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Focus on Fitness: Dogs can improve your health and quality of life

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

When I was a child, my parents didn’t allow us to have a dog because they thought it would trigger my allergies. What they didn’t know then, which studies have since shown, is that children who grow up with a dog in the home have a reduced risk of allergies and may also have a boosted immune system. https://tinyurl.com/yaxlsd4r

Whether it’s a pet, a trained service dog or a visiting therapy dog, dogs provide many mental and physical health benefits. Dogs have a calming effect. So do cats and other pets. However, if you have a dog, you probably get more exercise than if you have a cat, a bird or no pet; this contributes to lower blood pressure. Dog owners tend to cope better with stress; they experience less reactivity when under stress; their heart rate and blood pressure go up less and return to normal more quickly than people who do not have dogs. https://tinyurl.com/ybxgu2p3 [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: Sometimes a snack is just what you need

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

Snacking: So many of us do it. Snacking means eating food between regular meals. Snacking often gets a bad rap. Growing up, many of us were ingrained with the idea that snacking would ruin our appetite at meal time.

Some people eat three square meals and don’t feel the need to snack in between. Everyone has different nutritional needs and habits. The problem is when you’re snacking frequently and consuming more calories than you need, or if your snacks typically include unhealthy foods. The results of such habits can be unwanted weight gain or damaging effects on your health such as high blood pressure. Avoiding unnecessary evening snacking due to boredom or stress, especially during the winter months, can be a challenge. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: Is your current lifestyle the best predictor of your health?

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

A healthy lifestyle generally includes regular exercise, a balanced diet, stress management, not smoking or using illicit drugs, minimal alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy body weight and regularly getting a good night’s sleep. A healthy lifestyle can improve the quality of your life and possibly extend it. There are many determinants of your health besides your current lifestyle habits; genetic predisposition for certain diseases, for example, though a healthy lifestyle can help prevent some genes from being expressed.

Before you were even born, and early into your life, certain variables were at play that may have impacted your health in adulthood. The age and health of your mother when she became pregnant impacted your fetal development, as did her smoking, drug and alcohol habits, and her diet and activity level before and during pregnancy. For example, if your mother was obese during pregnancy, it put you at greater risk for obesity during adulthood. If your mother smoked or had inadequate nutrition during pregnancy resulting in you having a low birth weight, your risk increased for various issues such as schizophrenia and respiratory problems. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: Get a solid workout with four tried-and-true exercises

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

If you want to improve your strength but you don’t have access to a fitness centre or exercise equipment, you can follow my back-to-basics workout. Whether you’re a beginner or an athlete, these traditional exercises will challenge you and develop your muscles. If you have health issues, consult your doctor before starting a new exercise program. There are many variations of these exercises as well as thousands of other exercises that can give you similar results. You may benefit from working with a personal trainer who can modify the exercises based on your individual health issues and goals.

Begin with an injury-preventing warm-up of five to 10 minutes. You can do some dynamic stretching such as swinging your arms, shrugging your shoulders and swinging your legs; or you can do light exercise such as walking or jogging on the spot. The warm-up should not be intense and should slightly elevate your heart rate. Once you’re warmed up, you can begin. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: Canada’s new dietary guidelines provide food for thought

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

The 2019 version of “Canada’s Dietary Guidelines,” previously known as “Canada’s Food Guide,” was released in January. The nutritional guidelines are intended as a resource for policy makers and health professionals as well as individuals with an interest in making healthy food choices.

The guide was originally published in 1942 to address widespread nutritional deficiencies caused by wartime food rationing. The guide has changed over time to reflect the needs of Canadians and the latest research in nutrition science. Sometimes food industry lobby groups have influenced the content and not always in ways that are in the best interest of Canadians. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: Which fitness trends will you adopt in 2019?

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

Each year, major fitness organizations survey their members to predict upcoming fitness-related trends. Fads spread like wildfire but have a relatively short lifespan. Think back to the hula hoop, the ThighMaster, and more recently, the Shake Weight and yoga with baby goats. Fitness trends take root and become longer-term influencers. I reviewed the 2019 survey findings of Canadian Fitness Professionals – https://tinyurl.com/y9sfd55m – (of which I am a member) and the American College of Sports Medicine – https://tinyurl.com/y8kz4egh.

While the main purpose of these surveys is to generate more income for fitness professionals (individuals and health clubs) and the organizations themselves, the findings suggest what consumers can expect to see offered by trainers and health clubs in 2019. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: School psychologist advises exercise for children

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

Anxiety in young children is a phenomenon that is more prevalent or perhaps better recognized than a generation or two ago. Jenny Glassman, a psychologist who works in the public school system in Ottawa, says it’s important for parents to recognize the signs of anxiety in their children – signs which sometimes differ from those in adults – and to have resources and strategies for successfully helping their children cope.

Glassman says children are becoming more socially isolated and this sometimes causes them to have anxiety. Social media is a contributing factor. Children as young as five to 10 have fewer face-to-face conversations as they spend significant time online. Many children feel socially disconnected and feel pressure to be constantly connected via social media. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: What will your defining moments be in the coming year?

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

Everything has a beginning and an end. Whether it’s a book, a relationship or a life, there are chapters or phases to everything. I’m thinking about beginnings and endings as 2018 quickly draws to a close. My birthday happens to fall on the last day of the year so I find it especially meaningful to examine how my experiences of the past year helped shape me and impacted my personal growth. Reviewing your own experiences of the past year can be a mechanism for moving forward more productively and with clarity.

Perhaps the most defining moment in my life this past year was when my husband and I became empty-nesters. Our youngest son made the decision to move to another city for his university studies. [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: With health and wellness, not all science is created equal

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

Facts matter. I try to be a savvy, reasonably well-informed consumer. I research health claims rather than blindly accept them. Whether I’m reading about a particular diet, exercise, food or supplement, I lean in favour of claims that are backed by rigorous science. But even when there are scientific studies to back up health claims, you can’t always believe everything you read.

A recent New York Times article on nutrition research pointed out the importance of knowing who funded the research. For example, a pomegranate juice company invested $20 million dollars on research that found pomegranate juice to be high in antioxidants. However, when asked whether less expensive fruits were equally healthful, the company indicated that comparing pomegranates to other fruits was not among its research objectives. The lesson: Be wary of studies funded by a company or industry that stands to benefit financially from the results. https://tinyurl.com/y88ew8yk [Read more…]

Focus on Fitness: The sweet spot between the thrill of victory and agony of defeat

By :

Gloria Schwartz

Gloria Schwartz

In the opening sequence of the “Wide World of Sports” TV show – which ran from 1961 to 1998 – the announcer declared, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

The words “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” remind me that we often think of our own efforts and activities in terms of extremes: successes or failures. The televisions we watched in the early years of that show may have been black-and-white, but how we think about ourselves doesn’t have to be that way. [Read more…]