SheSue Experience

Swimming is highly aerobic but easy on the joints. While working with those who are very heavy and looking to lose weight, swimming is recommended as the best exercise. It is a great total body exercise, keeps the weight off your joints and classes make a great way to meet people. Another study showed that swimmers cardio-respiratory fitness was equal to that of a runner. With low impact, swimmers are also less prone to injuries.

Swimming can be done year round. Check out your local area for swimming pools. They often offer classes early in the morning or in the evening to fit into your schedule. Lap swimming is great too, but take a lesson or two so you will get the full benefit. You can even keep up your routine while on vacation. What hotel doesn’t have a swimming pool?

Some tips for swimming by the experts:
1. Be aware of your body positioning – the back of your head, your hips and your feet should regularly break the surface during freestyle swimming.
2. Kick ‘em hard – When you’re just getting started, spend 50% of your time just kicking. But don’t use a board, this will prevent you from the proper body position.
3. Roll into your swim stroke – follow each arm movement with a gentle hip roll.
4. If you ankles give you problems, try a pair of light weight fins.
5. Use swim goggles – it will protect your eyes from drying out.

This form of fitness started with Sheila Kelley. Starring in a movie that required her to learn pole dancing and strip tease, she found that it toned her body in ways she never new possible. A trained dancer, she combined all her training to form the new fitness craze, pole dancing and strip tease aerobics. Women claim it makes them feel empowered and sensual.

In an experiment at a small hospital, patients were in rooms with a view of leafy trees or a room facing a brick wall. Not surprisingly, the patients with the leafy tree view healed faster. Another study put office workers in a room and gave them pop quiz type tasks. One group of workers were in a windowless room, one group were in a room with a TV showing nature scenes and another group were in a room with a window facing a natural greenspace. The last group’s heart rates recovered faster than either of the first two. Proving that the real thing is what provides the stress relief.

Scientists believe that getting people out into nature will not only repair their sense of well being, it will also help propel people into taking better care of the planet. For most, we don’t recognize what’s happening to the planet. We don’t recognize that we are adapting to a world with a diminishing natural setting. Plant and animal species are dying off. Pollution and artificial light keep us from seeing the stars at night. And lets not even get into the noise. Even out hiking on trails in the woods, I can hear the cars and planes overhead. All I really want to hear is the birds singing and the water rushing over rocks.

A young man once told me that his therapist prescribed walking to help him out of his depression. Think about it. For every step you take, you have to pick yourself up again. Try it out. And listen for the symphony of nature. I promise it will bring a smile to your face.

However, plastics do contain a chemical called phthalates or plasticizers which is a substance that gives plastic flexibility. These plasticizers can get into your food in small amounts when heated, but these chemicals are far from dangerously toxic. The only ailment related is asthma and that’s only in cases with high levels of the chemical exposure.

Some scientists feel that exposure to plasticizers can increase the risk of breast cancer because the chemical mimics the action of estrogen which is known to fuel breast tumors. But studies have not proven anything.

If you question any level of the chemical, here are some tips suggested by scientists:

How to Sit – Remember your mom telling you to sit up straight. Turns out that isn’t the best for you. Instead, adjust the height of your chair so your hips are 3-4 inches higher than your knees. Recline slightly with support behind your lower back.

Stretch – Lie on your back. Slowly bring your right knee toward your chest, only as far as comfortable. With your hands on your shins, hold this position for 10-20 seconds. Release and repeat on the other side. Do this 5 or 6 times.

Sitter’s Stretch – When you sit for a long time, the muscles in the back of your legs contract. When you stand, these muscles resist and pull on the back of the pelvis. This results in your lower back muscles also getting pulled. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Grasp your right thigh, pull one leg in toward your chest. Hold for 10-20 seconds. Repeat with other leg.

Breathe – When stressed, you tend to hyperventilate, depleting your oxygen. Breathe slowly and deeply to calm your mind, your nerves and your back.

Yoga Pose for your Back – When your back is in spasm, try this yoga pose to relieve the pain. Lie on your back with a rolled up towel under your neck and head. Place the back of your calves on a chair so that your thighs and calves form a 90 degree angle. Your arms should be at your sides, palms facing up. Remain in this position for 5-10 minutes. Breathe slowly and deeply.

Acupressure – If you place pressure on certain points on your body, you can make your back pain subside.
1. Center the pencil tip or your fingertip between your nose and upper lip. Apply deep pressure, hold for several seconds. Repeat 5-10 times.
2. Place the pencil tip or your fingertip between your inner anklebone and achilles tendon. Apply deep pressure, hold for several seconds. Repeat 5-10 times.
3. Make a fist. On the outside of your hand, next to the pinkie finger, locate the spot where the skin folds and bulges. Place the pencil tip or your fingertip there, apply deep pressure. Hold for several seconds. Repeat 5-10 times.

The reason this myth is so wide spread is because of how people eat late at night. Most of the time, you have not eaten much during the day, so by the time evening rolls around you are starving and reach for, you guessed it, high calorie foods like potato chips, cookies or fast food. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, these foods are going to add on the pounds.

If you are watching your weight, it is more important to eat balanced meals several times per day. If you get the proper nutrients during the day, you will have no cravings at night or you will manage to control them.

No studies have been done on humans to prove this myth wrong. However, a study was done in Oregon on monkeys. Groups of monkeys were fed precise amounts of food at various times of the day. Those who ate mostly at night did not put on weight as long as their daily calories equaled the calories they were burning.