Healthy Veggie, Resiliency

Recently I came across some information on a vegetable that I have always liked but wondered if it really had any nutritional value. My reason for this doubt is because it looks funny, has a tendency to leave slivers in between your teeth you must floss to get out, it has no real distinguishing taste, and it has no bright colors. It is basically just a real boring veggie and is always a side kick used for finger food occasions, but I really like it. You very seldom cook it but I like it cut up in little chunks and added to my Chinese noodles that I make every once in a while. I also like to spread a little cheese on it and snack away. Now that I have revealed all of these clues what is it? You guessed it; celery is the favorite side kick of most finger food events and has way more nutrition than you might have imagined. For example celery offers the following: 1. It offers a great source of Vitamins C & K and its active compounds my help lower blood pressure. 2. Celery has long been associated with dieting due to its’ natural diuretic effects and low calorie count. 3. The crunchy green is also rich in potassium and sodium, which is very important in regulating fluid balance and stimulating urine production. 4. Celery is at home in soups, stews, stir –fries as it is in salads or spread with natural peanut butter or some form of cheese. Try it if you haven’t, but better get some floss!!

While I know most people read this blog to get some idea on how to drive the human body towards at least minimum fitness or maybe the ultimate fitness for marathons, triathlons, etc. But my goal is to also add information for fitness of the mind and offer some insight towards healthy aging. You notice I did not say, anti-aging or non-aging, I said healthy aging. All of this stuff you read about on anti-aging is usually not worth the paper it is written on and we must remember that aging is part of life, it happens with each birthday. So, what I like to spread the word on concerning this is the importance of having balance in life for healthy aging and that must involved the entire person, i.e. physical, mental, and spiritual. For today I want to express some ideas on the ability to be resilient, the ability to rebound quickly from a crisis or trauma. Highly resilient people don’t fall apart-at least not for long. They call on their inner strength and recruit outside resources to keep moving forward. In the book the Power of Resilience by Sam Goldstein, he states, “While it is true that some people are just naturally more resilient than others, it is a behavior that can be learned. “ Here are some attributes of resilient people and what they do to cultivate it: 1. They give back-the benefit you derive for yourself is as great as that you give to others. 2. They pick their battles-spend time on those things that you do have influence over and eliminate those that you can do nothing about or have little influence over. 3. They stay healthy-good diet and regular exercise. To be good for others you have to be good to yourself. 4. They find the silver lining-resilient people convert misfortune into good luck (luck is defined as when preparation meets with opportunity) and gain strength from adversity (in my selling days I always said that if the word “no” didn’t motivate me then I was in the wrong profession). They see negative events as an opportunity to better themselves or become better people. 5. They stay connected-Resilient people rely on others to help them survive tough times. This could be done by joining support groups and reaching out to for help and to help. 6. They are optimistic-while we must stay grounded to reality we can have a sunny attitude about life. My point on this is to always have that Plan B in place, sometimes Plan A just doesn’t get there. 7. They are spiritual-this can be defined in many ways but I feel that the important point here is not how many times you cross the threshold of the local church building, but how many times your mind and heart approach the creator of this universe. Religious convictions have proven in the past to strengthen resilience and the feeling of depression did leave sooner. 8. They are playful-resilient people tend to enjoy themselves. They wonder about things, experiment, and laugh. A great laugh is worth a thousand words. AARP magazine had a little resilient test that I thought I would offer to you. How Resilient Are You? Rate yourself on each of these statements using a scale from 1(Do not agree), to 5 (strongly agree), then add up the total score to see where you fit: _____I am usually upbeat, _____I can tolerate high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty about situation, _____I adapt quickly to new developments, _____I find the humor in rough situations and can laugh at myself, _____I learn valuable lessons from my experiences and from the experiences of others, _____I am good at solving problems, _____I am strong and durable, _____, I have converted misfortune into good luck and found benefits in bad experiences. Total score:_________
Scoring: 35-40 Highly resilient, 30-34 Self-motivated learner, 20-29 Somewhat resilient, Less than 20 Poor at handling pressure and probably will not be reading this blog anyway, but it is never too late to learn. Note: Another way to do this is have one of your friends answer the questions as they perceive you from their experience with you. You need a long time friend for this exercise so it has validity.

My score was 37, now that I have exercised my mind I am heading for some exercise on the bicycle.

Mike Greer

Winter Crunches and More

With the winter months gaining ground on us here are some very conservative exercises that can help maintain a degree of fitness, and most of this is right before our eyes:

Preparing a holiday dinner—Front raises, hold two 14 ounce full cans of anything, one in each hand, palms down. Raise your arms straight out in front of you until they are parallel to the floor. Pause, and then slowly return to the starting position. Repeat 15 times. The benefit: strengthens shoulder muscles, grip. My question, what if you don't have to cook?

Addressing holiday cards—Chair squats, stand in front of a sturdy chair as if you are going to sit down; raise your arms straight in front of you. Bend your knees and slowly lower yourself onto the chair; lightly touchdown and then stand back up. Repeat 10-15 times. The benefit: Strengthens thighs and glutes. My thoughts, don't go too low or you might not get up.

Waiting for the oven to heat—Hamstring kicks, stand facing a counter (hold on for balance). Shift your weight to one leg, and bring your other heel up toward your buttocks. Hold and squeeze for a few seconds. Return your leg to the starting position, and then lift it straight out to the side, and again back down. Repeat 15 times with each leg. The benefit: Works hamstrings and outer-thigh muscles.

Waiting in line at the mall—Calf lifts, rise up on your toes and hold for 3 seconds. Lower; repeat 15 times. The benefits: Tones and strengthens calf muscles. Balance challenge, stand near a counter for balance, shift your weight to one foot and raise the opposite foot. See how long you can keep your balance. Repeat with the other leg. The benefit: Strengthens and tones the supporting leg and improves balance. Another recommendation, don't go to the mall and have to wait in line.

Standing at the buffet table—Ab flattener: Tighten your abdominal muscles as if preparing to take a punch. Hold and squeeze for 5-10 seconds. Release and repeat 10 times. The benefit: Strengthens abdominal and core muscles. My idea here is to just stay away from the buffet tables.

Bonus calorie burners: Mix cookie dough by hand instead of using an electric mixer. The strengthens your grip, biceps, forearm and should muscles while burning 170 calories. Take the stairs instead of the escalator. Ten minutes of stair climbing burns 89 calories, versus 13 for the same amount of time standing on an escalator.

Challenge: Look around you and try to eliminate everything that is done for you and do it for yourself, i.e. electric garage door opener. Not only will you get to lift the door but getting out of the automobile and walking to the door will burn some calories. We are too spoiled to having everything done for us.

Source: AARP magazine. Fitness coaches, Tom Holland, Katie Koch.

Mike Greer