Maybe you see their column in your paper: "YouDocs". Drs. Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D., share their medical wisdom and know-how with the reading public in their regular column, which gets published in our paper every Sunday. Thank you Reporter-Herald. Yesterday they wrote about "No More Excuses; Get on Your Feet".
Perfect for me, sort-of. Coming up with excuses to avoid walking is a trap I seem to be getting around. But, in their article today, as usual, they shared benefits of regular walking exercise. Some were news to me, some not-so-much...
"Every step you take mobilizes immune-system warriors that patrol your nose, throat and lungs to take down invading cold/flu viruses." So, walking boosts my immune system. I'd read before (in an office lounge posting at a previous employer) that sex boosts the immune system. Good to know that walking does too! Their point in the article, I think, was that potential walkers rob them of cold-fighting forces in their bodies when using that for an excuse not to don sneakers and take them out for a spin. I'll keep that in mind, if I'm ever tempted to drive and blow my nose at the same time.
"Being fit can save your life, even if you're overweight." That's old, but still good news to me. The Docs want us to get moving even if we're feeling heavier than we want, in order to be seen in public. My weight's OK; I don't mind being seen. Snow pants with a long down parka have fairly low sex-appeal anyway. OK, there's the ski-bunny attire, but I'm talking about the poofy, shapeless variety of snow pants and parka. Even if I looked like a super-model in street clothes, my snow-gear would morph me into a rotund snow-warrior within a mere two zips. It's nice to remember that with each hulking step, I'm maintaining my health.
"The right moves keep knees healthy." Now that caught my eye. In college some called me "Ginger", on account of my red hair and pension for ballroom dance classes and competitions. I also swam a mile every day before classes, and jogged off-and-on. Oh yeah, and I took six Aikido classes (a tumbling martial art) each week. How I fit all that in and maintained a 3.77 G.P.A. impresses me now. Anyway...I digress...All those activities came to a screeching halt one day when, as I was climbing a flight of stairs to class, my knees froze. No ache, no pain, no symptoms of strain had warned me. They just stopped. I hobbled back to my dorm room, fretting the whole way about missing class, and took a hot bath. After a lot of ice, heat, t.l.c. and much research, I quickly learned to protect my knees from strain during most activities. Slowly, I reintroduced my knees to each extra-curricular, one at a time. The one that my knees screemed about? The dancing. I continue to struggle with that one - some 20 years later.
Last week when I started taking the Zoomba class with my friend, my knees cried out again. But the walking, I think it actually helps. They don't hurt even the day after dance class, when I walk. Maybe YouDocs can advise me about knee care for the avid dancer.
"Gentle exercise can improve your health, and your baby's too." So, pregnancy: all the more reason to walk. Well, now for that I can vouch. When we were expecting Anne, I ate foods only in their natural state, no processed anything, (OK, we did cook, but no packaged, refined, or processed anything) and I walked, walked, walked. My co-workers at the time pestered me for the first seven months of Anne's gestation: "When are you gonna start to show, girlfriend!?!" To be fair, my torso stretches to an unusual length, but the exercise certainly helped me grow only a tummy during pregnancy. And continued exercise in combination with a persistently healthy diet and breastfeeding after birth, had me back in my pre-baby clothes inside of four weeks.
And Anne? All that exercise and healthful food managed to produce a bright, active, joyful person who continues to thrive thanks to our continued efforts at health, and a loving family, neighborhood and school community. Her good fortune is my life's joy. Her first couple of months saw acute awareness, rapid development, and social interaction beyond her age. Regular verbalization began a two-and-a-half months, practicly unheard of, but verified by a leading brain expert (I had her evaluated because we couldn't believe our eyes and ears!) Eleven years later she continues to impress us on so many levels: stamina, dedication, critical thinking, logic, language development, capacity for love, etc.
"Exercise cuts anxiety by 29 percent." I believe it. Work feels so much more doable these days. I'm cooking for my family regularly, and enjoying it. My house is clean, minus resentment. Perspective, patience, and good will fill my being, in place of worry, fretting, anxiety, and, well, as YouDocs say, "stress". I think I'll keep walking.
No comments:
Post a Comment