Some Ways We Keep Fit And Healthy
Periodic checkups aren’t enough to maintain good health. Here are some things we use every day that are better than the proverbial Apple in keeping the doctor away.
Maintaining good health is accomplished by a combination of things, most of them relatively small and minor in themselves, but together is very powerful when used on a consistent basis. Even more importantly, these are things we can do personally, and not be dependent on someone else whose interests may not coincide with ours. Here are some things that we’ve learned over time. Together they have helped all of us at FutureWare to not only maintain excellent health and be constantly productive, but also made it easy to keep a positive attitude about pretty much everything.
Exercise is extremely important. Too many of us are sedentary, with extended physical effort restricted to things like going upstairs. Keeping physically fit can be difficult to manage within our busy schedules, so we have to make time every day, always in the early morning about 45 minutes after breakfast. We use a Body By Jake workbench for upper torso workouts of about 15 minutes, followed by 20 minutes or so on an Elliptical Trainer; boredom is kept away by listening to podcasts or music on an MP3 player. Always better to do a little bit a lot, rather than a lot a little bit.
More insurance companies are redirecting some premium income to health club memberships, not out of the kindness of their hearts or any enlightened vision, but because the investment returns in reduced future claims are solid and convincing.
Walking is also good exercise, and has the advantage of not costing anything. It does take some distance, and thus time, to burn any appreciable calories and give the leg and torso muscles a decent workout. For many people an early 45-minute walk on weekday mornings is difficult to arrange. Running is faster, but can adversely impact knees and ankles.
Breathing control is extremely helpful, and is well worth the effort it takes to establish the habit. For some odd reason this isn’t emphasized enough in Western medical practices, but is very common in most other cultures where a holistic approach to health is practiced. There’s always opportunity to practice, be it during a commute or walking to a meeting. Not surprisingly, there’s more than one way to breath, such as belly breaths that tend to put less pressure on the heart then deep chest breaths.
Sitting at the desk isn’t overlooked. We use a body ball, placed in an outer collar to keep it from rolling too far, and with a small cotton towel on top to keep moisture concentration down. This gives the core torso a good workout throughout the day, resulting from constant micro adjustments to posture needed to keep upright. It takes a while to get used to, but has proven itself to be very effective in enforcing good posture and eliminating back muscle cramps. The one caveat is to keep the surrounding area clear in the event of falling off the ball. The proper body ball size depends on a person’s height.
Diet can’t be overlooked, but it has to be beyond eating fruit and veggies and other healthy things. Food preferences are very personal, and best tailored to the needs and situations of each individual. In our case we worked with a nutritionist for about a month, to develop a diet regimen that we could live with (e.g., not always being hungry). There’s no magic in keeping weight down: Calories in must be either burned or reduced in intake, to keep them from accumulating as dead weight.
Recording health signs that need to be monitored and recorded (e.g., blood pressure readings, glucose levels, diagnostic results, etc.) are certainly important for any chronic conditions, and even one that isn’t but still important: weight. These can be recorded on plain paper, a desktop calendar, or any other recording medium that is handy and convenient.
Finally, we do monthly chiropractic sessions to keep small aches and such from getting bigger. Probably the best preventative maintenance investment we’ve ever made.
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Tags: body ball, body by Jake, breath control, elliptical trainer, exercise, staying healthy