We had two teams of runners represent Check City at the Ragnar Relay race this past weekend. The 12 member teams ran 188 miles from Logan to Park City! Both teams did an excellent job and had a great time.

Most of the runners trained for months to get ready for the race. This training provided a lot of physical benefits along with good habits for future exercise. Congratulations on your motivation, dedication, and amazing running skills!

Team Check City Slickers is pictured above.

Last week we looked at different ways to exercise at home. We often put a lot of emphasis on exercising, but what are some of the benefits of exercise? Let’s take a look at just a few:

• Exercise is preventive medicine. There is overwhelming evidence that a balanced diet combined with moderate exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body. It bolsters the immune system, and lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis (American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, US Surgeon General).

• Reduces the risk of heart disease. 2-3 hours per week of aerobic activity can help control cholesterol, high BP and diabetes (American Heart Association).

• Boost brain power. Keeps the brain sharp in old age and may help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease (Carl Cotman, Ph.D., University of CA at Irvine).

• Maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight increases longevity. People who gain 20-40 pounds since the age of 18 are 2 ½ times more likely to die from coronary heart disease (Harvard Study in the New England Journal of Medicine).

 • Improves mood and feelings of well-being. A 10 minute walk can boost mood quickly and the effects can be long-lasting (Robert Thayer, Ph.D., California State University)

• Relieves symptoms of PMS. In a 14 week study, aerobic exercise three times a week for 45 minutes was shown to significantly relieve premenstrual depression and anxiety (George Washington University).

“It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength.”

-Frank Duff

Getting exercise and maintaining a good activity level is very important for a healthy lifestyle.  Some people might find that they just don’t have enough time to go to the gym or participate in sporting activities.  Don’t worry, you can workout at your home!  Here are some suggestions for “at home” exercising:

1. Walking—If the weather is nice, it’s great to get outside and enjoy the scenery around you while you exercise.  Take a walk around the park or around your neighborhood.  A brisk 30 minute walk can be very beneficial.
2. Jumping Jacks—These are always fun!  They are a great cardio exercise (if enough are done), or good for warming up.
3. Pushups—These may not be the most exciting exercise, but getting into the habit of doing at least SOME pushups everyday will build arm strength and work out muscles in your chest are.
4. Lunges—Lunges are easy to do around your house.  You can do stationary lunges or mobile lunges.  Both will help develop good leg strength and are easily done in 10 minutes or less.  Build up gradually and continue to increase the number you perform.
5. Crunches—Get in the habit of doing SOME crunches on a daily basis.  This will help you maintain muscles strength as well as building and strengthening abdominal muscles.
6. Jogging in Place—You can jog in place at home while watching tv or listening to music.  If you have a treadmill at home, you can utilize that equipment as well.
7. Squats—Squats are a bit like lunges.  If these are too difficult, try sitting and standing up again in a regular chair.
8. Light Weight Lifting—No, you don’t need to go out and buy weights.  Just use items around the house (i.e. food cans, milk jugs, etc.)
9. Dancing—Dancing is a fantastic exercise, and fun to boot!
10. Step Exercises—Use steps in your home to either walk or run up.  This will help tone your leg muscles.

“The chief condition on which life, health, and vigor

depend on, is action.  It is by action that an organism

develops its faculties, increases its energy, and attains the

 fulfillment of its destiny.”

-Colin Powell

“When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no “I’ll start tomorrow.”  Tomorrow is disease.”

-Terri Guillemets

Remember, restricting meals and snacks will NOT aid in long term weight loss.  Keeping your metabolism up requires giving your body the nutrients it needs.  Skipping meals only leads to increased appetite and low satiety as the body prevents starvation. 

Your body will make a choice: lose body fat or lose muscle.  If your body is not adequately fueled, it will choose to drop calorie-burning muscle rather than fat.  Increased loss of lean muscle mass will initially lead to weight loss but will not improve body composition or health.

Skipping meals may seem like a good path to losing weight, but will ultimately hurt you more than help.  You may lose weight, but it will be slow and frustrating.  You will also be losing valuable muscle mass instead of body fat and will eventually gain that weight back.  It’s important to fuel your metabolism by eating often (and healthy!).  Here are some tips to help:

Breakfast is KEY

Start the day with a well-balanced breakfast.  Breakfast starts your metabolic engine and is associated with successful maintenance of weight loss.  Without it, you are prone to overeating later in the day.

Snacking

            A well-timed snack will prevent that late afternoon crash and overeating at meal time.  Plan to snack.  Keep healthy options accessible to avoid the candy dish   Prepare snacks ahead of time so they are available when you need them.

Eat More to Consume Less

            Nourish your body with quality foods that you can eat more of such as foods that are high in volume, but low in calories.  This will help to fill your stomach without overdoing calorie consumption.

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