Can’t Go Naked? Some Advice to Stay Cool and Comfortable

Yep- it is still hot and humid.  You might want to curb an intense outdoor workout a bit for the next few days, but even a light stroll after dinner can make you awfully uncomfortable if you aren’t prepared.  Here are a few tips to help keep you comfortable if you are biking, mowing, or just moving around!

Rule #1: NO COTTON!! It soaks up moisture and sits on your skin like a wet rag, not allowing sweat to evaporate and cool you off. Wear high-tech (synthetic) fabrics that wick away sweat. There are dozens of name brands including CoolMax, PowerDry, DryCore and Dri-Fit.  They are well worth the investment.  Get rid of those cotton t-shirts and join this century!
One warning: Synthetics can get a bit smelly so rinse them right away and hang to dry instead of throwing them into the hamper wet with sweat. Launder in warm water with detergent and 1/4 cup of Borax.  There are also detergents made specifically to clean and de-stink synthetic sports gear but I find Borax works just as well and is quite a bit cheaper.

Rule #2: Wear light-colored clothes
Lighter clothes reflect rather than absorb the sun’s rays.

Rule #3: Avoid the chafe
Test your clothing on a short walk/run/hike before going long. If the seams chafe or ride up, you’re going to be awfully uncomfortable. Look for flat-constructed seams or fewer seams to avoid the issue. 

Rule #4: Keep your Feet Cool!
Do not wear all-cotton socks. Sweat-wicking blends will keep your feet cooler and prevent blisters.

Rule #5: Sunglasses are not created equal.
 Invest in a good pair of sunglasses, not the $2 pair at the gas station. Better glasses protect against serious, long-term eye damage due to exposure to UVA and UVB rays. Cheap glasses tend to fog up; polarized glasses offer much better contrast. Get glasses labeled as 100 percent UVA/UVB protective.

Rule #6: Don’t forget the Sun Block! Sunscreen protects your skin from painful burns, premature aging, and the risk of skin cancer. Avoid oil-based sunscreens because they impede sweating, and sweat evaporates and keeps you cool. An SPF of 45 is sufficient and reapply every few hours. 

In addition:

Shower right after your workout and put on a clean, dry shirt.  Don’t let sweat dry on your skin as it is a breeding ground for bacteria which can clog pores and cause all sorts of skin issues so wash it off as soon as  you can. If you have cats, they love the salt and will lick you clean if you don’t shower!  ( they like to do this at about 3am, cat owners know what I mean)

 Sweating can also dry out your skin so apply a moisturizer after showering. 

Hot weather is not an excuse to lay around and eat chips, you just need a bit of preparation.  Enjoy it now- in a few months I will  probably be writing about shoveling. 

Everything You Want to Know About Sweat…and some things you don’t!

It is HOT and HUMID in Northeast Wisconsin and I love it!  The only downside is the parade of sweaty bodies in questionable clothes (or lack of) wandering through the store where I work.  Have you ever had someone hand you damp money?  There’s something really icky about that feeling!  So, is sweat bad?  I went looking for sweat info and here’s what I found:

Sweat is good for you- it helps your body regulate its temperature. 

The average person has 2.6 million sweat glands in their skin. The glands are distributed over the entire body-except for the lips, nipples and external genital organs.

We have two types of sweat glands: eccrine, which produce volumes of the watery stuff, and apocrine, which produce tiny amounts of thick odorless fluid.

-We have eccrine glands all over our bodies, including the palms of our hands, the soles of our feet and our foreheads.

-We have apocrine glands under our arms and in the genital area. When the thick odorless fluid from our apocrine glands sits on our skin, bacteria act upon it, which is what causes body odor. This means the stinky sweat is in your pits and crotch so take special care in those areas.

-Apocrine glands contain proteins and fatty acids, making their secretions thicker and giving them a milky or yellowish color. That’s why underarm stains in clothing appear yellowish.

– Add 1/4 cup of Borax with your laundry detergent to get the body odor stink out of your workout clothes, especially if you wear cotton. (more on that tomorrow)

-Apocrine glands develop during puberty, which is why children don’t need deodorant or antiperspirant.

-Men tend to produce more sweat than women. 

Now that we know about sweat- how do you deal with it when working out on a hot and humid day?

We are constantly sweating, even though we may not notice it because it usually evaporates quickly.  The humidity of the air around us affects the rate at which sweat evaporates. If humidity is high, the air cannot absorb any more moisture and our sweat won’t evaporate and cool our bodies as efficiently as when the air is dry.

-Losing excessive amounts of sweat can quickly dehydrate you, leading to circulatory problems, kidney failure and heat stroke so keep yourself sufficiently hydrated with water.  If you are working really hard, a sports drink with electrolytes will help but they can be loaded with calories.

-Sweat is made from fluid in your blood, which means the more you sweat, the thicker your blood becomes and the harder your heart has to work to pump that blood. Take it easy on hot days- even if you are in great shape, your heart can only handle so much.

-Drink at least 16 oz of water an hour or two before you go outside for a bike ride or run.  Take a bottle of water with you and drink 12 oz every 15 minutes while you are working out. This applies to lawn mowing, gardening, and other outdoor activities as well.

More on hot weather workouts tomorrow but I’ll finish with another fun fact.  Did you know that most Japanese  have little to no body odor?  Japanese men who had body odor were not allowed to serve during WW II because the were not considered pure. I don’t understand it, I’m just reporting it!

Give Your Produce a Good Bath!

Blueberries were on sale last week so I bought buying 6 pints a day to stock up for winter!  They freeze well and are much cheaper than buying them out of season.  I used to just give them a quick rinse until I read that blueberries have the highest levels of organophosphates, followed by strawberries and celery.

What’s an organophosphate?   It is a man-made pesticide that is sprayed onto fruits and vegetables to keep insects away. While once thought harmless, some now argue children are sensitive to these pesticides.  At a young age, the brain is rapidly developing, and kids possibly consume more due to their smaller body weight and size. Experts believe that these chemicals have led to a variety of childhood issues including ADHD.

To minimize your exposure to chemicals, buy local and organic but you should still give everything a thorough washing.

There are commercial produce washes like “FIT” available in the supermarket but there is a less expensive alternative that you can make at home. Add one cup of vinegar to three cups of water in a spray bottle, shake well and spray your produce until it is completely covered.  Rinse with cold water to remove the vinegar taste and wash away any chemical residue.


Tests prove that the vinegar solution removes 98% of all bacteria or pesticides, compared to 80% when washing with a water and brush. Take a few minutes when you get home from the store or Farmers Market to wash all your fruits and veggies- your body and brain will appreciate it!

Oh- and freezing blueberries is easy.
Wash and rinse.  Put 1 layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer for at least an hour.  Put frozen blueberries into freezer safe bag or container. Doing it this way keeps them from clumping together.

Enjoy this amazing super fruit all year long!

Two Remarkable Women

Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart were both in the news this week.  At age 14, Elizabeth was kidnapped from her home and held for 9 months just miles from her home.  She is now 23 and will be a contributor to ABC News as an analyst on missing persons cases.   She stared defiantly at the man who assaulted her daily as she gave her testimony.  Before he was sent to life in prison, she told him “I just want you to know that I have a wonderful life now” 

Even more incredible is the story of Jaycee Dugard.  If you did not see Diane Sawyer’s interview with her, go to abc.com and watch.  Jaycee was kidnapped at just 11 years old and held captive for 18 years.  She was repeatedly assaulted and gave birth to two children in a backyard, one when she was just 14. This girl is absolutely inspiring.  No matter what you have had to deal with in your life, it pales in comparison.

In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse.
For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation.
On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim. I survived.
A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.

Psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser writes in USA Today, “Most of us don’t know how to handle a crisis or devastating experience, let alone recover from one. While a traumatic situation can make both a psychological and emotional impact on any of us, the way we handle the recovery process can set the tone for our future success and ultimately our happiness. All of us can use Jaycee’s approach as a blueprint for how to rise above trauma and even thrive in spite of it.”

Inspiration for everyone…

Want to Change Your Mood? Do it With Food!

Feeling Foggy?Having trouble concentrating? Snack on some protein rich foods like low cal string cheese or some lean skinless chicken or turkey breast.

   Stop Feeling Sluggish!

Are you tired and lethargic? Can’t get going in the morning? Whip up some scrambled eggs or an omelette. Eggs are a great source of zinc, a substance that makes you feel more awake, energized, and engaged by regulating your blood sugar. For a lower calorie boost, try using Egg Beaters.

Are You Stressed or Nervous?

Soothe your nerves with some skim milk or a handful of almonds. Both are rich in calcium and calcium is great for reducing anxiety, making you calm and relaxed.

Stabilize your Mood Swings

Do you go from laughing to crying in a matter of seconds? Curbing mood swings might be as east as drinking water. Dehydration plays a big part in emotional instability. If you don’t drink enough water, you might find yourself sweating the small stuff.

I am So ANGRY!!

Reach for a grapefruit, some grapes, an apple, or some carrots. All four of these are rich in pectin, a fiber that lowers cholesterol. When you are angry your heart rate, adrenaline levels and blood pressure tend to increase. Pectin reverses these effects and helps your system return to normal.

 

Snack Happy!

Salmon and Strawberries may be nature’s equivalent of Prozac and Zoloft. Folate rich foods boost serotonin levels in the brain, much like anti-depressants do. The next time you feel down, grill some salmon or treat yourself to a bowl of strawberries and turn that frown upside down!

The Ultimate Mood Lifter:

CHOCOLATE! The fat, sugar, and high amounts of tryptophan found in dark chocolate work together to raise serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain making you feel happy, content and soothed. Just be careful not to eat to much- a 1 oz square of dark chocolate is all you need! More than that and you are adding unnecessary calories.

More Scoop on Poop!

I am not being anal about this, it is actually very important to know what comes out of your body because tells you a lot about your overall health.  You don’t have to study each and every BM, but take a glance once in awhile.  Think of it as an emissions test for your body.

Floaters and Sinkers

Experts do not all agree, but the general consensus is a that a healthy poop will sink.  When a digestive tract is operating properly and the diet is well-balanced, stools will sink in the bowl. That is because the body has eliminated the waste in your system properly and your stools do not contain any gases and the fats from your diet have been processed properly. Now, without raising any alarm bells, your diet will change from day to day and your stools may occasionally float and that is not a problem. It happens to everyone. When your poop floats all of the time and never sinks, then there could in fact be a medical problem.

 You might be thinking that you have no symptoms other than floating poop so there is no need for concern. WRONG!  Many diseases in the early stages have little or no symptom association. The only way to be absolutely certain that nothing is wrong is to seek a medical consultation. Few people associate floating stools with one of the worst cancers-cancer of the pancreas. The pancreas is responsible for processing waste materials and fat in an efficient manner. When the pancreas cannot do its job properly, more and more fat is allowed into the waste causing the stool to be lighter and thereby causing it to float. When caught very early, for instance as soon as your stools have been floating for more than 10 or 14 days, the cancer treatment is much more effective and your cure probability is much higher. Of course, if you ignore it due to embarrassment of having to tell a doctor that your poop is floating, then your survival rate begins to diminish until there is no chance of beating this horrible disease.

Hey Stinky!  
It really is true that you are what you eat, much like you are what you poop! 
If you eat junk food, then junk is what will come out the other end and your poop will be stinky! It takes about 15 hours for food to completely pass through system. So, if you think about that and the temperature at which our internal organs are kept (a toasty 98.7 degrees Fahrenheit for most people), then some foods will definitely start to stink after so long. If we eat foods that start to stink in a short time, then what comes out will surely stink as well!

How to Make It Smell Better…

Changing your diet to fresh foods, eliminating processed foods that are loaded with chemicals and reducing sugar intake will prevent those bathroom bombs. If you eat healthy, your poop will smell healthy- not rotten!

What about my dog/cat?  Can I do something about that smell?
Much like humans, the quality of food you feed your pet will be reflected in the litter box or in the yard.  If your pet has a serious stink problem, you might want to consider changing the brand of food.  Check with your vet for recommendations.  Just for fun…

How come, no matter how much I chew it corn comes out in whole kernels?

When we chew corn, the outer layer slips off and we actually chew the inside of the kernel.  This yellow outside layer is cellulose and is indigestible.  It slips through the system untouched and comes out looking like a whole kernel when it is in fact, just the outer skin.

But seriously…

Be good to yourself and have your concerns properly checked out by a medical professional.
Your health is your first responsibility in being the best you can possibly be so take control and observe those subtle little changes without getting overly concerned.

What Your Poop is Trying to Tell You

You can learn a lot about your health by taking a look at your poop! What goes in must come out and your feces reflects what is happening inside your body.

Here’s the scoop on poop…

A healthy poop should be golden brown.  You want to make sure the color is normal because it tells you a lot about what is going on in your body. 

Your poop should be in one long torpedo.  It should resemble the shape and consistency of an unripe banana (although not that color!) It should not be in pieces but should be 1-2 inches in diameter and 18 inches long!!  ( really?? wow!!) It should also be almost odorless. (more on this tomorrow).

What about color?

Black: Feces can be black if dried blood is present in it from internal bleeding in the upper digestive tract.  See your doctor.

Very dark brown: Drinking wine the night before can do this.  It could also be the result of too much salt or not enough vegetables.

Yellow: There are several infections that can cause yellow poop.  See your doctor if you are consistently pooping yellow.

Green: Babies have green poop when they are given a food for the first time. Adults have green poop if we eat large amounts of green leafy vegetables or lots of food with green food coloring.  Light green poop might indicate excessive sugar in the diet.  Green poop can also occur with diarrhea from bile passing through the system.  Again, see a doctor if you are concerned.

White/pale: A white or pale stool can be an indication of problems in the gallbladder or liver.

Red: Bright red in the feces may be indicative of active bleeding, possibly the results of hemorrhoids.  A magenta color may result from intense red food coloring or red foods such as beets.

How often should I poop?  It really depends on you.  Some people poop three times per week, others three times per day. As long as you are on a regular pooping schedule, you are ok. If this schedule changes and you become uncomfortable, see your doctor.

Next issue- Should it Float?  How can I make it smell better?  And what about Corn?  Stay tuned…

Is Your Farting Normal?

Some people don’t want to admit it- but everybody farts!   Some of you might be more expressive than others in your delivery, but we all have to release gas, either by belching from the top of the gastrointestinal tract, or flatulence, which comes out of the bottom of the tract.  Bloating is caused by excess stomach gas that has not been released. 

Some gas after eating — and releasing it through burping and farting — is normal. Most people produce as many as one to four pints of gas a day, which they pass, on average, about 14 times a day.

However, if you’re experiencing painful gas and the embarrassment of chronic and foul smelling flatulence, you might want to figure out why.

Excessive Gas: Foods to Avoid
Beans, beans, the musical fruit.  The more you eat, the more  you toot! But it isn’t just beans that will make you gassy.

Foods such as dairy products and certain vegetables cause some people to have excessive gas. Foods like these contain fiber, sugars, and starches that don’t get digested and absorbed, eventually causing intestinal gas when they are finally broken down in the large intestine.

One way to manage flatulence and belching is to eat fewer of the well-known gassy foods. Everyone reacts differently, but common gassy foods are fruits, such as apples and pears, certain vegetables including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and onions, whole grains like bran, and dairy products, from milk to cheese to ice cream.

Foods containing sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar found in fruits, are on some people’s gassy-foods list. Others are bothered by carbonated soft drinks and fruit drinks. If you discover that these foods are causing you excess gas, you don’t have to stop eating them- just use some moderation. 

Other ways to avoid gassiness:

• Drink before meals, not during.  If you drink liquids with your meals, you lose stomach acids and can’t break down the foods as well.  Try drinking about 30 minutes before a meal, not during, to help your stomach better digest food.

• Eat and drink slowly. When you eat or drink quickly, you can swallow a lot of air, which can cause gas,  Slow down when you eat — you will swallow less air and be less gassy.  Bonus- you will proably eat less!

• Take over-the-counter digestive aids. Digestive enzymes are available as over-the-counter supplements. You can find these at a health food store or in the natural aisle at the grocery store. Take one or two each day, you will know within a few weeks if it helps. FYI- antacids do nothing to help with excess gas.

• Be a Beano counter. Another over-the-counter digestive aid, Beano, contains an enzyme that can allow the body to digest the sugar in beans and many vegetables.  Add five drops of the liquid form or swallow one Beano tablet per half-cup serving of food before eating. Heating degrades the enzyme in Beano, so  don’t add it to foods while cooking.  Beano will not help if excessive gas is caused by fiber or lactose.

• Don’t fill up on air. Habits like smoking, chewing gum, and drinking through a straw may cause your stomach to fill with air, leading to gas.

• Avoid artificial sweeteners. Sorbitol and related sugar alcohols used in many sugar-free versions of foods can also aggravate gas as they are digested by gut bacteria which ferment and release gas and have a laxative effect.  Chewing gum that contains Sorbitol is similar to eating a prune.  However, the sugar substitutes that you use in coffe or in soda are not the kind that cause gas. The various packet sweeteners — yellow (sucralose), pink (saccharine), and blue (aspartame) — are not associated with gas or laxative effects. 

Related Conditions That Could Be to Blame
If the problem of excessive body gas is persistent or severe, consult your doctor — it could be a sign of a more serious digestive condition. Don’t simply ignore the problem or blame it on indigestion. 

These conditions might seem extreme, but see your doctor if you have concerns.

• Lactose intolerance. People who are lactose intolerant are unable to digest lactose, the sugar that is found in milk and milk products. Try eliminating dairy milk from your diet and see if it helps.

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This type of pain is usually in the lower bowel area.

• Colon cancer. Excess gas is rarely the presenting symptom for patients with colon cancer, but it does remind you to get checked.

• Upper gastrointestinal disorders. Occasional belching is normal, but frequent belching may be a sign of an upper gastrointestinal disorder. These include peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or gastroparesis, also called delayed gastric emptying.

As annoying as it might be, some gas is a natural by-product of the body’s digestive system. But if your gas is excessive, painful, or chronic, talk to your doctor about possible causes and remedies.

Now that you have the facts, start counting your burps and farts to see if you are normal!

What is your stomach trying to tell you?

Train Your Brain!

While we spend alot of time getting our body in shape…what about your  brain? We take for granted all the things our brain does until it stops doing those things.  Your brain has 5 cognitvie functions and each needs to be challenged and stimulated on a daily basis.  Here are some easy ways to train your brain!

1- Memory

Memory plays a crucial role in all cognitive activities, including reading, reasoning and mental calculation. There are several types of memory at work in the brain and loss of these skills are what we notice most when they begin to fail. To maintain a good memory, you need to train for it, which can be easier than you think. Listening to a song you don’t know and memorizing the lyrics will boost the level of acetylcholine, the chemical that helps build your brain and improve your memory skills. Here’s a fun challenge:  Use your opposite hand to brush your teeth. Or- try getting dressed or showering in the dark.  These exercise help build new associations between the neurons in your brain.

2- Attention

Attention is necessary in nearly all daily tasks. Good attention enables you to maintain concentration despite noise and distractions and to focus on several activities at once. You can improve our attention by simply changing your routines. Drive a different route to work or reorganize your desk, I moved my phone to the the other side and reach for it with the opposite hand, this was actually quite difficult!   Doing these things will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again. As we age, our attention span  decreases, making us easily distracted and  less efficient at multitasking. Another challenge: combine activities like listening to abook with jogging or doing math in your head while you drive. This forces your brain to work at doing more in the same amount of time. 

3- Language

Language activities will challenge our ability to recognize, remember and understand words.  Your Language Challenge: Read a section of the paper that you don’t usually read.  You’ll be exposed to new words, which are easier to understand when read in context or easier to look up on a dictionary site if you are reading the news online. Take time to understand the word in its context, which will help you build your language skills and retrieve the word more readily.  It’s amazing how many words we skip over because we don’t know the  meaning, take a moment to look it up.   Need a more difficult challenge?  Try learing a new language!

4- Visual-Spatial

We live in a 3D World. You need to analyze visual information to act within your environment. Your Challenge: Walk into an unfamiliar space and pick out five items and their locations. When you exit the space, try to recall all five items and where they were located.  If this is too easy-wait two hours and try to remember those items and their locations. Actually, try this in a familiar room, you’ll be surprised at how many things you see every day and can’t remember or place them. 

5- Executive Function

Without even realizing it, you use your logic and reasoning skills on a daily basis to make decisions.  We are constantly
 working on strategies to reach our desired goal or calcualting to find solutions to everyday problems. Your challenge?  Video games. Yes, I said video games.  They  require strategy and problem -solving to reach a desired outcome — like making it to the final level.  A few mintues a day with the Playstation or XBox can be good for your brain, but too much stimulation is not!  I’m a little old-fashioned with this, I prefer a good crossword puzzle. 

As we age, it’s important to flex our mental muscles as well as our body.  Now that you’re aware of the five main cognitive functions and how to exercise them, it will be easy to find daily activities that will help you break a mental sweat and keep your brain in shape!

What was I Going to Write About?

All kidding aside, I am becoming very forgetful in my old age and it worries me as I am really not that old.  In fact, when I had to ask my daughter something for the third time, she asked if I had Alzheimer’s. I really think it is because I have outsourced my brain to my laptop and Blackberry so I really don’t have to remember anything anymore.  I couldn’t even tell you phone numbers that I call frequently, I just push the speed dial button!   After doing some research, I found that my forgetfulness is normal, but it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on these symptoms.
I have listed the warning signs of Alzheimer’s as well as what is “normal” as you age. 

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life

Normal: Sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering them later ( I just look them up in my Blackberry)

2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
Normal: Making occasional errors when balancing a checkbook (Again, the computer does this for me, I don’t have to think)

3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
Normal: Occasionally needing help to use the settings on a microwave or to record a television show (We just blame it on the cable company!)

4. Confusion with time or place
Normal:  Getting confused about the day of the week but figuring it out later

5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
Normal: Vision changes related to cataracts

6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
Normal:  Sometimes having trouble finding the right word

7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
Normal: Misplacing things from time to time, such as a pair of glasses or the remote control (that’s why I have glasses in every room of the house)

8. Decreased or poor judgment
Normal:  Making a bad decision once in a while. (this seems to be more of a young person symptom!)

9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
Normal: Sometimes feeling weary of work, family and social obligations

10. Changes in mood and personality
Normal:  Developing very specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted.

You must admit that you chuckled at a few of these- we have been misplacing the remote for  years and I know many people who don’t want their routine interrupted.  If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms that are beyond the “normal” please see a health professional. 

Coming up- Exercises to keep your brain active and healthy in a “thinking optional” world.