Small Changes For Health

Finding ways to make your everyday living more active is one of the smallest changes you can make to improve your health.  Increasing your daily activity by taking the stairs instead of the elevators; walking into the bank instead of using the drive-thru;  cooking a meal instead of relying on a frozen entrée or take-out; or doing household chores like vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen on a regular basis, have all been proven to improve the health of inactive people.  For example, a study conducted on inactive young women showed lower total cholesterol, increased HDL or “good” cholesterol, and improved resting heart rate with 2 minutes of stair climbing a day for 5 days a week on a public access staircase.  With this study in mind, the small change for this week focuses on increasing daily activity through stair climbing.  Stair climbing can benefit everyone and stairs can be found almost everywhere.  Why wait for elevators when there are stairs?  See you in the stair well! Read the rest of this entry »

A healthy lifestyle is one that includes a healthy diet and EXERCISE!  Both are critical pieces of the puzzle called health! In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services released their first set of exercise guidelines. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that at a minimum Americans need to be exercising for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. In the spirit of Small Changes, this week’s change only asks that you exercise 30 minutes 3 times this week.  If you already exercise more than 30 minutes 3 times a week, then your change for this week is to simply exercise more by adding another day of exercise or adding time to your workout routine. Read the rest of this entry »