FitFoody Introduces Herself

Hi,

I am a mind-body fitness professional who wants to share ideas, experiences, and knowledge. I also enjoy cooking and food. My plan is to blog weekly; perhaps I will blog more often. I will include some inspirational thoughts, an "In this moment" subcategory of this blog also known as "Whispers of the Breath Diva."

Physical activity is paramount; we were designed to move. Our modern life has us sitting or in our heads way too much of our day. The demands of our life are not bad or wrong; simply put, the challenge may be to carve out time to move.

I explain to my USF students that there are three categories of activity: health, fitness, and athletic. If I have health issues, such as being pre-diabetic or having high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome, I will need to follow standards set by the American College of Sports Medicine, which recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week. Walking is moderate exercise. When I first started my fitness career, it was recommended that if you wanted to maintain your body mass you work out 3 days a week, and if you wanted to become more lean, 5 days a week.

For someone interested in moderate activity to stay healthy, a simple pedometer is a great tool. I use a Fitbit; it records my steps, miles, stairs, and calories. The goal is 10,000 steps a day. I like it as a tool to assess how much activity I am actually doing, because what I can quantify I can calibrate. I like to think of lifestyle choices as setting a thermostat. I call this "self-regulation"; it may not be a sexy phrase, but it works.

I have a rule:

Rule #1: Don't let more than one day go in between some form of exercise.

I like this rule because if the demands of work and life don't allow for a visit to your health club or a walk outdoors, you can make it happen the next day. Deepak Chopra, MD suggests walking five blocks after dinner to aid digestion.

I tell my clients that the simple act of walking has three important functions. First, it increases both our heart rate and respiratory rate. Second, it stimulates our lymphatic system; unlike our blood, which is pumped by the heart, the lymph is assisted by movement on its journey. Third, our internal organs are toned by movement. When we sit and slouch, our organs can be compressed; when we walk, run, or exercise, we allow those organs to decompress and even be rhythmically rocked.

I will discuss the fitness and athletic categories of activity in future blogs. Bottom line: we live in our bodies, not our houses or our cities. Some would argue we live in our minds; granted, we are mental beings. And the truth is, the backdrop of our existence is this marvelous vehicle, our body.

Whispers of the Breath Diva:

In this moment I can fully inhale, fully receive life force, vitality and energy!