Walking Works...

New study: walking can make over your workout and your brain

• by Sarah McColl, Shine staff, on Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:22am PDT

A new study in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience shows that walking for forty minutes three times a week can improve the connectivity between brain circuits that tend to erode as we age. The study took a group of couch potatoes who reported fewer than two 30-minute bouts of exercise in the past six months (!), and found that at the end of twelve months, their brain connectivity had improved.

Dr. Arthur F. Kramer, who led the study, explained to Reuters: "Patterns of connectivity decrease as we get older. Networks aren't as well connected to support the things we do, such as driving," he said. "But we found as a function of aerobic fitness, the networks became more coherent."

Walking became the ultimate brain anti-ager, turning the clock back decades. "As the older people in the walking group became more fit, the coherence among different regions in the networks increased and became similar to those of the 20-year-olds," Kramer explained.

Kramer told Science Daily, that while previous studies had indicated the effects of exercise on the brain, this study shows that even moderate aerobic exercise can increase brain function.

In this study, the lesson of how to improve our lives comes through loud and clear again: we don't have to make dramatic, top-to-bottom change to start living well. But we do have to stick with it. The group showed no significant effects at the six-month marker; it wasn't until the end of the trial that the results were significant.

Furthermore, it wasn't just brain connectivity that benefited: "The aerobic group also improved in memory, attention and a variety of other cognitive processes," Kramer said.

For creative types, author Julia Cameron has long recommended walking as a way to give your creativity a boost. Strolling through the neighborhood gives our brain a chance to take a wider view, rather than focusing on a singular task, enabling us to come up with great ideas and make connections.

And when it comes to starting a new workout routine, the least intimidating starting place of all is walking: No special equipment, skills, or memberships required.

The tricky part for most of us is sticking to our new plan. Whether our goal is boost brain function or get physically stronger, how do you keep up the health resolutions that you make? If you were going to resolve to start walking three times a week, how would you actually make that happen?

3 Real Weight-Loss Stories

How I Did It: 3 Real Weight-Loss Stories

By Woman's Day Staff

Losing weight is a struggle unique to each person. While some manage to drop the pounds with extra trips to the gym or by cutting back on junk food, for others, their problem runs much deeper than bad habits alone. Cammy Chapel got bigger as her self-confidence got weaker; Audrey Holden found comfort in food after her son's tragic death and Hollie Johnson grew up in a household of overeaters. But whatever the underlying issue, these three women learned to deal with the underlying reasons they gained the weight so they could undertake the difficult journey of losing it. Here are their stories.

In My Shoes

Blogger Cammy Chapel ( TippyToeDiet.com), 52, Memphis, TN

“We don’t have anything that will fit you here. Your sizes are somewhere else.” It’s been 20 years and those words—spoken loudly and rudely by a clerk in a high-end department store—still sting. Never mind that I was looking for something for a friend. I hadn’t even asked for help; she just saw me and decided I had no business shopping there. Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere, anywhere else at that moment to escape the shame and embarrassment as other shoppers turned to look at me, the woman who was too large for that department.

Comments like that—not to mention muffled snickering and offensive gestures—are pretty typical when you’re 100 pounds overweight. But my thick waistline didn’t equate to thick skin, and I hated knowing that those people assumed I was lazy or undisciplined or apathetic. When I finally committed to losing the weight, my main motivation was better health. But I also wanted others to see the strong, capable person I really was.

Now I’ve lost those 100 pounds and kept them off for over a year. I eat healthy foods (mostly) and I exercise six days a week. I thought that once I slimmed down I’d escape the harsh judgments of others, but that’s not so. Yes, I’m healthier and more fit than I used to be, but some well-meaning people seem to view me as a formerly overweight person who needs to be monitored. One friend called recently, crowing that he’d “caught” me going to Taco Bell for lunch. “Sorry to spoil your party,” I told him, “but that wasn’t me.” I’ll spare you all the back-and-forth that followed. I finally figured out that he’d seen me turning into my gym, which happens to share a parking lot with Taco Bell.

Although my first instinct was to get upset about his mistake, I really couldn’t. After all, now I, too, have a habit of judging others: I silently criticize the woman at the gym who rests too long between sets, and I scrutinize the grocery carts of fellow shoppers to see if they’re buying a lot of cookies, chips or soda. Without knowing anything about these people, I apply my newfound standards to their actions and find them lacking. I don’t know why I do it, though it does seem like playing judge has become a national pastime (just look at the popularity of reality TV featuring panels of judges deciding who goes or stays). Regardless, I’m trying to stop.

Whenever I catch myself jumping to conclusions based on what I think rather than what I know, I’m ashamed. I know how hurtful and demoralizing it is when other people do it to me, and the idea that I could be inflicting those feelings on other people feels even worse. They deserve compassion and acceptance, not judgment. Especially when the person doing the judging is far from perfect herself.

Check out before and after photos for 10 incredible weight-loss transformations.

Feeding My Emotions

Blogger Audrey Holden ( IamBarkingMad.com), 41, Saratoga Springs, NY

I was sitting against the plush black leather of the limousine as it carried me away from the grave of my 2-year-old son, Joshua, who had been killed days earlier after being struck by a pickup truck. Yet all I could think about was food. With bitter tears running down my cheeks, I closed my eyes and pictured the platters of roast beef, creamy mashed potatoes and assorted pastries that my friends had lovingly set out at the wake. I imagined piling my plate with as much food as possible and swallowing all of it, pushing the pain down as far as it would go. The more I thought about food, the less I thought about seeing those precious brown eyes of Joshua’s closed forever.

Some people cope with the loss of a child by turning to alcohol or drugs. My drug of choice was food. When Joshua died, I was 40 or 50 pounds overweight. In the 20 years since, I have “comforted” myself to nearly 400 pounds.

Believe me, I’ve tried to lose the weight. I’ve been on countless diets, at times subsisting on little but grapefruit or cabbage. I’ve tried pills and liquid diets. I’ve taken laxatives and have tried starving and purging. Every time I lost and regained I felt like more of a failure.

My struggle with weight has been compounded by a society that sees the obese as something akin to lepers. We’re viewed as hideous, stupid, ignorant, loathsome and worst of all, worthless. There are laws that prevent discriminating against minorities and the disabled; there are no advocates for the obese. I’ve been passed over for jobs due to my weight, and my insurance company specifically excludes any treatment for obesity.

Of course, all the discrimination takes a toll. I’ve spent the last three years mostly indoors, hiding from the world, and at times my self-esteem has been nonexistent. At one point, I became so depressed that I contemplated committing suicide.

The day I realized that I wanted to live and discard the shroud that I had used as protection against the pain of losing my son came a few months ago, when I broke a toilet seat because I was so obese. For the first time in years I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a person—not just a huge mound of flesh, but a real woman who was so guilt-ridden about not being able to save her son that she didn’t think she was worthy of making the changes necessary to save herself.

So I’m finally committed to doing what it takes to start losing the weight. The moment that toilet seat cracked was when my hard shell of self-loathing cracked as well.

Try, Try Again

Blogger Hollie Johnson ( SkinnyHollie.com), 34, Nashville, TN

When I was 7 years old, the pediatrician told my mom to put me on a diet. She wasn’t surprised—I weighed 146 pounds and wore the same size clothes as my older sister, who was in her 20s. Of course I had been eating all the wrong things, but in our house we never had any rules about food. On the way home from the checkup I started crying, so my mom stopped to get me an ice cream cone to make me feel better.

That mixed message was repeated for most of my childhood. One moment my mom would chastise me for being too fat and insist that I eat a salad while the rest of the family was having fast food. But there were plenty of other times when she would let me eat whatever I wanted. She had her own problems with food; today she’s over 300 pounds.

Around the time I turned 12, I started making a genuine effort to lose weight. I weighed 200 pounds, which got me invited to an afterschool program for overweight kids. We learned some exercises and how to shop for food. Soon I started experimenting with a slew of diets, a pattern that extended for years. I tried every diet imaginable, but nothing worked. I always felt deprived, so I’d give up.

Today I have more than 140 pounds to lose. But I am more optimistic than ever, because I’ve given up quick fixes. About a year ago a friend encouraged me to think about how particular foods benefit my body, and something clicked. I realized it wasn’t just about avoiding fattening foods but more about choosing foods to keep me healthy. I want to avoid the problems that my mom started experiencing in her 40s, like diabetes and heart disease.

I’m not following any “plan,” but I’m eating fresh, whole foods. I drink water instead of soda, and I’m logging lots of time on the elliptical machine (even though I hate exercise). But it’s not easy: I’m a single mom, a graduate student and a new teacher, so time is tight. When you have three children demanding dinner, forgetting to defrost a chicken can spell disaster.

To keep on track, I’m thinking of dieting as a part-time job. When I have to punch a clock at a certain time in order to get paid, you’d better believe I take it seriously! Preparing healthy foods and making time to exercise has to be equally nonnegotiable. I started scheduling gym time as I would a meeting; when my phone beeps, I have to go. And when I’m tempted to skip packing lunch, I tell myself that’s not an option: It’s my job to keep myself and my kids healthy. Sure, it’s a job that will never make me rich, but the benefits of good health are priceless.

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com

7 Foods That Boost Every Type of Bad Mood

• by Woman's Day, on Wed Sep 1, 2010 10:14am PDT

By Sarah Jio

While that tub of ice cream in the back of the freezer may be what you crave when you’re feeling blue, there is a long list of other (healthier!) foods that can cure a grouchy morning or a stressed-out afternoon. We talked to the experts to get the scoop on what to eat to make you feel better no matter what your mood.

Stressed: Eat Chocolate

The scenario: It’s Friday at 6:30 p.m. You're hungry, tired and late for your dinner date. You were supposed to be out of work an hour ago, but your boss has asked you for a favor…again. The stress is building, so what can calm you down fast? Now’s the time to pull out the chocolate bar hiding in the back of your desk drawer. Experts say that chocolate—particularly dark chocolate—may help reduce the stress hormones that are swarming in your body. In fact, a recent study by researchers in Switzerland, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, found that eating just a smidge of dark chocolate (about 1.4 ounces) has the power to lower the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines in the body, reducing your anxiety and giving you a better chance to get the job done—and make your date.

Sluggish: Eat a Spinach Salad

Can’t concentrate? Trouble keeping your eyes open? Skip the coffee and have a spinach salad instead, says Joanna Dolgoff, MD, author of Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right. “Folic acid, or folate, helps your body to process and lower homocysteine levels,” says Dr. Dolgoff. “High levels of homocysteine are associated with damage to blood vessels, in addition to interfering with the flow of blood and nutrients to the brain. Impaired blood flow may leave you feeling sluggish or slow to process or recall information.” The best way to get a boost? Eat folate-rich foods like spinach and other leafy green vegetables as well as potatoes, fortified breads and cereals, beans, peas and mushrooms.

Cranky: Eat an Apple with Peanut Butter

Did you snap at your kids…and the telemarketer on the phone? Crankiness can be a sign that your body needs fuel. Just be sure to refuel the right way: with foods that don’t leave you with a blood sugar crash an hour later, setting the crankiness cycle in motion all over again. To blast irritability, “eat combination foods at each meal and snack,” says Dr. Dolgoff. “Combination foods contain a carbohydrate in combination with either some protein or some fat. Carbohydrates are a great source of energy that quickly burns out. Adding some fat or protein will slow the digestion process, causing your sugar and energy levels to remain stable for a longer amount of time. A great example of a combination snack is an apple with peanut butter. The apple is your healthy complex carbohydrate and the peanut butter is a healthy fat. Combining these powerhouse foods tastes delicious and gives you energy that lasts for hours!”

Anxious: Eat a Salmon Burger

Worrying about your finances, your marriage, your kids? If anxiety and worries are consuming your day, consider heading out to lunch with a friend. The conversation will do you good, and so will the meal—if you order salmon, which is one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a nutrient that may help tame your anxiety. "Regular consumption of omega-3s has extensive research support for both the prevention and treatment of clinical depression. And there's growing evidence that omega-3s also help reduce anger and irritability,” says Stephen Ilardi, PhD, author of The Depression Cure. While there are plant-based sources of omega-3s, Dr. Ilardi says it’s best to stick with fish: “The specific form of omega-3 that most strongly boosts mood is found most abundantly in coldwater fish such as salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel,” he says.

Incorporate salmon into your diet with these delicious dinner recipes.

Angry: Sip Green Tea

Maybe your neighbor’s dog barked all night long and kept you up or your coworker took credit for a project you worked on over the weekend. Whatever the reason for the grrrrrrs, if you need to calm down fast, consider sipping a cup of green tea, says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a researcher, nutrition expert and author of Beat Sugar Addiction NOW! Here’s why: “Green tea contains theanine, which calms you and helps you maintain clear concentration and focus,” he says. Green tea’s modest amount of caffeine won’t send you into an angry rage, either; it’s gentler on your body than coffee.

Sad: Eat Whole-Grain Cereal with Lowfat Milk

Need a happiness boost? While the source of your sadness could be work- or relationship-related, it also may have something to do with a deficiency of vitamin D in your diet. “This nutrient has many different roles in the body, one of which is to help in the production of serotonin,” says Dr. Dolgoff, explaining that serotonin is a neurotransmitter known as the “feel-good hormone” that can help you feel calm, relaxed and happy. If you’re low on vitamin D, you may be affecting your body’s ability to stabilize your mood and reduce feelings of depression. To boost your intake of vitamin D, turn to lowfat fortified milk, fortified cereals or mushrooms. “Depending on your diet, you may also need to take a calcium and vitamin D supplement,” adds Dr. Dolgoff.

PMS: Eat an Egg-Salad Sandwich

If your go-to PMS meal usually comes in the form of comfort food (mac ’n’ cheese, potato chips, ice cream) consider making an egg-salad sandwich instead. In the days before your period, it’s normal for women to begin craving carbohydrates, says Stella Metsovas, BS, CN, a nutritionist in private practice in Laguna Beach, California. And for good reason: Carbs help your body boost its serotonin levels, in turn helping you improve your mood. But avoid high-sugar, high-fat carbohydrates, like doughnuts or chips, which can leave you feeling sluggish—or worse, grumpy—after your blood sugar spikes, then drops. Opt for whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread, and for extra PMS-zapping strength, pair them with tryptophan-rich protein such as eggs, sunflower seeds or turkey, which may enhance the release of serotonin, adds Metsovas. An egg-salad sandwich on whole-grain bread offers the perfect carbohydrate-tryptophan combination. Try our favorite tip: Cut the mayo and mix your diced hard-cooked eggs with a teaspoon of fat-free or lowfat plain Greek yogurt and half a teaspoon of whole-grain Dijon mustard.

All photos by Shutterstock.