10
Ways to Stay Fit in Winter
Who wants to exercise when it's cold and dark outside?
But even in winter getting outdoors can put you in a better mood. It may even
improve your concentration.
So bundle yourself and your kids up in layers. Be sure
everyone's heads and hands are covered. And, take some extra time warming up
before you exercise in the cold. Then, try these fun activities to keep you and
your family in motion through the winter months.
___Walk. Walking is easy and requires little more than
a good pair of shoes. You can burn calories, increase blood flow, and give your
heart and lungs a boost just by putting one foot in front of the other. Walking
is also a great stress reducer.
___Hike. Hiking affords many of the same benefits as
walking, and gives you the chance to explore new vistas.
___Run. Vigorous exercise like running slows the
effects of aging and appears to help fend off disease and disability.
___Skate, Snowshoe, or Ski. Not only will they get you
outdoors, winter sports can involve the whole family and as many friends as you
want to include.
___Geocache. Take your family on a high-tech treasure
hunt. You'll need access to the Internet and a GPS device. The GPS on your cell
phone will work just fine. First, look up what treasures are hidden in your
area on the official Geocaching web site, then head out to find them.
Geocaching gives kids a chance to learn about the outdoors, problem solving,
and teamwork.
Indoor
Winter Fitness Tips
What can you do during a snowstorm or when it's just
too cold to go outside? Here are some indoor fitness tips for your family.
___Yoga or Pilates. Yoga is a great way for adults and
kids to keep muscles limber and take a stress break. Pilates builds strong core
muscles and can improve posture. You can find yoga and Pilates classes at a
gym, in a studio, or get a DVD you can follow at home.
___Swim. If you have access to an indoor pool, jump in
for your mental and physical health. Not only is swimming the most popular
athletic activity in the U.S., swimmers tend to live longer and have better
moods than people who do not exercise.
___Bowl. Fun, social activities like bowling or dance
class can keep things interesting. If someone in your family has an
"exercise allergy," bowling can make physical activity less of a
chore.
___"Exergames." Researchers looked at two
games, Nintendo's Wii Boxing and Konami's Dance Dance Revolution. It turns out
some games can boost fitness, within limits. They do not offer as many health
benefits as playing an actual sport, but highly active exergames are a good way
to get moving on a cold or rainy day.
___Take the Stairs. Every time you choose the stairs
over the elevator or escalator, you burn more calories and reduce your risk of
heart disease. So take the stairs at every opportunity. And get an added
benefit: Better legs for summer!
Many of us lead
high pressure lives, with the competing demands of work, children and family
life.
It's when that pressure turns to stress that the
problems really start.
Stress can
manifest itself in some pretty surprising ways, from sickness to sleepiness. It
pays to take notice of these SOS signs from your body to help nip stress in the
bud:
1. You are not quite yourself
This is a difficult sign to recognise. Often it's other
people who point it out to you.
Stress expert
Professor Cary Cooper says: "Your behaviour changes if the pressure you
are under exceeds your ability to cope and you enter the stress zone."
He says: "Maybe you are usually gregarious with a
good sense of humour and you become withdrawn."
Tension around the shoulders and neck may not be down
to sitting at your computer for hours on end it could be a sign of early
stress.
Health and wellbeing consultant Liz Tucker says:
"If you are stressed it makes your neck and shoulder muscles tighten which
may affect messages to the brain and can give you problems with
concentration."
It may pay at
this point to take time out and have a massage. Not only are you hopefully
alleviating the symptoms, you are recognising you need time to relax. You could
also do some simple deep breathing exercises or go to a yoga or Pilates class.
Biting your nails down to the quick and picking at your
cuticles could be a telltale sign of stress. Consider using anti-biting liquid
which tastes bad and discourages biting or invest in some false nails, so you
can't get to your real nails, and then address the reasons for the stress.
We've all occasionally felt that fluttering feeling in
our eyelids, especially when we are tired but if you have repeated spasms of
blinking if may be down to stress.
It's known as
blepharospasm and each spasm can last anything from a few second to a few
minutes. The exact cause isn't known but stress and tiredness may trigger it.
You've heard of the phrase 'sick with worry' well
stress and anxiety can make you feel nauseous.
Clinical psychologist Dr Angharad Rudkin says it's a
classic response: "When we think anxious thoughts the brain sends
adrenaline into the body. This is the ancient fight/flight response we still
have inside of us.
"Adrenaline
has a number of effects other than giving us the strength to fight or run away,
some of which are butterfly tummy, nausea, shakes, sweating and your heart
beating faster."
These could all be signs that you may be under stress.
"Stress
affects every cell in your body and it's a case of your immune system not
managing as well as it should and it affecting the internal workings of your
body," says Liz.
Stress can affects your sleeping patterns, you might
lie awake in the middle of the night going over things in your head or you may
just want to sleep constantly.
"The stress
response may keep you awake or it can
feel like you are sleeping all the time but your body is never restoring itself
and resting properly," says Liz.
Professor Cooper says: "Classic symptoms are heart
palpitations, anxiety dreams and difficulty sleeping at night."
Other symptoms of stress include teeth grinding,
unexplained rashes and hives.
"If you have anything niggly, like bad skin, it
could be a sign that your stress balance is out of sync," says Liz.
The charity Anxiety UK says stress and anxiety can
manifest itself in many ways including tingling in the hands and feet, tension
headaches and hot flushes.
It says common psychological signs of stress are
thinking you might die, feeling detached from your environment and the people
in it, and feeling on edge about everything around you.
Noticing the early signs of stress will help prevent it
getting worse and causing potentially serious health problems like high blood
pressure and depression.
If you think you may be showing signs of stress, work out
the cause, it could be a bad relationship, a bullying boss, bereavement or just
the general feeling of life getting on top of you.
Professor Cooper who's co-written How to Deal With
Stress says: "Think about counselling, depending on the nature of the
problem. If it's a relationship, try Relate, if it's deeper and more personal
to you maybe a clinical psychologist." He says your GP is the first port
of call.
"You need
to deal with the stress head on and not go down the route of avoidance
activities like heavy drinking as that exacerbates the problem and creates a
new one."
If you catch it early enough talking your
worries over with a good friend can help. Relaxation techniques and exercise
are also good stress busters
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