Let’s Talk About Health

Kareene Koh asked:


This is a time of year where it can be easy to over-indulge. Who can resist splashing out on festive foods, enjoying the celebrations whilsts taking a break for a few days? This is also the time of year where it is easy to fall out of your normal exercise routine or eat more than your fair share of holiday treats. So, here are my tips for staying healthy in the holiday season.

1. Avoid Snacking or Over-Eating

One of the big risks during the holiday season is over-eating. When you are enjoying tasty and delicious festive food, it is very difficult to show restraint. Often we end up eating a lot more than our fill and I know that in my family home, I am expected to! The challenge is that this is where the problem can begin.

My tips are to try and avoid eating large meals at other points during the day. This can be hard if you are visiting more than one household but do your best. The other tip is that I try to avoid eating between meals. Given the amount that I have eaten over lunch or dinner, there is limited need for much more during the day. Even if I get a bit hungry between meals, I will resist the urge as much as possible or stick to fruit rather than anything more substantial.

2. Take Breaks During Your Meals

It can help to take a rest during your meal so you can register whether your stomach is becoming full. This is probably just a good habit in general but the nature of festive food means that you can be left feeling bloated and a bit ill if you over-indulge. I take short breaks during my meal to give my body a chance to register how much food is in my stomach before I have another helping. I personally have the habit of eating without pause, so it helps me to remember that a short break every now and again will not do me any harm at all.

3. Alcohol Free Days

When you are celebrating the festive season, attending parties and catching up with loved ones is normally part of the package. Alcohol free days are a way of managing your calories and trying to give your body a chance to recover between celebrations. When we drink we consume both the calories in the alcohol but also tend to eat more of the wrong foods as well. This helps to maintain the right balance between celebration and over-indulgence as well as avoiding a sore head in the morning.

4. Do Some Light Exercise After A Big Meal

When you finish your festive meal, it is really tempting to fall asleep. I would suggest trying to have a short break and then taking a walk or some other form of light exercise. It does not need to be too vigorous but will help to keep you moving and start burning some of the calories you have just eaten. Remember that weight management is all about calories in and calories out so you may as well get started straight away. A light walk can also be a lovely activity to share with others or to help you wind down after a big celebration.

5. Pack Your Exercise Gear

If you are traveling over the holidays, the most important thing is to pack your exercise gear. Most people use their holiday break as an excuse not to do any exercise. If you can still maintain thirty minutes a day, even if that is spent walking or playing games with the kids, then you are already doing well. This could also be a great opportunity to break up your regular routine by trying new activities or discovering new things. One of my favourite activities on holiday is to go for a run around the place that I am visiting whilst everyone is still waking up. It gives me a chance to take a look around and become more familiar with my new surrounds, as well as breaking up my normal running routine.

These are just a few tips to help you stay healthy in the festive season. The important thing to remember though is to have fun and enjoy the time no matter what you are doing. This is a great time to connect with your loved ones which can have an amazing benefit for your wellbeing. Enjoy your rest and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.





CARSON

wang y. wei asked:


These false assumptions pertaining to steps or practices to stay healthy may be risky for an individual. Worse, one of these false assumptions may lead to illness if done improperly to a significant extent.

Fallacy 1: Eating Too Much While Still Young Is Reasonable

We have this common notion that as long as we are still young, we can be lenient and just eat what we want without moderation. We can always argue anyhow that our young bodies can still take some sort of nutritional punishment and would be able to rectify the effects afterwards.

The truth about this is that though we are actually able to rectify such situation, the damage has begun already. Furthermore, we do not know at what age our body starts to not be able to restore the optimal health status at full efficiency. For example, eating high cholesterol food would have a preemptive effect of deposits in the arteries. Before long, this would reach a stage wherein the process is irreversible and may cause the life of the person.

Even if there was a reason that ageing is part of life and that even how much we try to choose the right food our bodies would still deteriorate anyway, the thought of why would we hasten the process of ageing by introducing unwanted radicals to our cells should be enough to keep us on the right way of thinking.

Fallacy 2: Not Eating Carbohydrates Will Make You Lose Weight Faster

Another common misconception is that we would be able to lose weight faster if we didn’t eat any food that is rich in carbohydrates. This would account breads, rice, and other starchy foods. Though it is a fact that these types of food are high in calories, carbohydrate deprivation will not contribute to faster weight loss. Certain parts of the body would require some nutrients that come along with carbohydrates in rice and other starches such as Vitamin B complex.

Furthermore, sticking to an alternative diet such as pure protein will not help one lose weight faster.

Fallacy 3: Starving Will Help You Lose Weight

A much more drastic misconception is the notion that skipping meals would lead to a faster weight loss. Ideally, that should be the case if the aspect of caloric intake is the only thing to be considered. However, there are also some other aspects such as ulcer developing in the gastrointestinal area, or perhaps a retroactive effect on the body of the starving individual wherein the body signals the brain that there is nutritive deprivation. The latter would cause the metabolism of the individual to slow down significantly to cope up with the body’s current

situation.

Furthermore, if the body is further subjected to much more food deprivation, the body will not be using the fats right away. The surrounding muscles cells will start to take the brunt leading to muscle atrophy.

These are just some of the most common fallacies that are freely thought of by the people who haven’t been properly educated about them. Nevertheless, one of the only eternal aspect of staying healthy is of the self, along it is self responsibility and self control.



DEE