not slack off. You don’t want to look like a weakling or fatty next to your fit friend do you? That’s what I thought.
  4. You’ll have a spotter
    1. If you’re one to bench press and use bars for weightlifting, a regular partner at the gym is a necessity to spot your workout and to keep you safe. Your’re friend will always get your back! For me, I needed a spotter in a different way. I always felt uncomfortable in the weight room mainly because it’s just sweaty guys making weird noises. Plus they’re pigs (ok not all guys are pigs). So when I’d do squats in there, I always had Maggie or Dens stand right behind so no pig can check this thing out.
  5. You’ll get a more efficient workout
    1. Unless your friend is just as lazy as you, you won’t slack at the gym when it comes to technique. You always have a friend to correct what you’re doing and you’ll also have a friend to remind you to keep running for five more minutes instead of jumping off the treadmill early.

That’s Courtney! 

Not everyone is a good workout partner and sometimes your best friends aren’t the best ones. One time I went to the gym with another good friend of mine, Courtney, and we couldn’t agree on what workout to do because we had different opinions. We settled on biking together and we were only there for 20 minutes and left to go eat. Love her, but we don’t work out good together.

Here’s what to look for in a workout friend:

  1. Similar schedules
    1. Make sure you find a friend that can work out at the same times as you. It’s also good to find someone who is flexible too.
  2. Someone with similar goals
    1. For me and my friends, it’s just staying in shape and getting toned, but I know for my boyfriend, his goals are to bulk up. Working out with him as a gym partner is miserable. We don’t do the same workouts, he doesn’t take as long as me, and he doesn’t even like cardio! Make sure you’re friend can do the same workouts as you too.
  3. Positivity
    1. You want a friend who has a positive attitude at the gym. None of that ugh-I-wish-we-weren’t-here crap. You want someone who wants to workout and most importantly, wants to workout with you!

So save a few calories and go to the gym with a friend instead of catching up over coffee or cocktails. It’s fun!

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Taking a daily jog makes you live longer… and reading The Daily Jog does too ;)

Posted on 14 August, 2012 | 1 Comment

If working out isn’t your thing or you simply can’t make enough time for it, don’t worry! Jogging regularly up to just one to two and half hours a week can add between five to six years to your lifespan, according to a Danish Study released in April of this year.

And if you hate sweating, that’s okay, because the study also revealed jogging at a slow and steady pace is more beneficial to your health than jogging at intense speeds. This is because experts say it’s less work for the body and doesn’t wear it down as fast.

It may seem like less work, but the research shows that repetitiveness in exercise is key.

Researchers observed about 20,000 Danish men and women ages 20 to 93 since the 1970s, and the participants of the Copenhagen City Heart study had been consistently jogging for an average of 10 years. Compared to non-joggers, it is estimated that the age of death among male and female joggers were reduced by 44 percent.

“Repetitive exercise like jogging will overall improve your health,” says Dr. Adolhoda, a cardiac surgeon at UC Irvine Medical Center and Long Beach VA Hospital. “If you do this repetitively, your heart rate is slower, your blood pressure is lower, and both of these are very beneficial to the heart muscle. Your organs are going to function better, and therefor, you live longer.”

He says this is why. Low blood pressure makes it easier for the heart to pump blood because the blood is not as forceful against the heart’s arteries, which lowers your chances of  a stroke and heart disease. And a low heart rate is good for the body because it requires less energy for the heart to function. The heart muscle works less to provide more and it makes each heart beat more efficient.

Repetitive jogging keeps the heart in shape, says Dr, Adolhoda, and in turn, keeps you in shape. Another way jogging keeps you in shape is by boosting your metabolism, which means we can eat more!

“Your appetite improves,” says Dr. Adholoda. “Your body is in need of more protein, more water, and nutrition, so you eat more. You eat more but don’t gain weight.”

So don’t think that just because you had yogurt and oats for breakfast you’re doing your body any good, because if you’re not active, eating less can mean gaining more.

“If someone is sleeping on the couch all day and doesn’t eat much they become more fat,” he says. “You must be active because instead of converting calories to fat, it converts calories into protein which bulks up muscle.”

Dr. A compares a lazy coach potato to Michael Phelps. Although he’s not a jogger, he says regular exercise requires more food intake and it has been reported that, for Phelps, he eats roughly 8,000-10,000 calories a day. Sounds like my kind of diet.

And jogging can prevent illness like the common cold or flu because the immune system becomes stronger. “That could also be a reason why that jogging increases your lifespan because it boosts your immune system and it increases your survival.”

Experts have even suggested that the exercise can also prevent other illnesses… like the “C” word. This is because jogging regularly trains you to become a better breather, delivering oxygen properly to the muscles and tissues in the body.

“Better oxygen delivery to the tissues can prevent cancer. People who exercise more repetitively and all their life may be protected from cancer because cancer is a result of damage to the tissues, and one damage is having the tissue not have enough oxygen.”

Besides the healthy heart and the fast metabolism, jogging makes you happy.  Seriously, it gives you a high that can be addicting.

“When you’re exercising, your endorphin levels go up and this hormone makes you feel better- makes you feel good. As a result of that, you like to keep going with that repetitive exercise.”

So just get started because once you start, you may never stop… or die! JK, but really.

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My Health Epiphany

Posted on 13 August, 2012 | Leave a comment

“Can I have a BLT? Hold the L and the T… oh and extra B please.” That was the typical sandwich I’d order when I went out to eat. Growing up, I only liked three groups of food: noodles, candy and chicken fingers. I didn’t like food- or I was just scared of it.

Food neophobia is the fear of trying new foods and was the root of my picky-eating habits and it prevented me from enjoying dinners with my family. One of my mother’s famous dishes was the tostada, which was a large chip with ground beef, onions, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, beans, rice and corn topped with melted cheese. My version of it… the giant chip with just cheese.

It was a mental thing. I was scared of the beef, it looked like a pile of rabbit pellets and I didn’t even have to be near an onion for it to make me cry.

“Hay que nina mal criada,” was a phrase meaning “oh what a girl with bad manners” that my abuelita (grandma in spanish) would attack me with. She would blame my mother for my picky habit because she never forced me to eat anything as a kid. But my mom did something worse. She’d trick me instead.

The solution was renaming every food I didn’t like as either French fries or chicken. Carrots were called orange French fries and all meats fell under the chicken category. For years, my mother convinced me that the clams in clam chowder were actually “chewy chicken.” What’s embarrassing is that it wasn’t until fifth grade that I realized what was really in the soup… and that my mom was evil.

But this whole thing wasn’t  just a mental problem. I like the “safe” foods because some foods are just dangerous to my stomach. I remember the traumatizing time I tried pineapple for the first time. Let’s just say I spent a lot of quality time with my toilet that day.

And there is no way I’m putting anything gooey and slimy in my mouth. It makes me feel like I’m swishing some stranger’s bugers/ snot from cheek to cheek. Smoothies are good, but if a slimy chunk of fruit slides through the straw and ends up on my tongue, I will throw a fit… or throw the smoothie at the person who didn’t blend it all the way ! >:-O

But this fear became a bigger issue in my life.

A home-cooked meal at a friend’s house was embarrassing and triggered anxiety. How do I politely turn down their food? How do I explain I don’t want tomato sauce on my spaghetti because I’m afraid of getting diarrhea?

And socially it was hard because I couldn’t enjoy things like sushi with my friends.

But what made me realize I needed to stop being picky was my freshman year in college where I didn’t have to eat those disgusting, soggy, vegetables my parents would serve me. All I ate was pizza or chicken fingers for lunch and chicken and rice for dinner because my abuelita wasn’t there to force-feed me and my mother wasn’t there to manipulate me.

I was becoming malnourished. My chicken-and-rice diet started to become a factor to my hair-loss. My hair was starting to fall out in chunks in the shower and caused multiple bald spots on my head. Instead of gaining the “freshman 15” I lost the freshman 15… and had about 15 hairs on my head (that’s a little dramatic but that’s how I felt! I went from long and thick to mid-length thin hair).

HINK HINK HINK!

My safe foods proved to be not so safe, and began to affect my health and social life. I needed to make changes to my diet. After all what was I even afraid of? Most of the food I “didn’t like” I had never even tried.

Since then, I’ve picked up cooking as a hobby to start expanding my food horizons. Now some items on my gross-foods list have moved to my okay-these-are-edible list.

Like onions. Was I crazy? I think because I deprived my taste buds of onions for all these years that now I have an obsession with them. In eggs, sandwiches, salads, everything. They’re so amazing. My friends make fun of me because on sandwiches, people usually order extra cheese or extra tomato, but me? Na, I order extra onions 🙂 I’ve started to carry extra gum in my purse because where there are onions, there’s bad breath.

And if I were missing out on onions, what else was I missing?!?!

Now, a couple of years later, my hair is back and healthy and I can actually order food that isn’t on the kid’s menu. Now that I’ve actually tried shrimp, sushi, cucumbers, salads, guacamole, salsa, vegetables and more, I’ve discovered I really like them- even love them.

My motivation to be healthy? Eat right to get that beautiful hair back!

This was my high school senior photo used on my student ID card in college. My friends would look at it and laugh saying I looked like a giant hair ball in high school.

 

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