Drip Tips: Exercising in Summer Rain

From Fit­Sugar

Exer­cis­ing in the heat and humid­ity of Sum­mer can be unbear­able, not to men­tion, it can be a health risk. So when the clouds roll in and rain starts to sprin­kle from the sky, it can offer relief. If you’ve never con­sid­ered exer­cis­ing in the rain, it’s time to give it a try. You just need to arm your­self with these tips:

• Check the weather map. A lit­tle driz­zle is much eas­ier to run in than a full on down­pour. Be patient and wait for a bad storm to pass before head­ing outside.
• Just because it’s rain­ing, doesn’t mean you need to get wet. Wear a water and wind­proof light­weight rain­coat made of breath­able mate­r­ial that will keep you dry on the out­side and cool on the inside.
• Get a pair of shorts or pants made of water­proof mate­r­ial that will repel droplets from the sky and splashes from puddles.

For more essen­tial tips, read on →

Heat and Exercise: Keeping Cool in Hot Weather

May’s start­ing out HOT HOT HOT. Don’t for­get water!

From Mayo Clinic

Exer­cis­ing in hot weather puts extra stress on your body. If you don’t take care when exer­cis­ing in the heat, you risk seri­ous ill­ness. Both the exer­cise itself and the air tem­per­a­ture increase your core body tem­per­a­ture. To help cool itself, your body sends more blood to cir­cu­late through your skin. This leaves less blood for your mus­cles, which in turn increases your heart rate. If the humid­ity also is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn’t read­ily evap­o­rate from your skin. That pushes your body tem­per­a­ture even higher.

When you exer­cise in hot weather, keep these pre­cau­tions in mind:

Watch the tem­per­a­ture. Pay atten­tion to weather fore­casts and heat alerts. Know what the tem­per­a­ture is expected to be for the dura­tion of your planned out­door activity.

Get accli­mated. If you’re used to exer­cis­ing indoors or in cooler weather, take it easy at first when you exer­cise in the heat. As your body adapts to the heat over the course of one to two weeks, grad­u­ally increase the length and inten­sity of your workouts.

Know your fit­ness level. If you’re unfit or new to exer­cise, be extra cau­tious when work­ing out in the heat. Your body may have a lower tol­er­ance to the heat. Reduce your exer­cise inten­sity and take fre­quent breaks.

Drink plenty of flu­ids. Dehy­dra­tion is a key fac­tor in heat ill­ness. Help your body sweat and cool down by stay­ing well hydrated with water. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink. If you plan to exer­cise intensely or for longer than one hour, con­sider a sports drink instead of water. Sports drinks can replace the sodium, chlo­ride and potas­sium you lose through sweat­ing. Avoid alco­holic drinks because they can actu­ally pro­mote fluid loss.

Dress appro­pri­ately. Light­weight, loos­e­fit­ting cloth­ing helps sweat evap­o­rate and keeps you cooler. Avoid dark col­ors, which can absorb heat. If pos­si­ble, wear a light-colored, wide-brimmed hat.

Avoid mid­day sun. Exer­cise in the morn­ing or evening, when it’s likely to be cooler out­doors. If pos­si­ble, exer­cise in shady areas — or do a water work­out in a pool.

Wear sun­screen. A sun­burn decreases your body’s abil­ity to cool itself.

Have a backup plan. If you’re con­cerned about the heat or humid­ity, stay indoors. Work out at the gym, walk laps inside the mall or climb stairs inside an air-conditioned building.

Under­stand your med­ical risks. Cer­tain med­ical con­di­tions or med­ica­tions can increase your risk of a heat-related ill­ness. If you plan to exer­cise in the heat, talk to your doc­tor about precautions.

Heat-related ill­nesses are largely pre­ventable. By tak­ing some basic pre­cau­tions, your exer­cise rou­tine doesn’t have to be side­lined when the heat is on.

Recipe of the Week: Cold Cucumber and Yogurt Soup

Inspired by Monday’s arti­cle about yogurt’s stress-reducing ben­e­fits, here’s a recipe for cucum­ber and yogurt soup.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 med. cucum­bers (1 lb.), peeled, seeded & finely diced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cloves gar­lic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil (opt.)
• 1 tsp. dried dill­weed or 1 tbsp. snipped fresh dill
• 4 c. plain low-fat yogurt
• Freshly ground pep­per to taste
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint (opt.)

PREPARATION

1. Place diced cucum­bers in colan­der; sprin­kle with salt, toss­ing to coat. Let stand for 15 to 30 min­utes; drain.
2. In large serv­ing bowl or tureen, com­bine drained cucum­bers, gar­lic, oil (if desired), dill and yogurt. Mix well.
3. Chill for at least 1 hour. Before serv­ing, check sea­son­ings and adjust to taste. Add mint, if desired. Dilute with ice water if soup is too thick.

Recipe of the Week: Avocado Berry Smoothie

From BeWell­Buzz

In keep­ing with the avo­cado theme this week, today’s recipe fea­tures this fab­u­lous fruit and is brought to us by Terresa.

As you read in Wednesday’s arti­cle, avo­ca­dos are loaded with nutri­ents such as dietary fiber, vit­a­min B6, vit­a­min C, vit­a­min E, potas­sium, mag­ne­sium, and folate. They’re also cho­les­terol and sodium free. Avo­ca­dos con­tain 60% more potas­sium per ounce than bananas and are an excel­lent source of monoun­sat­u­rated fat.

But did you know that you can also blend an avo­cado pit into your smoothie? It is packed with very good nutri­ents and its sol­u­ble fiber binds to fat and excess cho­les­terol. Sol­u­ble fiber is very dif­fi­cult to get in our diet and no other food can com­pare with the avo­cado seed when it comes to sol­u­ble fiber.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium avo­cado, peeled and pit­ted (or keep the pit!)
• 1 table­spoon cashews, raw
• 1/2 tea­spoon ste­via (or 1 table­spoon honey)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup blue­ber­ries, frozen
• 6 ice cubes

PREPARATION
Blend the avo­cado, cashews, ste­via, water, blue­ber­ries, and ice together until smooth. Serves 1–2

Monday Runday Funday

Click for a larger view:

For Cha-Cha and Robin:

Q: Does water go down the drain coun­ter­clock­wise in the north­ern hemi­sphere and clock­wise in the south­ern hemisphere?

A: It all depends upon how the water was intro­duced and the geo­met­ric struc­ture of the drain.

One can find both coun­ter­clock­wise and clock­wise flow­ing drains in both hemi­spheres. Some peo­ple would like you to believe that the Cori­o­lis force affects the flow of water down the drain in sinks, bath­tubs, or toi­let bowls. Don’t believe them! The Cori­o­lis force is sim­ply too weak to affect such small bod­ies of water. Read more →