Category Archives: Healthy Lifestyle

How to Enjoy a Happy and Stress-proof Holiday Season

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Stress_is-it-friday-yet-704781-mHoliday Season is approaching! Are you excited or stressed out? The primary cancer risk factors during holidays are stress and unhealthy diet. We have covered the diet factor in a number of previous blogs, and let’s focus on coping stress here.

Holiday realities

The holidays are both a wonderful and stressful time of the year. Besides the usual work load and family commitments, we have new functions or activities, as we rush around trying to meet looming deadlines. Parties and social events, holiday shopping, decorating, trips, holiday meals, going to the new movie releases, entertaining the guests, … see how much we try to cram into the festive season! It gives me a headache just naming all the things.

The key danger of stress

Now imagine doing all that. It’s certainly a recipe for stress. Holiday stress normally falls into categories of financial, physical, psychological/emotional drains. Stress has a negative effect on your health. This is not just a theory. Many studies have found key mechanistic evidence at the cellular level. Chronic stress and/or depression can increase the body production of cytokines, that is, immune-modulating substances. One of them is called interleukin-6 (IL-6). High serum levels of IL-6 have been linked to risks for several adverse conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, mental health complications, and some cancers.

The relationship between stress and cancer is complex. Many factors may come into play. However, research has demonstrated that stress factors (e.g., the death of a spouse, divorce, social isolation, and medical school examinations) alter some white blood cell functions and promote immune dysfunction.

Additionally, many people who are stressed end up eating, drinking and smoking more but exercising and sleeping less, which would certainly worsen negative consequences for our health. Taken together, stress reduction is of importance for many health reasons.

Anti-stress-1-183748-mWin control over stress with top 8 effective tips:

Since mental stress can translate into negative physical changes in the body, this year I challenge you to have a stress-proof holiday season, and let the joyful spirit of the season boost your immune system! Here is how you achieve that.

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2.      Take it easy. Make the holidays enjoyable rather than perfect. If a card cannot get to its destiny on time, give the person a surprise call on that holiday morning! If you don’t feel like cooking or baking, buy some packaged prepared meals as an alternative, or go without one or two “traditions”. Instead of spending hours in the malls or sitting in the traffic, shop online for gifts to save time and get good deals.

3.      Tap the resources within your family, from neighbors and friends. Do what you enjoy, and make it fun for everyone. If you love decorating trees but hate shopping or dishwashing, trade chores within the family, so everyone picks up their favorite task.

4.      Create a budget within your means to avoid “New Year Depression” on debt. Folk wisdom tells us to shop ahead of time for bargains. However, we all can be creative and spend less, believe it or not. If your budget doesn’t allow you to buy expensive gifts, buy a small one. Everyone appreciates a gift regardless of its size. If it’s too costly to attend a fancy party, organize a new, fun activity to celebrate at home or go to a movie.

5.      Listen to your body and take care of it. If you are tired, acknowledge it; if you need a treat or massage, get it; and if exercises or physical activities make you feel good, go for it.  Also, be sure to get enough sleep.

6.      Practice stress-relieving techniques, particularly those that work for you. Breathe deeply, meditate freely, visualize a peaceful scene, or listen to soothing music. Enjoy some quiet time or “down” time for yourself, especially when you feel over-stressed or under uncomfortable conditions. Caution! Just because the letters in desserts can be used to spell stressed, it doesn’t mean you need to relieve stress with desserts. Avoid over-eating, particularly high sugar and/or high calorie foods.

7.      Laugh, laugh, and laugh! Laughter is an effective medicine.

8.     The holiday season is a time of Family, Friends and Fun! This is perhaps the most important tip of all! Connecting with others for laughter or fun, and love is the best stress-reliever as well as the most effective immune-booster. Please remember, for some, this is a time of loneliness and depression. Invite them to your home; show kindness to them. If you are alone during the holidays, reaching out to help others can benefit your own physical and psychological well-being.

If you like this post, please share it.  Sharing is caring and giving.

Image credit: by brainloc and Allyson

Health: It’s What We Are Most Grateful for Though Often Taken for Granted

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Gratitud for Health_CPDThe annual holiday season is approaching us. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, despite all there is to do to prepare for family festive activities. Yet many people stress out during the holiday season because they focus on what they don’t have or negativities.

But it is much wiser to be thankful.

Have you pondered for a few minutes what you are most grateful for?

I am grateful for many things in my life. One very important thing is my health. Without it, I don’t know if I would enjoy much of anything, even my time with my family and my energy for helping others. Here I share several ways I’m grateful for my health.

I’m grateful for each breath because it’s a gift of life.

I’m grateful for the oxygen I inhale because it’s a feeder/supporter of life.

I’m grateful for the carbon dioxide I exhale because it takes with it anxiety, frustration, and negativity.

I’m grateful for each step I take and each move I make because they are signs of my physical vitality.
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I’m grateful for my heart and immune functions because they fight off illnesses from cold or flu to heart disease and cancer.

I’m grateful for my normal aging because I gain more wisdom over the years.

I’m grateful for my laughter because the sound helps lighten stress and bring bliss

I’m also grateful for being able to feel pain because pain could be my body’s alarm about a health concern, as well as an experience shared with many who are suffering.

The list can go on and on…

In reality, feeling and expressing gratitude can foster your happiness and boost your health. So, let your heart and days be filled with the spirit of the season—joy, peace, love, giving, harmony, and gratitude.

Let us spread the spirit of the Holidays!

 

Daily Risks for Breast Cancer: Everybody Can Do Something

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Pink_breast cancer awareWhat do you do in Breast Cancer Awareness Month? What do you do in a year for breast cancer prevention?

Unless you have a well-defined plan, here is food for thought.

In addition to wearing pink or a pink ribbon, campaigning to raise funds and getting a mammogram, there are essential things that everybody can do in this month and year round.

Why everybody? Because both men and women can get breast cancer, and because you care about your loved ones.

First of all, the key to fighting breast cancer is to catch it early. The cancer is most treatable at an early stage.

Then the best cure is prevention. Surely, you cannot control certain risk factors such as family history and/or genetics. However, do you know – about 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer? This means that DNA mutation can occur over one’s lifetime, and that’s why lowering your risk for breast cancer is critical.

So what are five most common daily risks for breast cancer?

  1. Smoke
  2. Alcohol
  3. Junk foods (processed foods, food low in nutrients but high in fat, sugar and salt)

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  4. Physical inactivity
  5. Environmental pollutants and toxins

Everybody can relate to these health hazards, right? Be aware, some of them are hidden. Of course, there are other risk factors for breast cancer, including hormone therapy, radiation exposure, aging, and sleeping pattern (night shift).

I want to stress that it’s not one single factor that plays a measurable role in causing any cancer. Multiple or combined factors contribute to the development of breast cancer. For instance, when combined with genetic factors, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking enhance a risk for breast cancer and several other cancers as well. Furthermore, each cancer is different; no two people have the exactly same cancer.

Next, how to reduce breast cancer risk?

Breast cancer prevention starts with a healthy lifestyle, such as stopping tobacco use, limiting alcohol consumption, getting a nutritious diet, staying physically active, keeping a healthy weight, and avoiding environmental toxins if you can.

Lifestyle modification is often most effective and goes a long way. But it doesn’t happen overnight. Live a healthy lifestyle by starting with small, simple steps on a daily basis. Just consider food. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially a low-fat diet have been shown to offer protection from breast cancer. Plus, eating healthy can help you maintain a healthy weight and decrease your risk for several other types of cancer.

Regular physical activities also offer you some protection. Research has demonstrated that women who exercised vigorously or moderately were significantly less risky to get breast cancer compared with non-exercisers.

In summary, focus on what you can do to lower your cancer risk. If you’re at an increased risk, breast cancer can be closely monitored with advanced technology and with help of your physician(s).

 

Wellness & Fun Tips for End of the Summer

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

kids-chase-a-bubble-at-a-family-picnic-397582-mLabor Day can really make you feel like the end of the summer. As you know, after this weekend various popular summertime attractions will close, including pools. For some people, summer is a relaxing break from work and a happy time with their families. For others, they may have struggled with hectic schedules and unusual stressful workloads.

From a health and wellness perspective, how can you take advantage of Labor Day weekend to relax, renew and recharge? I’ll offer these cancer prevention strategies and tips as a farewell to summer:

  1. Go to book or music festivals, food and wine festivals, as well as an outdoor event in town. It can relax your mind, foster your joy, and promote your fitness as you walk and move around.
  2. Enjoy healthy meals and family picnics. This is the time when you can pack some antioxidant-rich foods, try out some healthy recipes, cook and share delicious food with your family and friends.
  3. Have a fun for fitness. Have you heard anything like Family Backyard Triathlon? What a creative idea and a marvelous way to get everyone move more! Certainly, you can do it at a local park too. Whether it’s a jump rope, push-ups, run or holding a yoga pose, these challenges are more beneficial than TV and internet times. Also pleasurable are team sports.

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  4. Head for the beach or lake. In addition to those on the road trip already, if you live nearby the beach, there is always something for everybody, for a family fun activity. Yet again, be mindful for sun safe and sun protection.
  5. Practice your well-deserved stress-relieve treatment. This long weekend is a great opportunity to de-stress, hence to strengthen your immune function. Enjoy a peaceful time for yourself, a treat, a walk, or anyway that works for you.

Whatever you do, wish you the most happy, healthy, and adventurous Labor Day Holiday ever!

 

Image credit: by hortongrou

Strategies and Tips for Healthy Dishes for Hot Summer Days

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

green and red healthy foodImagine that on a hot summer evening you just came back from work and you want to avoid staying around the stove to cook a family dinner. As you know, fast food or a colorful meal-in-box is not always healthy, and dining at restaurants can be costly. Let’s say that going out is not an option. So how do you fix the dinner quickly?

Yes, dinner planning during the summer is a challenge. But we have to eat, right? That’s why I want to provide some solutions for hot weather, weird schedules, busy days, tired cooks, or a lack of cooking magic.

Here are the top FIVE principles to help you make a hot summer day dinner easy and healthy:

1. Plan ahead strategically.

-          Bake and Freeze: When you bake some foods during the weekend, it makes your week-day dinner easier and less time-consuming to prepare.

-          Cook and fridge: for example, hard-boiled eggs and chicken slices/cubes can be done in advance.

-          Have a theme or a focus. We can develop a cycle by rotating dishes without repeating the same meal two days in the row. For example, we could have a theme like chicken-veggie pasta for Monday, tuna fish salad for Tuesday, veggie and ravioli on Wednesday, shrimp-veggie pasta for Thurs, pizza for Friday, Salmon, veggie and brown rice for Saturday, and veggie/tofu for Sunday, but without being strictly tied to the same order each week. It actually make meals diverse and less boring; and when you get used to it, you don’t need to think too hard about what to have for dinner.

2. Make it easy.

Be careful and do not push deeply into the receiver! You do not want to create a need for unnecessary repairs while trying to prevent them! 3. viagra india online There are just so levitra generika 5mg many freaking options. Note that this medication is for treating the symptoms of utilizing Kamagra, Aurogra, and cialis levitra generico. Whether kamagra or any other ED medicine, all medicines should be taken under sildenafil best price proper care of healthcare provider. Buy some fresh or semi-cooked dishes during your grocery shopping, then you just warm the dish and eat. Another idea is to stock some fresh baby carrots, chopped celery, lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries or grapes, or some veggie wraps and potato salad, in your refrigerator, and then you can have a ready-meal or no-cook dinner. Fresh, light and simple foods also calm your mind!

3. Ensure it’s fresh and healthy with cancer prevention in mind.

Healthy and delicious dishes don’t need to be complicated. On hot summer days, cool, light, fresh dishes are recommended. Eat something light with green-leafy veggies or watermelon—sweet and super hydrating—and limit greasy and deep-fried dishes. Remember to drink a lot of water or other fluids!

4. Exercise creativity and have fun!

I used to take my lunch to work in this way, i.e. in a “create your own dish” fashion. Prepare all veggies, fruits, nuts, meats, and dressings by setting them out just like a salad bar, then everyone can take whatever they like to have a “rainbow” on the plate. Alternatively, for a family dinner, put together the foods you have—from whole wheat bread to fish or chicken, from veggies to a fruit cake, then you can have a “Cancer Prevention Picnic” in your back yard while watching the sunset!

5. Make it quick.

When you follow the tips and ideas mentioned above, your dinner will be ultimately a quick-fix.

Follow these solutions and your meals prep should be less stressful, less troublesome, and take less time. A bonus is that you and your family will have healthier dishes and that’s reason to be happier too!

 

A New Strategy for Developing Healthy Habits

Ghandi-Quote_Keep thoughts positiveMahatma Gandhi once said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”                                                      

This wisdom from Gandhi can be applied not only for the sake of inspiration for personal development but also for motivation to develop healthy habits. Today, let’s talk about a strategy for many seemingly small battles that may be necessary for living a healthy lifestyle.

This strategy is to embrace Gandhi’s chain of connections, thoughts → words → actions → habits, by starting out with thoughts and then formulating those thoughts into words, which then influence your actions and finally lead to healthy habits.

For example, if you feel a craving for sugar or sugar-rich food, tell yourself “I can pass it up” or “I want to eat healthier food,” and say it out loud. Then do something to counteract the desire for sugar, such as eating some veggies or fruits or taking a walk. Each time when your craving comes back, think about your valuable health, repeat your words and your practice, realizing that the process of thoughts-words-behaviors-habits is connected with your results.

In addition, it is much useful to http://raindogscine.com/estreno-mundial-de-una-noche-sin-luna/ prices levitra speak to the doctor once prior practice of the medicine. It is numbness of nose, hands and feet care – hands and feet are the most common sexual troubles as levitra 100mg pills stated by psychologists and doctors. It also helps a person maintain an erection is already impossible because conditions tadalafil free shipping like diabetes and reduces frequency of urination. 6. Basically he said: ‘In Framingham, Massachusetts, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the price you pay per http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=52 levitra 10 mg pill! If you need to refresh your knowledge of driving skills you can also opt for Kamagra 100 mg jelly which is formulated in the form of jelly so as to enhance its size to an optimum level. Since too much stress can influence us to eat too much or make other unhealthy choices, it is also very helpful for developing healthy habits to do the following: If you feel stressed out, give yourself a break. Shift your focus to relaxation or find something to laugh about. This can help keep your mind healthy, which is important because a healthy mind and healthy brain guides you to function more effectively as you move toward accomplishing whatever you do.

Let me reinforce this new strategy by citing another famous quotation from Gandhi – “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”  

 

Image credit: By getorganizedwizard.com

How to Avoid Too Less or Too Much of Vitamin D

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Vit D Nature-MadeVitamin D is known for its critical role in forming and maintaining strong, healthy bones, but it also links to a broad spectrum of health benefits, such as those for cardiovascular and neurological functions. Most of us mainly acquire vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. However, sun’s UV rays cause skin cancer. So, there is a health conflict, right?

Today, we’ll talk about solutions to this problem, i.e. how to make sure you get enough vitamin D for your health, but not too much.

How much do we need?

For general population, the recommended amount of vitamin D daily intake for an individual aged 1 to 70 is 600 IU. This amount can be increased to 800 IU/day for those over 70 years old. It’s important to know that the recommendations are made based on an assumption of minimal or no sun exposure.

Three ways to get vitamin D

1.      From the sun, with sun protection

The most beneficial effect of sun exposure is the production of vitamin D in the skin. However, it is essential to practice sun care and protection. We’ve published several blogs covering various strategies and tips for sun protection. You can use these resources.

Because UV radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer and because there are other sources where you can acquire vitamin D safely and inexpensively, let’s next look at how to meet your need through diet and vitamin supplements.

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Foods rich in vitamin D include fish (esp. swordfish, salmon, tuna contain high vitamin D), beef liver, milk fortified with vitamin D, yogurt, cereal and orange juice fortified with vitamin D. You can integrate these foods to your diet intentionally.

3.      From supplement

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the natural form of vitamin D produced in the skin after sun exposure. It is available as a single ingredient in over-the-counter vitamin supplement, and also commonly incorporated into calcium supplements and multivitamins.

In summary

Sensible sun exposure, certain foods rich in (or fortified with) vitamin D, and vitamin D supplementation should help improve the vitamin D status not only for bone health but for lowering the risk of developing or dying of cancer.

Words of wisdom:

Vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, but vitamin D overdose can cause intoxication such as hypercalcemia, renal and hematologic abnormalities. Never take a large dose of vitamin D to prevent cancer since the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive.

 

Increase Awareness of Head and Neck Cancer

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

HeadNeck-Ribbon_RRSNearly 65,000 people in the United States will develop cancer of the head and neck each year, and nearly 13,000 of them will die from it. What makes these figures especially tragic is that most of these cases are preventable! If caught early, head and neck cancers are also curable!

Are you and your loved ones aware of the facts about preventing head and neck cancer? If yes, great! If not, it’s time to increase your awareness. The basic thing you need to know is that a healthy lifestyle and early detection are critical. Today, let’s focus on these two keys.

Healthy lifestyle and habits

  1. If you smoke, quit. Period. Don’t even try to switch to any other unsafe alternatives such as smokeless or spit tobacco. Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of head and neck cancer. Tobacco is a known carcinogen that causes many types of cancer.
  2. Reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. 75% of all tumors of the mouth and throat are associated with tobacco and alcohol use. Tobacco and alcohol are a deadly combination!
  3. Keep a healthy and balanced diet, which is essential for your overall wellness.
  4. Maintain proper oral hygiene daily, take good care of your teeth, and see your dentist annually or semi-annually.
  5. Practice sun protection.
  6. Consult with your doctor if you find a suspicious lump or sore or a discoloration on your head and neck area that doesn’t heal for more than 2 weeks.

How do you detect head and neck cancer early?

First, you should know that head and neck cancer includes cancer of the:

  •   Oral cavity (lips, gums, cheeks, tongue, salivary glands, palate, and mouth floor)
  •   Tonsils
  •   Throat or pharynx
  •   Voice box or larynx
  •   Neck
  •   Lymph nodes in the head and neck area
  •   Nasal cavity
  •   Sinuses
  •   Ear

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Next, you should watch for symptoms or warning signs of a cancerous growth, including:

  1. A sore, swelling, or growth in your mouth or tongue that doesn’t go away.
  2. A lump in your neck. Cancers that begin in the head or neck usually spread to lymph nodes in the neck before they spread elsewhere. So, a lump or lumps could be the first sign of head and neck cancer, or of lymphoma or another blood cancer. It may be painless but it also may continue to enlarge.
  3. A change in the voice. Not all voice changes are caused by cancer, but if your voice changes or if hoarseness persists for longer than two weeks, visit your physician.
  4. Persistent nasal problems. Watch out for an unexplained bloody discharge, chronic sinus trouble, or an obstruction, especially when it lasts for several days.
  5. Blood in your saliva or phlegm. If it lasts for several days without an apparent reason, see your doctor.
  6. Persistent pain when swallowing food or liquids. Swallowing difficulty may be caused by cancer of the throat or esophagus. Do not delay getting a diagnosis.
  7. Decreased hearing or persistent earache. Constant pain in or around the ear accompanied by swallowing trouble could be a sign of infection or of cancer. This is particularly serious when it combines with one or more of the problems mentioned above. Make sure to consult with your doctor or a specialist.
  8. Changes in the skin. Skin cancer is the most common head and neck cancer. Basal cell skin cancer often occurs on sun-exposed areas like the forehead, face, and ears; and of course, it can occur almost anywhere on the skin. A mole that changes size or color, or that starts bleeding, may be a sign of serious trouble. A black or blue-black spot on the face or neck, especially if it changes size or shape, should be seen by a dermatologist or your physician as soon as possible.

Here is the take-home message: Head and neck cancer can be prevented. Healthy habits and early detection are two of your best strategies for prevention.

 

Image credit: By http://www.rushradiosurgery.com/

 

How Can Sedentary Behavior Hurt You

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

sedentary1_nationalnursingreviewDo you know — Approximately 25% of all cancers worldwide can be attributed to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle?

In my last post, I show you how to stay physically active — an approach to keep your New Year’s Health Resolution alive. Today, I’d like to emphasize why sedentary lifestyle has deleterious health consequences; particularly, it increases your risk for several cancers.

Sedentary lifestyle_comboHow do you define sedentary behavior?

Sedentary behavior is characterized by spending a majority of one’s waking hours sitting or lying down. Sedentary activities are increasingly seen in our daily lives in modern society, ranging from leisure (e.g. watching TV, lying down to read, playing video or online games, and parking your body in the car for a long commute to work or road trip) to occupation, such as sitting all day in the office or working on a computer for several hours.

Distinctly speaking, just because you meet or even exceed physical activity recommendations, it doesn’t mean that you are “sedentary-behavior-free”. For example, if you exercise for 30-45 minutes a day but spend the rest of day in sedentary activities, only ~3% of your day is physically active. As recent studies suggest, sedentary behavior may be a novel health risk factor independent of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Also see Physically Active, Physically Inactive, or “Active Sitting Potato”: Where Do You Fit in? 

How does sedentary lifestyle increase cancer risk?

Emerging evidence points to a link between sedentary behavior and risk for several cancers. Scientific research has shown that sedentary behavior is associated with an increased risk for colorectal, gastric, breast, ovarian, endometrial, and prostate cancer.

Sedentary behavior can cause changes at the cellular and metabolic levels, which may contribute to the development of cancer. These changes include:

  1. Overweight or obesity, which is linked to several cancers. Obesity is also viewed as a condition of systemic inflammation.

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  2. Altered production of sex hormones, which plays a role in breast and prostate cancer.
  3. Higher blood sugar, which cancer cells use as a fuel to grow and proliferate.
  4. Lower vitamin D, which may increase a risk for some cancers.
  5. Increased chronic inflammation, which may contribute to some cancers. Specifically, increased inflammation-causing factors and decreased anti-inflammatory factors may lead to a higher cancer risk.

What is more?

Sedentary behavior (too much sitting) is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and for death due to other illnesses, leading to shorter life expectancy. On the whole, physical inactivity is one of important causes of most chronic diseases including cancer.

In contrast, physical activity can reduce the risk and progression of several cancers. Staying physically active primarily prevents and/or postpones many chronic illnesses, and gain longer life expectancy.

Related topic: 10 Strategies to Keep a New Year’s Resolution for Staying Active

What’s your practice for “sit less and move more”? Thanks for sharing!

 

Reference from B.M. Lynch: Sedentary Behavior and Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010;19:2691-2709.

Image credit: by nationalnursingreview.com; dailymail.co.uk; healthcureview.com; and howtoplaza.com

10 Strategies to Keep a New Year’s Resolution: Staying Active

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Yoga-1199543-mDid you make any New Year’s health resolutions? I assume many people have by now. A new commitment to being healthy can mean different things to different people – quit smoking, lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more, or something else that will make for a healthier lifestyle.

Keeping up with your New Year’s resolutions once they are made can be the hard part. Having an ambitious New Year’s resolution but then falling off the wagon can be like getting in the car and driving along without a roadmap, then ending nowhere you want to be.

Today, I want to help you achieve your health goals by making one important change – Become More Physically Active. The following 10 strategies show you how to stick to a New Year’s resolution of doing just that.

1.      Be clear why you are doing it.

Sedentary behavior is an important risk factor for cancer and other serious chronic diseases. Why is staying active important to you? Is it because of an effort to lose weight? A measure to prevent obesity, heart disease, and cancer? A way to boost energy? Or a therapy to reduce stress? Knowing why you are doing something means you will more likely stick to it.

Evening Jogger_4488221416_fe9be2eb7a_n2.      Set a realistic, attainable goal.

One physical activity guideline for adults is to aim for moderate exercise or activity 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.  If you are rarely physically active, you may start with breaking it down to 10 minutes each time, 3 times throughout the day. You should choose activities that fit your abilities. If you cannot run, consider jogging or walking faster when you are going somewhere on foot.

3.      Set a time for it. Make it your priority.

If it’s hard for you to find time, do it the first thing in the morning before the rest of your day starts. Then you’ll feel good when you are done.

4.      Have a system and make it work.

It could be “walk 20 minutes a day, do it after dinner, repeat it each day, reward myself at the end of month”. Or it could be “sign up a fitness program or a yoga class AM or PM, walk up-and-down stairs more during the day, and garden during the weekend, then repeat.” You get the idea.

5.      Little moves add up and small steps count.

With modern technologies and today’s lifestyle, we sit more and move less, as I have discussed in previous blogs. You can incorporate “sit less, move more” choices into your everyday life with little effort. For example, you can:

  • get off the bus or train a stop or two earlier to walk home or to work.
  • walk up stairs without using the elevator or escalator.
  • park the car farther away from stores, malls, or buildings you are going to.
  • spend more time on active interests, such as gardening or golfing.
  • walk to nearby stores instead of driving.
  • clean the car yourself.
  • do more chores such as vacuuming the house.
  • play more with the kids.

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6.      Do it as much as you can and as often as you can.

There is no such thing as exercising too much as long as your health condition allows it. The opportunities are endless.

7.      Try something new and make it fun.

Whether it’s learning a dance, practicing yoga, or joining a community sport team, find something that motivates you and excites you. Make it fun, not a burden.

8.      Exercise with the season.

You can plan monthly or quarterly actions or activities. With the Winter Olympic Games around the corner, enjoy ice skating, skiing, and other outdoor activities. With cold weather in winter, you can choose some indoor exercises, fitness program(s) at the gym, walking in the malls, or visiting museums. In the spring and fall, hike and/or bike while getting pleasure from nature’s beauty. In summer, swim at the local Y or go to the ocean and do beach activities.

9.      Review, Revise, and Reward.

Having a written goal and taking action toward it are initial steps. Re-examine your goal from time to time to see if it is effective and the steps toward it are attainable. If not, revise it. If you’ve made progress, celebrate it and reward yourself.

10.  Get support from family members, friends, fitness buddies, classmates, and even online pals or social media.

Share your plan with people. Letting others know your goal publicly can increase the chance that you stick on it.

Conclusion

Overall, you don’t need to struggle or make a huge change in your lifestyle in order to boost your physical activity. Consistently following these strategies, you’ll see the results. To become a healthier, fitter, happier, and better you, also integrate more fruits and vegetables into your diet and drink a lot of water. In due course, you can reap considerable benefits.

 

Image credit: By shed; and Thoursie