On the road to health, flexibility (the ability to move your joints freely in every direction) is one of the key components of fitness. The following are 5 stretches for your legs:
1. Calf Stretch· Stand, take a step forward with one leg
· Bend the front knee while keeping the back knee straight, both feet flat on the floor
· Gently press your body forward and push on back heel of the straight leg
· Hold and repeat for other leg
2. Hamstrings Stretch (back thigh)
· Stand, take a small step forward with left leg
· Raise left toes, keep heel on floor, knee straight
· Lean forward with straight back
· Hold and repeat for other leg
3. Quadriceps Stretch (front thigh)
· Stand, with one hand on a wall for support, hold ankle of outside leg
· Gently press foot down into hand
· Never pull foot up towards buttocks
· Hold and repeat for other leg
4. Hips Stretch
· Stand, step forward with one leg – take as long a stride as possible
· Bend knee and drop back leg until you feel gentle tension in the front of the hip
· Hold and repeat for other leg
5. Buttocks Stretch
· Sit with right leg lying forward along the floor
· Left leg is bent at the knee, foot on the floor across the outstretched leg
· Right hand pulls the bent knee into the chest and turn head behind the back
· Hold and repeat for other leg
(taken from Fit for Faith – 7 weeks to improved spiritual & physical health)
When do you perform your leg stretches? Do you have a favourite stretch?
Should I wear a sauna suit for weight loss?
Question of the week:
Can wearing a sauna suit, plastic wrap or rubber jumpsuit help me to lose weight? And can I use an electronic stimulation device instead of doing hundreds of sit-ups?
My answer:
No. These suits are usually made of a material that holds in body heat, causing perspiration. The perspiring leads to dehydration and a temporary body-water weight loss, not a fat loss. Overheating is not only useless but also dangerous.
The amount of electricity needed to stimulate a muscular contraction equal to doing one sit-up would inflict more pain than anyone could tolerate. No device develops a better body without any work on your part. There is simply no short cut to weight loss.
Have you ever tried a sauna suit or electronic stimulation device? What was the result?
Can wearing a sauna suit, plastic wrap or rubber jumpsuit help me to lose weight? And can I use an electronic stimulation device instead of doing hundreds of sit-ups?
My answer:
No. These suits are usually made of a material that holds in body heat, causing perspiration. The perspiring leads to dehydration and a temporary body-water weight loss, not a fat loss. Overheating is not only useless but also dangerous.
The amount of electricity needed to stimulate a muscular contraction equal to doing one sit-up would inflict more pain than anyone could tolerate. No device develops a better body without any work on your part. There is simply no short cut to weight loss.
Have you ever tried a sauna suit or electronic stimulation device? What was the result?
Can stress be controlled?
Question of the week:
Can I control my own stress level?
My answer:
Happy events (birth of a child, being promoted or moving to a new home) sometimes can be just as stressful as sad or irritating ones. Everyone sees situations differently and each person has different coping skills. What may be extremely stressful for one person may not be the least bit for another. Having enough stress, but not too much, is the secret to maximizing productivity.
You do have some control over your stress level. Become aware of how your body tends to react under pressure, and learn to relax when you notice signs of physical tension. This helps you to head off more serious stress-related symptoms. Television, radio and newspapers reflecting negative stories and bad news can effect your stress level so limit your media input to control your stress. Also make time for hobbies and ways to relax, even 15 minutes a day, to make a difference in controlling stress.
How do you best control stress?
Can I control my own stress level?
My answer:
Happy events (birth of a child, being promoted or moving to a new home) sometimes can be just as stressful as sad or irritating ones. Everyone sees situations differently and each person has different coping skills. What may be extremely stressful for one person may not be the least bit for another. Having enough stress, but not too much, is the secret to maximizing productivity.
You do have some control over your stress level. Become aware of how your body tends to react under pressure, and learn to relax when you notice signs of physical tension. This helps you to head off more serious stress-related symptoms. Television, radio and newspapers reflecting negative stories and bad news can effect your stress level so limit your media input to control your stress. Also make time for hobbies and ways to relax, even 15 minutes a day, to make a difference in controlling stress.
How do you best control stress?
Should I skip meals to lose weight?
Question of the week:
Is skipping meals a good way to lose weight?
My answer:
Many people try to control their weight by skipping meals, however, this can harm your health because of missed nutrients. If you eat nothing at breakfast, you can become ravenous and overeat the rest of the day. Having several mini-meals will increase your energy, add variety in your diet and help maintain your weight. Eating breakfast is one of the most efficient ways to get the body off to a good start.
Instead of skipping a meal, try simple changes such as cutting out high sugar soft drinks and quitting a simple donut-a-day habit. This can lead to an decrease of over ten pounds in a year.
Also, the time of day you eat calories won’t affect your weight. As long as you eat the same number of calories and maintain the same activity level over a 24-hour period, it doesn’t matter what time it says on the clock.
What habit has impacted your weight loss the most?
Is skipping meals a good way to lose weight?
My answer:
Many people try to control their weight by skipping meals, however, this can harm your health because of missed nutrients. If you eat nothing at breakfast, you can become ravenous and overeat the rest of the day. Having several mini-meals will increase your energy, add variety in your diet and help maintain your weight. Eating breakfast is one of the most efficient ways to get the body off to a good start.
Instead of skipping a meal, try simple changes such as cutting out high sugar soft drinks and quitting a simple donut-a-day habit. This can lead to an decrease of over ten pounds in a year.
Also, the time of day you eat calories won’t affect your weight. As long as you eat the same number of calories and maintain the same activity level over a 24-hour period, it doesn’t matter what time it says on the clock.
What habit has impacted your weight loss the most?
Should Restaurants Feature Nutritional Info?
Question of the week:
Do you think that restaurants must be forced to feature the nutritional information of all their menu items for their customers to easily access?
Do you think that restaurants must be forced to feature the nutritional information of all their menu items for their customers to easily access?
My answer:
Personally I believe that in order for customers to be well-informed about their choices, labels should be provided with nutritional information displayed. Whether they choose to read the information is up to the individual customer.
Just the other day, I was feeling peckish at the mall and so thought I'd grab a quick bite at McDonalds. When I read the poster with all the menu choices and their corresponding fat and calories, I actually changed my original choice.
I realize that this will cost the restaurants more money, and this cost will be transferred to the customer through higher prices, but I feel it's a cost I'm willing to pay for.
What are your thoughts on restaurants posting nutritional information?
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