Friday, October 19, 2018

Friday Reading Report: Cholesterol



Like most people I know, I often remember that I read something, but rarely where I read it or how trustworthy the source was.  As I was doing my homework this week, I had this vague feeling that there was an article somewhere about how dietary cholesterol didn’t have that much correlation with blood cholesterol levels.  I went looking.  That didn’t work, so I called in the expert:  my kid the librarian, who can find anything.  (I got some tips on how he searched at the same time to try to get more independent…)

Here’s the deal:  the reliable sources say that there is, in fact, a strong correlation between dietary cholesterol and blood levels.  You can check it out here and in the resources listed here.  Different people react differently to cholesterol in the diet, but there is no easy way to tell whether an individual is a hyperreactor or a hyporeactor.  Bottom line is that, in this case, the recommendation to keep cholesterol intake under 300 mg per day is a good one.

Fun fact:  we make more cholesterol in our own bodies than most people ingest because it is an essential part of the lenses of our eyes, our brains, and our cell membranes.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Take some action...



I have neighbors with small children.  I like small children in general; I used to have some myself.  One of the kids who lives nearby, however, deals with pretty much everything in life by screaming.  Life, for her, is one long insult/catastrophe/struggle.  On one hand, I have to admire her persistence.  She is not going to take the insult/catastrophe/struggle lying down.  She is going to protest.

On the other, maybe she could think about other ways to cope.  (Or, you know, maybe someone could help her find other ways that involve less volume…)

She, unbeknownst to her, is a metaphor for all of us.  When we are faced with Hard Things, we certainly can scream our heads off.  Sometimes that is even the appropriate response, particularly if it results in positive change in our circumstances.  So yes, when working out it is entirely fine to swear at the lunges/burpees/personal-least-favorite-exercise.  It may release our tension.  It may spur us to find another way to work the same muscle groups that is less horrible or to get enough better at the exercise in question that we come to peace with it.

We can also accept that sometimes life and workouts have Hard Things in them.  Hard Things come to us all, inevitably.  We can choose our coping mechanisms.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

I spelled paraphernalia without using spell check, just so you know



Personally, I don’t love the paraphernalia of workouts.  I want to be able to show up and get going rather than spend a bunch of time setting stuff up and tracking down equipment or tools.  This is the appeal of body weight workouts and yoga and running, for example, because, hey, no stuff to lug around!  That said, equipment and tools can make a big difference in how we feel about working out.  Here are some things that make my workouts better:

• Music.  Cardio can get boring very fast.  Unless we are very new at working out, most of us can’t get enough of a workout while reading, so we have to find other ways to occupy our brains.  Some people like audio books.  A lot of people swear by watching television.  (Before I broke up with football, I used to justify some of my viewing habits by watching from the spin bike, doing high intensity intervals during the commercials and seated pedaling during the game itself…)

• Protective stuff.  For me, that means elbow and wrist straps for biking and lifting.  Those of us who have knee or ankle issues may have a bond with our braces.  We may prefer squishy mats for our knees or backs during floor exercises.  And yes, we all need to wear our helmets when we bike, skateboard, and scooter.

• The right clothes.  I used to work out in any old t-shirt.  That works fine.  But once I realized that I could get all sweaty and not have an extra 30 pounds of wet cotton on my back, I was finally sold on all the cool swanky fitness fabrics.  Also, the person who invented the small-of-the-back pocket on bike shirts is an absolute genius; those pockets should be standard on all clothing.

What’s on your list of stuff that makes a workout better?