After watching last week’s episode of Realtime, it seems like schools and doctors need to teach/prescribe several nutrition classes throughout K-12 to remind us of some of the unknown/forgotten basics:
Vitamin X = Exercise. Don’t forget: moderately paced exercise (like brisk walking or lifting weights to get your heart-rate up) greatly reduces depression, stress, and risks of dementia. Think of it as investing in your future and creating a good habit (so find something you enjoy):
So get your 60 minutes in (or try and work up to it – at your own pace). I find it best to walk at night or in the morning to avoid extreme weather conditions (heat, pollution/cars, cancer causing UV rays). Walking at odd hours will keep you from interfering with a busy schedule , and walking in ideal conditions will keep you from getting discouraged from this hourly routine. At odd hours there’s no one to communicate with, so I get my solitude and I can really immerse myself in my thoughts – plus I love letting my dog off the leash for the majority of the trip and letting her experience her own freedom. After 30 minutes or so I sweat. I feel the most alive when I sweat – so don’t be afraid to actively sweat (and importantly release some toxins from the body).
Maybe in this era of computer-using sedentary lifestyle, new-tech like the fitbit should be given as personal homework to our kids to improve their cognitive-focus, health, and mood:
All those fancy graphs and digital achievements might trigger that part in the brain linked to online-games addiction and simultaneously replace some of that time spent playing video games. Personally I’m looking forward to when this thing ships out (sometime this month): I love tracking progress. Exercise escalates: once you feel 60 minutes of walking you’ll want to do even more, and actually seeing it statistically graphed out: well, that’s a good a investment… to your health.
