Healthy Reflections
IN THIS ISSUE
- Featured Article - What You Should Know About High Blood Pressure
- Fran's Favorite's - Enrich Your Plate and Your Palate
- Trainer Spotlight - Gregory Stewart, Contributor of the Year
A Note From Fran
 Searching For More Time
Lately, I've been hearing the same complaint from everyone "there's never enough time to exercise!" And now I find even the polling houses are commenting on the same statistics:
One report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston documents that from 1965 to 2003 "...leisure time for men increased by 6-8 hours per week (driven by a decline in market work hours) and for women by 4-8 hours per week (driven by a decline in home production work hours)."
While this may be true, most of us do not feel that we have an abundance of leisure time. Why? The likely reason is that we fill up all of our leisure time with more activities and commitments that sap our energy, rather than refresh and rejuvenate us.
Do we really have control over how we spend our time? Obviously yes, but once over-committed, it's difficult to exert our control. But if we don't, our schedules seem to spin out of control and rather than taking time to care for ourselves (on many levels), we feel more run-down and unhealthy.
So here’s a new challenge for the month of May. Consider reclaiming a little leisure time this season - take care, have fun, and live!
In love and good health,
Fran Dean Bishop, award winning coach and creator of
"Reboot your Body - The Ultimate Bootcamp"
franb@aerobodiesfitness.com
2006 BWN Trailblazers Symposium
Westfields Marriot, Chantilly, VA
May 18-19, 2006
Fran will host the exciting discussion:
Health & Wellness to Achieve Growth
____________________________
2006 EWomen International Business Conference
Dallas, Texas
July 13 - 16
Fran will speak on the following topic:
Winning Million Dollar Contracts
Contact franb@aerobodiesfitness.com for more details.
What You Should Know About High Blood Pressure
Believe it or not, in America we have a month for everything. And May is Blood Pressure Month. Approximately 50 million Americans have high blood pressure, and almost one-third of these people do not know they are at risk. Often, the first symptom of hypertension is a stroke or heart attack. If you don't currently know your blood pressure, please take this month to have it checked. Many drug stores have do-it-yourself testers or you can go to your doctor, health club, or local fitness professional to get a reading.
What is blood pressure? Let's say yours is 120/80, which is considered normal. The top number (120), called systolic blood pressure, refers to the amount of pressure created by the heart pumping blood to the body. Diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number (80), is the amount of pressure left when the heart relaxes in between beats.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is any reading of 140/90 or above. Left untreated, it can lead to many serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. While the cause of hypertension is often unknown, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends the following to prevent or control it:
- Eat healthy foods that include fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products
- Cut down on salt and sodium in the diet
- Lose excess weight and stay at a healthy weight
- Limit alcohol intake
- Stay physically active
You can take care of two of these guidelines - being active and losing excess weight - by exercise. Thirty minutes of moderate activity most days of the week is recommended. Moderate activity includes brisk walking, riding a bicycle, and gardening. You can even break up the activity into smaller bouts, such as ten minutes of activity three times during the day. As always, be sure to check with your physician before starting any exercise program.
If you have hypertension, your doctor may prescribe medication to control it. Some medications can affect your exercise, so be sure to check with your doctor. While there are many different types of medication for treating hypertension, here are a few categories and their effect on exercise:
- Beta blockers can lower exercise heart rate and maximum heart rate. Using perceived exertion to measure intensity is a better choice if using this medicine.
- Diuretics can cause dehydration. Be sure to drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.
- Ace inhibitors keep your blood pressure lower at rest and during exercise. A longer cool down period is advised, and be careful to not get up from the floor too quickly.
For more information on hypertension prevention and control: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/
Enrich Your Plate and Your Palate
Tired of eating the same dull meals over and over. Making a meal with a variety of colors adds to our eating pleasure. Also, more colors on our plate mean more nutrient variety in our food.
Most people get in a rut with their diet, eating the same handful of meals over and over. Consider a few new recipes this summer to add more color to your life (really!) and more nutrients to your plate. Try this recipe from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) to spice up plain old steamed broccoli:
Spring Broccoli (four servings)
2 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup diced purple onion
1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
1/4 cup diced pimento peppers
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1/8 tsp. dried marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Steam the broccoli for two to three minutes, or until it is bright green. Transfer it to a medium bowl. Add the onion, yellow pepper, and pimento. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, garlic, parsley, marjoram, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Toss the dressing with the broccoli. Serve at room temperature or cold.
My thoughts: for a fresh orange taste, consider squeezing a few oranges in place of the frozen orange juice from concentrate.
Nutrition per serving: 57 calories, 4 g. total fat (<1 g. saturated fat), 6 g. carbohydrate, 1 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 11 mg. sodium
The orange juice and herbs provide a burst of complementary phytochemicals and vitamins to the sulforaphane and vitamin C in the broccoli.
 Gregory Stewart - Contributor of the Year!
Gregory Stewart, winner of the 2006 Contributor of the Year Award, was awarded distinction for his continually contributing to the betterment of Aerobodies Fitness Company and their clients. Not only did he continually improve his ability to teach by continuing his education but he also makes himself readily available to his class participants. Due to his efforts to make Aerobodies Fitness stand out as a premier provider of health and fitness services, we were glad to give him this award.
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