Forget fat Tuesday, it's fat weekends
October 2, 2009
The You Docs
Looking forward to tomorrow's start of the weekend? Those long brunches with friends, the dinners out, the extra glass of wine?
Yep – put it that way, and it's no wonder you can't find anything comfortable to wear on Monday morning.
Weekend indulgences can add up to as much as a nine-pound gain in a year. People on diet or exercise routines have been found to not only eat more on weekends, but also exercise less (sound familiar?).
When you relax your routine, it's not hard to see how the pounds can pile up. It takes 3,500 calories to put on a pound. That can be a piece of cake (or two), literally.
On the lighter side, however, cutting just 100 calories a day (including weekends) can have you losing 10 pounds by the time the year is up. Just be smart while you're having fun: Make an easy, healthy brunch for you and your friends. Then go horseback riding, bicycling or just window shopping for the perfect smaller Monday morning outfit.
YOUR PICTURES TELL ON YOU: The more intensely you smile in photos, research suggests – and there is a scientific way to measure smile intensity – the less likely you are to get divorced. Researchers first looked at yearbook photos, then at a range of photos throughout people's lives (even reaching back to age 10), and found the same link.
Researchers suspect this "positive emotionality," as they call it, leads people to be more open to social relationships, seek environments more conducive to happy marriages and be better able to "undo" negative emotions.
So what does this have to do with your health? Well, there's good evidence that divorce can mess with your health. People who've been divorced have more chronic health conditions, more mobility limitations and say their health is worse than that of married people. Plus, they have more symptoms of depression.
Good health isn't just about the food you eat; being emotionally well-fed is essential, too.
3 KEYS TO HURT-FREE KNEES: If your knees bother you when you bend 'em, try these pill-free pain beaters:
1. Get strong quads. Strengthening these key leg muscles in the front of the thigh helps maintain cartilage, because your muscles act as shock absorbers. People with the strongest quads have reported less knee pain and better physical function than people with the weakest. And more than half the people with cartilage breakdown are under age 65.
2. Take a hike. Or a walk. People who pick up their feet and commit to regular aerobic exercise have much less muscle and joint pain as they age. Even better, pick up the pace. Vigorous activities like running, swimming and brisk walking – anything that boosts your heart rate and makes it slightly difficult to talk – could increase the amount of cartilage in your knees. But don't overdo it. Overly vigorous exercise that causes a joint injury can hurt your knees.
3. Fill up. Berries, ginger, avocado, flaxseeds, omega-3-rich fish (trout and salmon in North America) or the algae where the fish get their omega-3s from (a DHA supplement), all help stifle joint- damaging inflammation.
The You Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of the best-selling YOU: On a Diet. Send questions to the doctors on their website, realage.com.
Toronto Star
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