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Secrets to a Longer Life: -- Page 94
The largest and healthiest population of people over the age of 100 can be found in the islands of Okinawa, just southwest of Japan. Fitness suggests six eating habits that could extend your life.
Maintain Your Weight.
• DO – Okinawans tend to stay lean by burning more calories than they consume to maintain a healthy BMI (body mass index.) TRY gradually reducing portion size to limit calories.
• AVOID – Yo-yo dieting has been linked to elevated risks of hypertension, endometrial cancer and upper body fat, a heart disease risk factor.
Make Meals More Social.
• DO – Stop using food to achieve emotional gratification by enjoying meals with friends and family. TRY making meals social forcing you to think about food selection and eat slower.
• AVOID – Getting through meals as fast as possible and focusing on convenience.
Eat Seasonally.
• DO – Okinawans eat locally grown foods forcing them to vary their diets. Their foods are fresher, riper and more flavorful. TRY shopping at the farmer’s market or joining a community supported agriculture (CSA) program and buy a share of a local farm to receive fresh weekly shipments.
• AVOID– Eating the same foods year-round.
Fill Up on 80 Percent.
• DO – Eat like Okinawans who aim to be hara hachi bu, or “80 percent full.” TRY pausing during meals to assess hunger on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being full. You will begin to feel full about 20 minutes after you finish eating.
• AVOID – Eating until you are stuffed.
Think Calorie Density.
• DO – Okinawans eat fewer calories while consuming more food. Vegetables are the least calorically dense food, followed by fruits, whole grains, lean proteins like skinless white meat chicken and fatty proteins such as dark meat chicken with the skin. TRY increasing the vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein you consume. These foods can also decrease your risk of chronic disease.
• AVOID – Eat less fat, oil, sugar and fatty protein.
Go Meatless.
• DO – The Okinawan diet is dominated by proteins like antioxidant-rich soy and omega-3 filled seafood. Both protect against heart disease, depression and Alzheimer’s. TRY incorporating a whole soy food into your diet once or twice a week.
• AVOID – Instead of always eating meat hamburgers, substitute a beef patty for a salmon or veggie burger occasionally.
Rescue Your Diet: -- Page 74
Losing weight not in the cards? Fitness helps you salvage your diet even if you pull a muscle, want to raid the vending machine and out-eat your boyfriend.
The Crisis: A pulled muscle cramps your routine…
The Action Plan: First, consult your doctor. If your injury is serious, you may ask to be referred to a physical therapist to help you get moving. Take this opportunity to vary your routine, use new machines at the gym. If your doctor advises against exercise, cut down on calories and take up a hobby like meditation or movies to keep you busy.
The Crisis: Work stinks and the vending machine is your new best friend…
The Action Plan: Stock your desk with healthy snacks, such as individual servings of almonds and string cheese, if you have a fridge. No matter what, do not skip lunch or you will be tempted to binge.
The Crisis: Your new boyfriend is a big eater – and you’re matching him bite for bite…
The Action Plan: Stay in and cook dinner for a night of romance and a chance to show him that healthy food can be good. If you go out, be in charge of making reservations and opt for lighter cuisine like Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese.
The Crisis: You just got dumped, and only Ben & Jerry understand…
The Action Plan: Emotional eating may ease your pain for a limited time, but be sure not to overindulge and be left feeling guilty. Instead, make a list of things that make you happy and refer to the list when you’re feeling down. Fresh flowers and facials are good options.
The Crisis: Your job requires lots of travel – making it difficult to exercise and eat right…
The Action Plan: When eating at a restaurant, ask how the food is prepared and order healthier options like broiled chicken sandwiches or a side of veggies instead of potatoes. Check out Web sites like heathlytravelnetwork.com for the scoop on hotel chains with the best gyms.
The Crisis: Your friend’s destination wedding is soon and you forgot to lose 10 pounds first…
The Action Plan: Be realistic. Aim to maintain your weight, instead of losing or gaining. Decide what’s worth splurging on. Try eating half of everything. When all else fails, dance (in comfortable shoes.)
The Crisis: You get pregnant.
The Action Plan: Consult your obstetrician. Your nutritional needs are most important in the early stages of pregnancy when folic acid consumption can prevent birth defects. Focus on nutrition instead of calories.
Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans: -- Page 113
Reaching for baggy pants? Fitness supplies the fat-blasting workout you need to slink into your most stretchy jeans.
All you need is a flight of stairs to boost your heart rate, build endurance and tone your butt, belly and thighs. Do the following moves three times a week (on nonconsecutive days) plus a hike or long run on the weekends and you’ll fit comfortably into your tightest jeans in four weeks.
1. Running Man- Step, hop, kick to tone glutes, calves, thighs, hips, core.
2. Standing Flye- Wide stance plié bringing weights together to tighten thighs, calves, hips, chest, shoulders, core.
3. Skater’s Lunge- Lunge up the stairs for firm glutes, legs, hips, core.
4. Leg-Step Extension- Mountain climb position to tone glutes, hip, hamstrings, core, chest, arms.
5. Single-Leg Rotation- Lunge and rotate weights for tight legs, thighs, glutes, hips, obliques.
Beauty
Fake a Supermodel Body: -- Page 44
Less than flawless figure? Fitness enhances your assets with these five beauty tips fit for a swimsuit model.
Get Knockout Legs
• Conceal imperfections like bruises, veins and cellulite with self tanner. Exfoliate knees and ankles first.
• Use – Bare Fruit Fig Exfoliating Body Cleanser, $20, victoriassecret.com; then apply Neutrogena Summer Glow Daily Moisturizer SPF 20, $7.86, drugstores.
Create Sexy Cleavage
• Create the illusion of voluptuous cleavage with a gold or pink body illuminator.
• Use – Benefit Hollywood Glo Body Lustre, $26, benefitcosmetics.com; or Mystic Glo Body Bronzing Shimmer Lotion, $24.95, mystictan.com.
Reshape Your Derrière
• Tone your bottom with a cream that contains hydrating and anticellulite agents such as glycerin, caffeine and ginseng.
• Use– Olay Smoothing Concentrate Cream Gel for Body, $8.99, drugstores; or Estée Lauder Slim-Shape Anti-Cellulite/Anti-Fluid Advanced Visible Contouring Serum, $52.50, esteelauder.com.
Erase Body Blemishes
• Clear up breakouts on the back, shoulders and chest using a clay body mask with botanicals like peppermint and almond.
• Use– Grassroots Best of Both Worlds Purifying & Smoothing Body Clay, $12.50, kohls.com; or Sedona Valley Spa Mojave Desert Body Mud, $18, perfumania.com.
Get Silky Soft Skin
• Exfoliate rough skin by sloughing off layers in the shower and applying lotion to lock in moisture.
• Use– Victoria’s Secret Spa Intensive Body Scrub, $18, victoriassecret.com; or ModelCo Exfoliate Body Wipes, $22, sephora.com.
The April issue of Fitness is on newsstands March 7, 2006.
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Contact:
Zoë Lampel
212.455.1077
zoe.lampel@meredith.com
Holly Fussell
212.551.7053
holly.fussell@meredith.com