Athletic-Minded Traveler

With all the white stuff piling up in the eastern third of the country, this weekend is a prime time to try snowshoeing. Rentals are easy to find and are inexpensive. Best of all, the snowshoe learning curve is basically non-existant–clumsy folks need not worry. No wonder the activity tops the “Fastest Growing Sports” lists.

According to Snowsports Industries America, snowshoeing burns an average of more than 600 calories per hour. Even more impressive for those looking to maximize their workout, snowshoeing burns 45% more calories than walking or running at the same speed.

Look online for a myriad of tutorials about the sport, its history and its growing popularity. Snowshoeing is guaranteed to produce a sweat and a few smiles along the way!

There is no easy answer to this question; but there are two ways to try:
1. Be a positive role model for your children.
2. Educate your child about healthy living.

So what is healthy living? While I’d really like to rattle off a nice, succinct definition, I can’t come up with one. It’s too complicated! In my mind there are four general ways to think about healthy living:

Food
Exercise
Sleep
Way of Life

We will explore each of these in four parts over the next week.

Before we dive in, several recent stories provide a worthy lead-in to this topic.

Ignorance is NOT Bliss. Posting calorie information works!
* Once calorie information was posted in its coffee shops, Starbucks customers began switching to lower calorie foods. The more you know, the higher probability of making a better food choice. This simple logic has propelled the idea “Eat This Not That” into a series of books!

* A recent study shows that fast food menus with calorie information posted led parents to order more sensible foods for their kids. Unfortunately these same parents didn’t necessarily improve upon their orders. (This is the role model part! )

Just because you look good, do NOT assume you are “healthy”
* In an effort to reach its “at risk” students, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania attempted to require all undergrads with a BMI over 30 to take a fitness course. The program was scrapped when students pitched a fit. We applaud the University’s attempt to do what parents and society are failing to do: educating children and young adults about what it means to be healthy.

However a new report out of the Mayo Clinic based on a nine-year study suggests that what matters is how much fat you have and that even those with a “normal” BMI can be at risk for future heart problems. The point being that BMI is not the best indicator of good health. Too bad the University can’t fund a program for ALL students.

Corporate America realizes that getting on the health bandwagon is a sound strategy
* Whole Foods now employs “healthy eating specialists” at its flagship store. The objective is simple: healthy eating education. Hooray.

* Food manufacturers are slowly lowering the sodium content in popular foods. Sodium is one of the more recent food villains attracting the attention of the nutrition police. We recently wrote about the efforts of companies like Conagra, Unilever and Campbell Soup to lower sodium in their foods. And with cities like New York planning to launch programs to discourage sodium intake, now is the time for food manufacturers to be proactive.

* Burger King is experiencing declining sales as a result of its key “Super Fan” base opting for healthier eats, electing to cook at home and tightening budgets. Our guess is that the burger joint will slowly add healthier eats to attract new customers.

In our next post we’ll explore healthy parenting with respect to food.

Yesterday’s USA Today claims it’s FREE internet access?

Our experience as business travelers and serving business travelers points to two other top priorities for road warriors when selecting a hotel.

1. A good workout option
2. A good night’s sleep

A majority of business travelers exercise when traveling (Expedia 2008 Study), and nearly two-thirds of travelers favor a hotel with a good gym. Employers are starting to recognize that employees who exercise are more productive, happier and suffer less stress — which lowers health care costs, increases retention and improves morale (Jrnl Workplace and Health Management).

Athletic-Minded Traveler helps large companies promote healthy living with its online travel portal and active lifestyle products (online coaching, run/walk route maps, video).

Our objective hotel recommendations also provide information about the hotel’s beds, noise level and other key characteristics that may encourage (or prevent) a good night’s sleep. Our travelers indicate that the quality of the bed and the chance for some peaceful zzzs rank near the top of their travel wish list. Hotel location is less important.

Click here for useful road warrior “Travel Tricks.”

Finding a computerized bike in a hotel gym without pedal straps is a pet peeve. Any bike provider–health club, hotel, community center, etc.–should offer working straps attached to both pedals.

BUT, if you ride a stationary bike often and want to spice up your pedaling a bit, try removing the plastic straps and go through your entire workout strapless. You will notice that your toes, ankles and calves, must work a little harder on the upsweep and your quads must push a little more on the down. The straps serve to secure your feet in place and help generate some power by allowing a pulling up motion with the top of your foot.

Mix this technique in once a week or so and it should also help your form and cadence longer term.

The two BEST pieces of advice for getting healthy?

1. Exercise first thing in the morning. If you miss some sleep, so be it. Studies prove that morning movers stick to their workout routines, get better sleep, and have an easier time staying healthy the rest of the day. Get it done first, so it gets done!

2. Make small dietary changes for better health. “Fad” diets don’t work, that is why they are called fads. “Crash” diets are worse; they crash. Balance and moderation work. But it can be frustrating. It’s difficult to make changes that will last a lifetime, and the results take time. Practice patience. Getting smart about food is the first step. (To learn more about food, visit our archive category “Everything Food“.)

Big food companies like ConAgra, Unilever and Campbell Soup are getting it. It is common knowledge that a high sodium diet is risky. High salt intake can lead to high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease. Instead of waiting for the government to mandate change, these companies are doing it on their own in a smart way. And they’ve been doing it for nearly 10 years!

(Read a previous post on sodium risks)

What is the strategy?
Reduce the sodium so slowly that the consumer doesn’t even notice it. Brilliant! ConAgra has slowly been lowering sodium in a large share of its foods and Campbell’s has reduced sodium in its top-selling products by nearly 25% since 2001! Small changes over time.

Why not a reduced sodium product?

Reduced sodium products have not done well in terms of sales volume. Case in point: Amy’s Kitchen, a natural and organic food purveyor, makes a lentil soup that our preschooler loves. We appreciate the wholesome ingredients, but not the whopping 590mg of sodium per 1 cup serving (25% RDA). So I purchased the “light in sodium” version. It was a failure. She wouldn’t eat it. This has been the problem with many of the low salt versions. Customers try it and think it’s bland, and likely compared to the original, it is!

As a parent, I appreciate quick serve meal options; and there are plenty available with top-notch ingredients and good nutrition profiles…except the sodium! I read in today’s WSJ that Kellogg’s reduced 75% of the sodium for its All Bran cereal over 20 years. TWENTY YEARS.

BOTTOM LINE
Dietary change is never easy. Set a goal and do it slowly. It’s a good sign that the suppliers of our food seem to get this — at least some of them do.

According to a 2009 Nielsen Report, Americans’ television watching is at an all-time high…151 hours per month (21 hours per week or 3hrs/day).

This fact is especially disppointing since the quality of television programming has certainly diminished. Does it really improve your life to know who won Dancing with the Stars? How much could you have accomplished or what could you have learned if you would have read books or worked on projects around your house instead of spending meaningless hours with the far from role-model casts of Jersey Shore and Housewives of…(pick the city). How much smarter would your child be if you spent the hour laughing and interacting directly with him instead of the actors on The Office?

I know, many of you with crazy jobs enjoy just sitting on the couch after a busy day and “vegging out” with mindless entertainment. Been there. But, trust me, you will sleep longer and better without stressful images of a Law and Order murder scene penetrating your brain just prior to calling it a night; you will be more productive the following day because your sleep was better; and you will be happier knowing that 5 items were crossed off your “To Do” list instead of 3. Even better if one of those “To Do’s” was completing 30 minutes of cardio exercise.

Books have been written and studies performed to determine why Americans are more obese and don’t test (intelligence) as well as others throughout the World. My hypothesis…Americans spend way more time in front of the television. French women don’t get fat not because they eat a better diet…ever check how many calories and cholesterol are found in chocolate, cheese and croissants? No, it’s because they don’t have 600 channels of nonsense about pathetic people and trainwreck lives streaming on LCDs in every room of their homes. This study found that Europeans watch 25% less television than Americans–based upon my global travels, I’m of the opinion the disparity is even greater.

I’m not suggesting everyone should eliminate all television watching–there are some benefits. (American Idol and the NFL playoffs will play in the Kaese household.) But, moderating your viewing to no more than 1 hour per night can make a tremendous difference in what you accomplish for yourself and others. Give it a shot.

I’ve mentioned this before, but if there are food staples that you use over and over, consider buying them online. I typically save 25% to 75%.

Examples:

1. Fiber One Cereal: Amazon price with free shipping: $4.42/box. Ouch! I just averaged $2.25/box by taking advantage of a 2 for $4.00 deal on Walgreens.com. That equates to a 49% savings. I did buy $50 worth of the cereal to take advantage of a promotion of $10 off any order of $50 or more. I now have 25 boxes of cereal on the way!

2. Yogi Tea: I google it and find the best deal and typically spend $2.90 to $3.15/box versus the Whole Foods price of over $4.

3. Torani Syrups (or Oscar’s): At the grocery store (Vons, Ralphs) a small bottle is over $4. I buy it on Amazon for about $5.43/bottle for a BIG bottle — 24.3 oz (750 ml). It’s easily a 50% savings.

4. Protein and Energy Bars: I’m a big fan of Balance Bar Pure Cocoa Cashew, Atkin’s Bars, and Zone Bars and we buy all of these online and typically average about $1/bar! Trader Joe’s can come close sometimes.

BOTTOM LINE: Google it. Find your deal. Search for a coupon. Buy it. Save some cash! Some sites like LuckyVitamin will give a bigger discount if you buy more.

Is it just my imagination or does the java from the Starbucks airport locations taste bad? Sbux is not my first or even second choice, but it comes in nicely in third place. It’s everywhere and it’s super quick. Maybe that is part of the problem?

On Sunday I had a large Americano with sugar-free hazelnut syrup from Caribou Coffee. It was delicious. The crema was visible and the flavor robust and complex. The next day I ordered the same beverage at the Starbucks in Midway airport. It was sub-standard in comparison. And then I remembered, as I always do, that the coffee always tastes different at the airport. “Different” meaning not good.

And of course, I could do without the extra 25% price mark-up!

What is your favorite coffee purveyor? And what do you order?

The potential danger of chemicals leaching from various plastics is an ongoing concern. We recently posted a very long, but through, article about which plastics to avoid. Read it here.

PVC (#3 in terms of plastic type) is commonly used for toys and contains phthalates. There has been tremendous research linking phthalates to various health problems. However, many of the studies are small and have not been totally accepted by the general scientific community.

HealthDay reported today on a small study potentially linking breast growth in boys to the chemicals in plastics.

The article concludes that:
“Larger trials still need to be conducted to confirm or refute the findings. But for now, parents can decrease their exposure to phthalates, in particular by avoiding plastic products labeled with the No. 3, Sathyanarayana said.”

Since the holidays are upon us and most children will be receiving new toys, now is a good time to get rid of toys that are made with PVC. Again to learn more about PVC and other plastics, take a look at our previous post.