Health Goals
Health Goals
Set yourself up for success by starting super simple:
Brush & floss, before bed especially
If you feel you could use some help feeling okay on a more regular basis, see the document labeled Natural Mood Enhancers
Eat more vegetables & uncooked fruits. Replace high-glycemic foods (sugar & white bread/rice/pasta) with high-fiber proteins such as whole grains & beans. Eat more healthy fats like avocado, nuts, cheese, olives. Eat slowly so that you can enjoy the flavors and allow time to feel full.
More important than recommended hours of sleep is allowing your body an optimal number of hours for your particular needs, which for adults is usually between 6 (more typical for men) and 8 (more typical for women). A regular bedtime and no light are among the most important ways to get good quality sleep.
The important question for busy people is: How little exercise can I do and still have great cardiovascular health and look toned?
An important principle is: The okay workout I regularly complete is better than the optimal workout that I don’t complete. To make the goal adequate in intensity, yet attainable, a basic level of fitness can be maintained in 10 to 15 minutes per day. [See the at-home free weights routine document]
2The recommendation of 20 or 30 minutes of cardio has been debunked by serious research on high intensity interval training (HIIT) at about 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. You can look up how to calculate that heart rate, but generally, it’s as hard as you can go for 4 minutes, where you are breathing so hard you can only get one syllable in per breath. Only 4 minutes of intense energetic movement of large muscle groups two days or so is all that’s needed for optimal cardiovascular health. This can be done with jump-roping or really fast dancing. This could even include fast stair-climbing while packing a child in a carrier, safe with hand rails. In the cited study, participants did 3 times per week. For 2 years, my goal has been every 4 days, in between the 3-day lifting. I manage to get in once a week.
At 48, I recently took a 3-day backpacking trip and I kept up with the fastest of a class of 13-year-olds, even up the long steep parts, so I consider it enough. See https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/the-4-minute-workout/
All of the above help with disease prevention, but if you have a specific hereditary or environmental risk, prevention is better than a cure. Medicines have side effects.
Avoid toxins in skin care & other personal care products: Rachel Carson effectively raised public consciousness about the harmful nature of the pesticides being spread widely across the U.S., chemicals developed for wartime use. She was severely and persistently criticized by the chemical industries, but she had sound evidence on her side. It's time for the same awareness of chemicals we use daily. [See 515 Chemicals Women Put on Their Bodies Every Day] There are many natural alternatives at health food stores and the grocery aisle. Test-tube and animal studies show that avocado seed extract has antifungal, skin-regenerating, cholesterol lowering, and other potentially beneficial properties.
Spend time in nature: Psychology Today says we need 120 min in nature every week
Optimal Weight and Food Choice document
See fasting mimicking diets and Health Theory on youtube by Tom Bilyeu.
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