It's been quite some time since we've last posted any diet updates due to hectic schedules and all kinds of craziness going on! From strict dieting for a total body transformation to violent wind storms, extended power outages and family emergencies, it's been an eventful beginning to 2010.
Here's a quick overview of where things are at:
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Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
What To Do When There's Only Fast Food
It's a hectic day - you've raced out the door in the morning without preparing anything to eat. You're on the road and need to stop quick for a meal and there's nothing but fast food. You don't have any meal replacement bars with you. What do you do?
There are still options you can partake in without destroying your diet. I personally continue to eat at fast food restaurants regardless of how strict my diet is because there are sensible choices. What are they you ask?
Here's a quick and concise list I like to use:
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There are still options you can partake in without destroying your diet. I personally continue to eat at fast food restaurants regardless of how strict my diet is because there are sensible choices. What are they you ask?
Here's a quick and concise list I like to use:
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Are You Back On Track Yet?
I hope you enjoyed your Holiday meal as much as I did. True to form, I completely overdid it! Waaaay too many calories, waaaay too much volume and waaaay too much sleeping immediately afterward. As we've talked about previously, it's good to have this break from your eating plan but it's also good to get right back on track as soon as you can.
Are you back on track yet? Here's what I did to shift gears from feeling sick to getting strict:
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Are you back on track yet? Here's what I did to shift gears from feeling sick to getting strict:
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Diet Dilemma - Preparing For The BIG Holiday Meal
Let's take a look at a couple of quick tips to help insure you don't tumble off the wagon after one of these festive feedings!
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Sunday, November 15, 2009
You Have TOTAL Control Over Your Diet - Rule With An Iron Fist!
How rare is that? What else in your life can you honestly say you have TOTAL control over? I don't know about you, but for me, not many. Diet however, is something that nobody else determines for us. Nobody is putting the food in our mouths, telling us we can only eat what they're giving us or forcing us to eat a certain amount. All of these aspects are entirely up to us! You've probably never looked at it this way before but it's 100% true and it's time to take advantage of it.
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Here Are Some Tips To Insure YOU Control Your Diet:
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
What Happens To My Diet When I Get Sick Or Injured? Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 we covered some approaches on how to not get sick or injured. Consistently sticking to those will go a long way to keeping you out of the sick ward! But, accidents do happen and we can’t fight off every sickness out there. Here’s what we can do to help speed things along if we do get stricken with injury or sickness.
Getting Over a Sickness As Quickly As Possible
We’ve tried hard to not get sick and followed all the tips and tricks we have at our disposal but something snuck through. When you’re sick, it’s easy to come up with excuses as to why you shouldn’t stick to your diet or why it’s easier to eat something else or why you should just give up on the whole thing! It’s more important than ever to be strong during this time and focus on getting better quickly. There’s a lot of crossover from the ‘How To Avoid Getting Sick’ section but here are some tips and tricks to get you better fast:
Rest - When you’re sick, your body wants to recover ASAP and beyond supplying it with all the necessary nutrients, you need plenty of sleep. Just like recovering from a tough workout, your body needs to wind down, and focus it’s energies on recovering from whatever is ailing you. Once you load up on the high quality nutrients you need to fuel recovery, take time out to sleep - more is better.
Vitamin C – Continue to take lots of it. I personally like to ratchet up my dosage to 5+ grams per day. I find that it helps me recover faster and I like knowing that I'm getting plenty of it just in case. Be sure to assess your tolerance to Vitamin C before experimenting with higher than normal dosages.
Eat High Quality Clean Foods - You've got to do your best to make sure you're only eating high quality foods. It can be tough - especially if your sense of taste is diminished due to a cold or some sinus ailment. Be strong and see it through and your body will thank you for it. It's during these times of sickness when it needs good quality foods the most. Make a conscious effort and know that every bite, portion and meal is contributing to getting you better, faster!
Be Diligent And Stick To Your Diet - As best as you can of course. It won't be 100% consistent by any means but it is vitally important to stick to quality foods if you can keep them down. Your body needs that quality nutrition to be in top form and begin healing itself. For some reason, mentally we begin to break down when we're sick and think that eating junk will make us better. It's strange because it's the exact opposite of what we need to do. Try to focus on: Keeping fluids up, keep taking vitamins if you can keep them down, small portions of quality foods and whey protein if you can stomach it. It's not easy! But, if you can do your best with it you'll be on the road to recovery faster than you thought could be possible.
Recovering From An Injury As Effectively As Possible
Injuries happen and unfortunately, sometimes they can keep you out of the game for extended periods of time. I’ve seen both ends of this spectrum and would like to provide some insight on how to approach a fast and effective recovery. The two specific incidents I’ll reflect upon are a snowboarding accident that nearly severed my MCL (medial collateral ligament in the knee) many years ago and a recent fall down some cement stairs while carrying an item that weighed about as much as I do. I’ll reference each of these injuries in the sections below. These are some tips and tricks I know of that may be able to help you recover from injury more effectively:
Get Plenty Of Rest - Are you noticing a pattern here? When I hurt my knee I could barely even stand let alone walk - I had no choice but to rest it immediately. The fall I took recently had my lower back aching and being very sore. It was difficult to sit or stand for long periods of time. Even laying down would cause it to stiffen up quite a bit. In both situations, I stayed away from any sort of exercise until I started to feel like I was approaching 'normal' again. For my knee, this took about 4 to 6 weeks. For my back, it was about 7 to 10 days.
Take Time To Recover - As mentioned above, you need to recover before you jump back into activity again that can quickly sideline you. Beyond just resting, you need to insure you're taking care to not reaggrevate whatever injury you may have. My knee gave me trouble when I tried to start walking again. I began wearing a brace which helped but I stopped using it after a couple of days because I didn't want to become dependent on it. My back was a little more difficult as it bothered me whether I was sitting, standing or laying down. Even reaching for something in the refridgerator became a 'high risk' activity. The point here is to try and avoid any activity - even while resting and recovering - that may reaggravate your injury.
Keep Eating Clean Foods - You've got to keep this up. This is where that consistency and discipline comes into play. Don't lose sight of your goal because you get injured. Eating properly will help you recover much quicker than you may be used to and allow you to get right back on track to making progress with your diet and exercise regimen. As we've been stating over and over, high quality, clean foods are just what your body needs to help you recover from sickness and/or injury. In both cases of my injuries, I found that increasing my protein intake helped out quite a bit.
Get Lots Of High Quality Protein - I increased my protein intake by about 50 to 100 grams per day after my injuries. Not immediately after, but within a few days. I have found that this really makes a difference in recovery times. The body needs those amino acids to repair and rebuild and it needs a lot of them! This is difficult to do consistently with whole foods but it's quite easy when using a high quality whey protein. Plus, whey protein is very fast acting and in an easily digestable form which our bodies prefer.
Additional Supplements And Nutrients For Cartilage/Ligament Injuries - When I had my MCL injury, it was agonizingly painful. I wanted to do everything I could to get better quickly. One interesting item I used quite a bit during this time was good old fashioned Knox Gelatine. While it may not sound very appetizing, Knox Gelatine is made from the very same material our own connective tissue is made of. In effect, it supplies us with the raw materials needed to recover from this type of injury. I began mixing up one packet in the morning and one in the evening with the additional protein I was taking in. It made the protein drinks quick thick and filling but they were definitely palatable. If I ever have an injury to my connective tissue like that again (fingers crossed that I won't!), I will definitely follow the same type of regimen to heal as quickly as possible.
Make A Slow And Steady Migration Back Into Exercise - Many times we want to jump right back in and feel like we're our old selves again. Unfortunately, this usually happens too soon and has us running the risk of re-injuring ourselves. Take time to ease back into exercise. For me, in both cases of my injuries, I slowly began exercising again. Just bodyweight at first and always going a few reps short of failure. For my knee injury, the best thing I could've done for it was easing into bodyweight squats. This allowed my knee to get reacclimated to a natural movement with very little stress. Believe me, it hurt at first! But, over time, and with consistent effort the pain went away and the joint became much stronger. Within the year, my knee was able to effectively support hundreds of pounds and I feel that it's stronger today than it ever was. If I didn't ease back into exercise slowly, I could have reaggrevated the injury and caused more permanent damage. Don't push yourself, take time to do it right!
Know The Difference Between A Real Injury And Sore Muscles - You're going to get sore from exercising - no two ways about it. Knowing the difference between sever soreness and an actual injury is key. You should know the difference - if you don't think you will or can, your body will most likely tell you! A full on injury will require down time to recover where severe soreness will require additional rest and nutrition to recover more quickly. The major difference is that the injury will require you to ease back into things whereas once you recover from severe soreness, you should be able to effectively jump right back into your routine. Don't let your mind play tricks on you just to sneak in some additional time off - you'll just be short-changing youself!
So there you have it - a whole slew of tips and tricks to help recover as quickly and effeciently as possible from sickness and injury. Your best approach is to obviously stay focused, keep on target with your diet and exercise and try to avoid getting sick or injured in the first place. If you do find yourself falling ill or injured work hard to do all you can to get back on track ASAP.
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Getting Over a Sickness As Quickly As Possible
We’ve tried hard to not get sick and followed all the tips and tricks we have at our disposal but something snuck through. When you’re sick, it’s easy to come up with excuses as to why you shouldn’t stick to your diet or why it’s easier to eat something else or why you should just give up on the whole thing! It’s more important than ever to be strong during this time and focus on getting better quickly. There’s a lot of crossover from the ‘How To Avoid Getting Sick’ section but here are some tips and tricks to get you better fast:
Rest - When you’re sick, your body wants to recover ASAP and beyond supplying it with all the necessary nutrients, you need plenty of sleep. Just like recovering from a tough workout, your body needs to wind down, and focus it’s energies on recovering from whatever is ailing you. Once you load up on the high quality nutrients you need to fuel recovery, take time out to sleep - more is better.
Vitamin C – Continue to take lots of it. I personally like to ratchet up my dosage to 5+ grams per day. I find that it helps me recover faster and I like knowing that I'm getting plenty of it just in case. Be sure to assess your tolerance to Vitamin C before experimenting with higher than normal dosages.
Eat High Quality Clean Foods - You've got to do your best to make sure you're only eating high quality foods. It can be tough - especially if your sense of taste is diminished due to a cold or some sinus ailment. Be strong and see it through and your body will thank you for it. It's during these times of sickness when it needs good quality foods the most. Make a conscious effort and know that every bite, portion and meal is contributing to getting you better, faster!
Be Diligent And Stick To Your Diet - As best as you can of course. It won't be 100% consistent by any means but it is vitally important to stick to quality foods if you can keep them down. Your body needs that quality nutrition to be in top form and begin healing itself. For some reason, mentally we begin to break down when we're sick and think that eating junk will make us better. It's strange because it's the exact opposite of what we need to do. Try to focus on: Keeping fluids up, keep taking vitamins if you can keep them down, small portions of quality foods and whey protein if you can stomach it. It's not easy! But, if you can do your best with it you'll be on the road to recovery faster than you thought could be possible.
Recovering From An Injury As Effectively As Possible
Injuries happen and unfortunately, sometimes they can keep you out of the game for extended periods of time. I’ve seen both ends of this spectrum and would like to provide some insight on how to approach a fast and effective recovery. The two specific incidents I’ll reflect upon are a snowboarding accident that nearly severed my MCL (medial collateral ligament in the knee) many years ago and a recent fall down some cement stairs while carrying an item that weighed about as much as I do. I’ll reference each of these injuries in the sections below. These are some tips and tricks I know of that may be able to help you recover from injury more effectively:
Get Plenty Of Rest - Are you noticing a pattern here? When I hurt my knee I could barely even stand let alone walk - I had no choice but to rest it immediately. The fall I took recently had my lower back aching and being very sore. It was difficult to sit or stand for long periods of time. Even laying down would cause it to stiffen up quite a bit. In both situations, I stayed away from any sort of exercise until I started to feel like I was approaching 'normal' again. For my knee, this took about 4 to 6 weeks. For my back, it was about 7 to 10 days.
Take Time To Recover - As mentioned above, you need to recover before you jump back into activity again that can quickly sideline you. Beyond just resting, you need to insure you're taking care to not reaggrevate whatever injury you may have. My knee gave me trouble when I tried to start walking again. I began wearing a brace which helped but I stopped using it after a couple of days because I didn't want to become dependent on it. My back was a little more difficult as it bothered me whether I was sitting, standing or laying down. Even reaching for something in the refridgerator became a 'high risk' activity. The point here is to try and avoid any activity - even while resting and recovering - that may reaggravate your injury.
Keep Eating Clean Foods - You've got to keep this up. This is where that consistency and discipline comes into play. Don't lose sight of your goal because you get injured. Eating properly will help you recover much quicker than you may be used to and allow you to get right back on track to making progress with your diet and exercise regimen. As we've been stating over and over, high quality, clean foods are just what your body needs to help you recover from sickness and/or injury. In both cases of my injuries, I found that increasing my protein intake helped out quite a bit.
Get Lots Of High Quality Protein - I increased my protein intake by about 50 to 100 grams per day after my injuries. Not immediately after, but within a few days. I have found that this really makes a difference in recovery times. The body needs those amino acids to repair and rebuild and it needs a lot of them! This is difficult to do consistently with whole foods but it's quite easy when using a high quality whey protein. Plus, whey protein is very fast acting and in an easily digestable form which our bodies prefer.
Additional Supplements And Nutrients For Cartilage/Ligament Injuries - When I had my MCL injury, it was agonizingly painful. I wanted to do everything I could to get better quickly. One interesting item I used quite a bit during this time was good old fashioned Knox Gelatine. While it may not sound very appetizing, Knox Gelatine is made from the very same material our own connective tissue is made of. In effect, it supplies us with the raw materials needed to recover from this type of injury. I began mixing up one packet in the morning and one in the evening with the additional protein I was taking in. It made the protein drinks quick thick and filling but they were definitely palatable. If I ever have an injury to my connective tissue like that again (fingers crossed that I won't!), I will definitely follow the same type of regimen to heal as quickly as possible.
Make A Slow And Steady Migration Back Into Exercise - Many times we want to jump right back in and feel like we're our old selves again. Unfortunately, this usually happens too soon and has us running the risk of re-injuring ourselves. Take time to ease back into exercise. For me, in both cases of my injuries, I slowly began exercising again. Just bodyweight at first and always going a few reps short of failure. For my knee injury, the best thing I could've done for it was easing into bodyweight squats. This allowed my knee to get reacclimated to a natural movement with very little stress. Believe me, it hurt at first! But, over time, and with consistent effort the pain went away and the joint became much stronger. Within the year, my knee was able to effectively support hundreds of pounds and I feel that it's stronger today than it ever was. If I didn't ease back into exercise slowly, I could have reaggrevated the injury and caused more permanent damage. Don't push yourself, take time to do it right!
Know The Difference Between A Real Injury And Sore Muscles - You're going to get sore from exercising - no two ways about it. Knowing the difference between sever soreness and an actual injury is key. You should know the difference - if you don't think you will or can, your body will most likely tell you! A full on injury will require down time to recover where severe soreness will require additional rest and nutrition to recover more quickly. The major difference is that the injury will require you to ease back into things whereas once you recover from severe soreness, you should be able to effectively jump right back into your routine. Don't let your mind play tricks on you just to sneak in some additional time off - you'll just be short-changing youself!
So there you have it - a whole slew of tips and tricks to help recover as quickly and effeciently as possible from sickness and injury. Your best approach is to obviously stay focused, keep on target with your diet and exercise and try to avoid getting sick or injured in the first place. If you do find yourself falling ill or injured work hard to do all you can to get back on track ASAP.
Monday, November 9, 2009
What Happens To My Diet When I Get Sick Or Injured? Part 1 of 2
Sickness and injury are often unavoidable. We can try hard to not get stricken with either of these but sometimes, no matter what we do, it just happens. Today, we'll look at a couple of tips and tricks we can implement to avoid getting sick or hurt in the first place as well as how we can bounce back quickly and not miss a step with our diet and exercise program if it does happen!
How To NOT Get Sick
The best way to avoid down time from sickness is to not get sick in the first place! The great thing is that our bodies naturally begin to build stronger defenses against sicknesses we may encounter as we eat better and exercise more. And, in the off chance that you do come down with something, you’re body will be far more prepared to counter it and get you back to normal ASAP. Here are some tips and tricks to keep you on the right path (some common, some not so common):
Eat High Quality Foods – As a staple component of your body transformation diet, you’re already giving yourself a leg up on fighting off potential sicknesses by eating high quality foods your body needs. This helps to supply you with an array of natural, immune stimulating vitamins and minerals while keeping your digestive abilities in prime condition. By avoiding copious amounts of over-processed foods your body doesn’t need, you won’t have to worry about excess energy being consumed for digesting low quality bulk.
Use High Quality Supplements – We can’t always conveniently get everything we need from whole foods throughout the day. High quality dietary supplements do a fantastic job of filling this void. As we’ve discussed previously, you must have a multivitamin in your daily arsenal. This will help to fill in gaps that may be missed by a lack of variety in your daily diet. High quality whey proteins are known to have immunity-boosting properties and are an excellent addition to your daily diet. Other time-specific supplements help as well such as:
Vitamin C – The old standby. Popularized by Dr. Linus Pauling’s studies and further impacted by decades of empirical data showing that it helps in the area of immunity. I personally take a minimum of 2-3grams per day of Vitamin C. I will bring this up to 5+ grams per day when I feel like I may be getting sick. Assess your tolerance to higher than normal doses and see if your body benefits from it. Being water soluble, it is very difficult to get too much Vitamin C.
Vitamin D – recent studies point to Vitamin D being helpful in the area of fighting of the flu. It supposedly is effective with H1N1 or Swine Flu as well but I’m not certain there’s enough data to support this just yet. And, as always with any dietary supplement, it is important to keep in mind the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) guidelines regarding what can and can not be said about dietary supplements. Without being able to legally discuss possible benefits of supplements, many are left to their own motives and experimentation to determine what does and doesn’t work for them. There are several positive links between Vitamin D and its ability to help prevent the flu available at The Vitamin D Council website.
Echinacea – Another classic that has been said to have immunity-boosting properties. I have personally used this with varying degrees of effectiveness. Sometimes it seems to have worked great and other times not as much. In recent years I have not used it much but I attribute that to being more consistent with a high quality diet, consistent exercise and a more complete approach to health, fitness and well being. If you've never tried Echinacea before when you begin to feel a cold coming on, give it a shot and see how it works for you.
Get Some Sleep – I’m terrible at this one! Being overtired can quickly lead to sickness. Getting some solid, uninterrupted sleep each night goes a long way to keeping your body ready to fight off any sicknesses. When you’re exercising regularly, eating well and sleeping sufficiently, your body does a great job of staying that way. As we’ve spoken about in other posts, our bodies like to get into a specific habit or routine and stay there – whether good or bad. Being in a healthy state where your body fights off potential sicknesses is a good place to be!
Wash Your Hands Often – Especially after a workout. This one should be a no brainer but it took me a while to figure this out. The next two items are directly related to this as well. As a kid, I remember being a mess all the time from playing outside with friends, riding bicycles, swimming, etc. Stopping to quickly eat a sandwich with grubby little hands never stopped us. As we get older, it’s not as easy to get away with eating like that and the grubby little hands need some washing! Be sure to wash your hands often and avoid…
Touching Your Eyes, Nose, Mouth and Ears – Don’t Do It! – Again, especially during or after a workout. Years ago when I was going to a gym, I was getting sick every month or so. It was from inadvertently scratching my eye, rubbing my nose, touching my mouth, etc while exercising. Gyms tend to be festering pools of bacteria and you need to be careful to avoid getting sick. Once I was consciously aware of what I was doing, I made (and still make) a point of keeping my hands away from my eyes, ears, nose and mouth until I’ve had a chance to wash them thoroughly.
Splash Cold Water On Your Face After Your Workout – Maybe this is just a superstition that I believe, but I feel this (along with washing my hands) has contributed a lot to not getting sick. My theory is this: after working out, I thoroughly wash my hands with warm water then crank the water temp to as cold as it can go. I’ll splash this icy cold water on my face and it tends to take my breath away. I’ll do it a few times then dry off and be on my way. It seems to me, and feels like the pores on my face are constricting due to the cold and therefore possibly not allowing bacteria to enter. True or not, I’m not 100% sure, but I think it works for me and I recommend you give it a shot as well.
How To NOT Get Injured
Just like getting sick, the best way to avoid down time from injury is to not get injured in the first place. Sometimes accidents happen and there’s not much we can do about it but beyond accidents, we can make changes to how we do things to try hard not to get injured. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you out (again, some common and some not too common):
Always Try To Use Proper Exercise Form – A quick way to induce injury is exercising improperly. Too much weight, moving to fast, being off balance, not paying attention to proper body mechanics – there are many ways to get injured while exercising. Like anything else, it’s very important to learn the proper way to do things from the start then to create bad habits that could lead to injury in the future. There are many good books out there that provide instruction on proper exercise form. Check them out, study the proper way to do the various exercises and don’t fall victim to mimicking those folks in the gym who don’t know what they’re doing.
Don’t Use Too Much Weight – it’s not a contest and you really don’t need to try and impress anybody. If you can’t lift much weight, then you can’t lift much weight. It’s not a big deal. You can create a fantastic looking body without lifting a ton of weight. Getting stronger is part of it, but it doesn’t happen all at once. Slowly building up the amount of weight you can lift or move is what it’s all about. The body adapts slowly and will adapt if you allow it. Overdoing it just puts too much stress on your body and it will break down if it can’t handle that stress.
Don’t Overtrain Or Exercise Too Often – It’s great to be motivated and try to consistently do a lot of exercise but there’s a fine line between being motivated and overdoing it. Your body will tell you when your pushing too hard and it does so by breaking down. Muscle soreness can become brutal if you’re pushing yourself too hard and not eating properly or getting enough rest. I have fallen victim to this a few times and wound up spending 7 – 10 days just trying to recuperate. Take it easy, be consistent but don’t overdo it with weight, intensity or duration.
Get Plenty Of Rest – Just like the ‘Rest’ portion from the Avoiding Sickness section above, it applies here as well. Your body needs sufficient rest to take time off, repair and get ready for the next bout of activity you’re going to throw at it. Extended periods of time without enough rest and sleep drags your body further and further into a fatigued state which many times ends in injury or sickness. This also goes for plain old days off as well. If you like adhering to a strict schedule of exercising on specific days you may find that sometimes it’s best to skip a day. Not because ‘you don’t feel like exercising’ but because you’re sore from your last session and your body could benefit from some down time.
Eat High Quality Foods To Repair – Again, this will echo much of what was covered in the section above but it holds true to preventing injury as well. Every time you complete an intense exercise session, your body becomes damaged by the exercises (on purpose) and needs to recover and repair so it can be prepared for the next session. Eating high quality foods allows your body to repair and recover quickly. The better you eat, the faster you repair so you’ll be ready for your next exercise session.
As you can surely see, there are many components that work synergistically to insure you stay in top shape to avoid sickness and injury. It’s not going to be that one magic pill, special exercise, or trick that will forever keep you away from these things so please don’t fall victim that kind of marketing. Consistent, small amounts of effort across a wide spectrum of areas work together to keep you healthy over time.
In Part 2 we’ll focus on how we can recover as quickly as possible if we do get sick or injured.
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How To NOT Get Sick
The best way to avoid down time from sickness is to not get sick in the first place! The great thing is that our bodies naturally begin to build stronger defenses against sicknesses we may encounter as we eat better and exercise more. And, in the off chance that you do come down with something, you’re body will be far more prepared to counter it and get you back to normal ASAP. Here are some tips and tricks to keep you on the right path (some common, some not so common):
Eat High Quality Foods – As a staple component of your body transformation diet, you’re already giving yourself a leg up on fighting off potential sicknesses by eating high quality foods your body needs. This helps to supply you with an array of natural, immune stimulating vitamins and minerals while keeping your digestive abilities in prime condition. By avoiding copious amounts of over-processed foods your body doesn’t need, you won’t have to worry about excess energy being consumed for digesting low quality bulk.
Use High Quality Supplements – We can’t always conveniently get everything we need from whole foods throughout the day. High quality dietary supplements do a fantastic job of filling this void. As we’ve discussed previously, you must have a multivitamin in your daily arsenal. This will help to fill in gaps that may be missed by a lack of variety in your daily diet. High quality whey proteins are known to have immunity-boosting properties and are an excellent addition to your daily diet. Other time-specific supplements help as well such as:
Vitamin C – The old standby. Popularized by Dr. Linus Pauling’s studies and further impacted by decades of empirical data showing that it helps in the area of immunity. I personally take a minimum of 2-3grams per day of Vitamin C. I will bring this up to 5+ grams per day when I feel like I may be getting sick. Assess your tolerance to higher than normal doses and see if your body benefits from it. Being water soluble, it is very difficult to get too much Vitamin C.
Vitamin D – recent studies point to Vitamin D being helpful in the area of fighting of the flu. It supposedly is effective with H1N1 or Swine Flu as well but I’m not certain there’s enough data to support this just yet. And, as always with any dietary supplement, it is important to keep in mind the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) guidelines regarding what can and can not be said about dietary supplements. Without being able to legally discuss possible benefits of supplements, many are left to their own motives and experimentation to determine what does and doesn’t work for them. There are several positive links between Vitamin D and its ability to help prevent the flu available at The Vitamin D Council website.
Echinacea – Another classic that has been said to have immunity-boosting properties. I have personally used this with varying degrees of effectiveness. Sometimes it seems to have worked great and other times not as much. In recent years I have not used it much but I attribute that to being more consistent with a high quality diet, consistent exercise and a more complete approach to health, fitness and well being. If you've never tried Echinacea before when you begin to feel a cold coming on, give it a shot and see how it works for you.
Get Some Sleep – I’m terrible at this one! Being overtired can quickly lead to sickness. Getting some solid, uninterrupted sleep each night goes a long way to keeping your body ready to fight off any sicknesses. When you’re exercising regularly, eating well and sleeping sufficiently, your body does a great job of staying that way. As we’ve spoken about in other posts, our bodies like to get into a specific habit or routine and stay there – whether good or bad. Being in a healthy state where your body fights off potential sicknesses is a good place to be!
Wash Your Hands Often – Especially after a workout. This one should be a no brainer but it took me a while to figure this out. The next two items are directly related to this as well. As a kid, I remember being a mess all the time from playing outside with friends, riding bicycles, swimming, etc. Stopping to quickly eat a sandwich with grubby little hands never stopped us. As we get older, it’s not as easy to get away with eating like that and the grubby little hands need some washing! Be sure to wash your hands often and avoid…
Touching Your Eyes, Nose, Mouth and Ears – Don’t Do It! – Again, especially during or after a workout. Years ago when I was going to a gym, I was getting sick every month or so. It was from inadvertently scratching my eye, rubbing my nose, touching my mouth, etc while exercising. Gyms tend to be festering pools of bacteria and you need to be careful to avoid getting sick. Once I was consciously aware of what I was doing, I made (and still make) a point of keeping my hands away from my eyes, ears, nose and mouth until I’ve had a chance to wash them thoroughly.
Splash Cold Water On Your Face After Your Workout – Maybe this is just a superstition that I believe, but I feel this (along with washing my hands) has contributed a lot to not getting sick. My theory is this: after working out, I thoroughly wash my hands with warm water then crank the water temp to as cold as it can go. I’ll splash this icy cold water on my face and it tends to take my breath away. I’ll do it a few times then dry off and be on my way. It seems to me, and feels like the pores on my face are constricting due to the cold and therefore possibly not allowing bacteria to enter. True or not, I’m not 100% sure, but I think it works for me and I recommend you give it a shot as well.
How To NOT Get Injured
Just like getting sick, the best way to avoid down time from injury is to not get injured in the first place. Sometimes accidents happen and there’s not much we can do about it but beyond accidents, we can make changes to how we do things to try hard not to get injured. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you out (again, some common and some not too common):
Always Try To Use Proper Exercise Form – A quick way to induce injury is exercising improperly. Too much weight, moving to fast, being off balance, not paying attention to proper body mechanics – there are many ways to get injured while exercising. Like anything else, it’s very important to learn the proper way to do things from the start then to create bad habits that could lead to injury in the future. There are many good books out there that provide instruction on proper exercise form. Check them out, study the proper way to do the various exercises and don’t fall victim to mimicking those folks in the gym who don’t know what they’re doing.
Don’t Use Too Much Weight – it’s not a contest and you really don’t need to try and impress anybody. If you can’t lift much weight, then you can’t lift much weight. It’s not a big deal. You can create a fantastic looking body without lifting a ton of weight. Getting stronger is part of it, but it doesn’t happen all at once. Slowly building up the amount of weight you can lift or move is what it’s all about. The body adapts slowly and will adapt if you allow it. Overdoing it just puts too much stress on your body and it will break down if it can’t handle that stress.
Don’t Overtrain Or Exercise Too Often – It’s great to be motivated and try to consistently do a lot of exercise but there’s a fine line between being motivated and overdoing it. Your body will tell you when your pushing too hard and it does so by breaking down. Muscle soreness can become brutal if you’re pushing yourself too hard and not eating properly or getting enough rest. I have fallen victim to this a few times and wound up spending 7 – 10 days just trying to recuperate. Take it easy, be consistent but don’t overdo it with weight, intensity or duration.
Get Plenty Of Rest – Just like the ‘Rest’ portion from the Avoiding Sickness section above, it applies here as well. Your body needs sufficient rest to take time off, repair and get ready for the next bout of activity you’re going to throw at it. Extended periods of time without enough rest and sleep drags your body further and further into a fatigued state which many times ends in injury or sickness. This also goes for plain old days off as well. If you like adhering to a strict schedule of exercising on specific days you may find that sometimes it’s best to skip a day. Not because ‘you don’t feel like exercising’ but because you’re sore from your last session and your body could benefit from some down time.
Eat High Quality Foods To Repair – Again, this will echo much of what was covered in the section above but it holds true to preventing injury as well. Every time you complete an intense exercise session, your body becomes damaged by the exercises (on purpose) and needs to recover and repair so it can be prepared for the next session. Eating high quality foods allows your body to repair and recover quickly. The better you eat, the faster you repair so you’ll be ready for your next exercise session.
As you can surely see, there are many components that work synergistically to insure you stay in top shape to avoid sickness and injury. It’s not going to be that one magic pill, special exercise, or trick that will forever keep you away from these things so please don’t fall victim that kind of marketing. Consistent, small amounts of effort across a wide spectrum of areas work together to keep you healthy over time.
In Part 2 we’ll focus on how we can recover as quickly as possible if we do get sick or injured.
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