Fitness Friday: Planking

Step Up to the Calorie Counter: Heart-Healthy Overnight Oatmeal

First of all, never skip breakfast if you want to stay healthy and lose or maintain your weight. 

Now: mornings can be hectic. How would you like to have a hot breakfast waiting for you when you wake up in the morning?

If you have a slow cooker and steel-cut oatmeal, this can happen every morning. Just combine a few ingredients before you go to bed the night before. Oatmeal is heart-healthy, an important factor (especially on Valentine's Day).

Check out this recipe courtesy of Chow (via Buzzfeed):

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter
• 8 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups steel-cut oats
• 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk or 1 3/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• fresh fruit, dried fruit, chopped nuts or syrup

Instructions

1. Coat the insert of the slow cooker with a thin layer of butter. 
2. Add the water, oats, coconut or whole milk, brown sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
3. Cover and cook on low until the oats are cooked through and creamy, about seven or eight hours. 
4. In the morning, stir in the vanilla and serve immediately.
5. Add toppings as desired.

User Tips

My wife Chris used non-stick spray instead of butter and the oatmeal stuck in the bottom "corner" of the slow cooker bowl. It didn't change the flavor of the oatmeal, but it did waste some oatmeal in the bowl and complicate clean-up. 

Also, she cooked the vanilla all night, instead of adding it at the end, which diluted the vanilla taste.

Finally, the longer it cooks, the thicker it is. Consider this when setting it up the night before: after seven hours, it was still a little wet.

What are some of your helpful, delicious breakfast tips?

Know Your Body Type

Courtesy Muscle and  Strength website (www.muscleandstrength.com)

Know your body type to tailor your fitness program to fit your goals.

Angelo Poli offers some important questions to help you determine this information for yourself in his Huffington Post article, "Three Steps to Selecting the Right Fitness Plan:"

• Ectomorph: Are you small-framed with longer arms and legs, prone to accumulating fat in your mid section but not your legs? Can you wrap your thumb and middle finger around your wrist and easily touch your fingertips together, even overlap?
• Mesomorph: Did you have an athletic build in high school? Not too skinny or stocky, you know, the Goldilocks zone, just right? You set some athletic records in high school and still think of yourself as an athlete even though you've gotten a little soft around the middle?
• Endomorph: Were you were bigger and stronger than most the kids in grade school, but running was never your thing? By high school, you already began equating the word "metabolism" with various profanities.

Talk with your trainer about how your body type affects your workout and diet. 

Tai Chi Tuesday: Stroke Survivor Balance Improved with Tai Chi

Tai Chi Reduces Falls in Stroke Survivors

The ancient practice of tai chi may be advantageous to stroke patients, according to a study released earlier this month by the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013.

Typical stroke survivors are seven times more likely to fall each year as compared to healthy adults, according to the study. This can cause fractures and decrease mobility. Falling also increases fear, which in turn can increase a person's feeling of isolation and reduce their social interaction with others.

According to a news release issued by the American Stroke Association:

“Learning how to find and maintain your balance after a stroke is a challenge,” said Ruth E. Taylor-Piliae, Ph.D., R.N., the study’s principal investigator and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Ariz.

Tai chi improves "both static and dynamic balance, which is important to prevent falls," Taylor-Piliae noted.

“The main physical benefits of Tai Chi are better balance, improved strength, flexibility and aerobic endurance,” Taylor-Piliae said. “Psycho-social benefits include less depression, anxiety and stress, and better quality of life.”

Researchers recruited 89 stroke survivors who were, on average, about 70 years old. Nearly half were women, most were Caucasian, and had suffered strokes about three years prior to joining the study. Study participants were from three groups: tai chi students, an exercise group called SilverSneakers and a "usual care" group encouraged to be physically active and given follow-up phone calls.

During the 12-week trial, there were a total of 34 reported falls in participants’ homes, mainly from slipping or tripping. Tai chi students had the fewest number of falls — five — while SilverSneaker participants reported 14 falls and the "usual care" group reported 15 falls. Only four people sought medical treatment. 

Read the American Stroke Association's news release here. 

Tai chi is beneficial for people of all ages, and people of all physical abilities can benefit from this ancient art. 

Looking for a local tai chi class? Check with your local adult education or parks and recreation department. The International Taoist Tai Chi Society also can help locate instructors and classes in your area.

"Learning how to find and maintain your balance after a stroke is a challenge," said Ruth E. Taylor-Piliae, Ph.D., R.N., the study's principal investigator and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Ariz. "Tai Chi is effective in improving both static and dynamic balance, which is important to prevent falls. Tai Chi is readily available in most U.S. cities and is relatively inexpensive."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tai-chi-falls-adult-survivors.html#jCp

"Learning how to find and maintain your balance after a stroke is a challenge," said Ruth E. Taylor-Piliae, Ph.D., R.N., the study's principal investigator and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Ariz. "Tai Chi is effective in improving both static and dynamic balance, which is important to prevent falls. Tai Chi is readily available in most U.S. cities and is relatively inexpensive."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tai-chi-falls-adult-survivors.html#jCp

"Learning how to find and maintain your balance after a stroke is a challenge," said Ruth E. Taylor-Piliae, Ph.D., R.N., the study's principal investigator and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Ariz. "Tai Chi is effective in improving both static and dynamic balance, which is important to prevent falls. Tai Chi is readily available in most U.S. cities and is relatively inexpensive."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tai-chi-falls-adult-survivors.html#jCp"Learning how to find and maintain your balance after a stroke is a challenge," said Ruth E. Taylor-Piliae, Ph.D., R.N., the study's principal investigator and assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Ariz. "Tai Chi is effective in improving both static and dynamic balance, which is important to prevent falls. Tai Chi is readily available in most U.S. cities and is relatively inexpensive."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tai-chi-falls-adult-survivors.html#jCp

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