Notes from the Lake

This week, the Fitness Friday blog arrives one day early to provide advance notice that Friday, February 3 is Go Red for Women Day.

To raise awareness that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women and to inspire women to take charge of their heart health, the American Heart Association created this social initiative in 2004.  The founders chose the very vibrant and attention-getting red as the representative color of power, energy and passion—characteristics needed for those involved in supporting this worthy cause.

Cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes claim the lives of more than a half a million women each year.  Unfortunately, only 55% of women realize the danger and less than 50% know their risk factors and how they can reduce their risk.

For example, one of the best ways to fight heart disease is exercise.  Other than quitting smoking, exercise is the best way to control your heart health and the time investment can be as little as 150 minutes a week.  That can easily be accomplished with a couple of cardio dance classes and a walk with your best friend.

So join the movement and help spread the word tomorrow by wearing your most vibrant red piece of clothing—you never know—you just might inspire someone to improve her health.

Alyssa Hertzig joined SHAPE Magazine as Beauty Director in late December 2011. Prior to her newest position, she was Contributing Executive Beauty Director at Allure and held beauty positions at Harper's Bazaar, Lucky, and Good Housekeeping. Additionally, Alyssa’s writing has appeared in Self, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Real Simple, Redbook, Time Asia, and more. Any free time she has now is spent working on her blog, The Sparkly Life, which she designed to give readers a fun, behind-the-scenes glimpse at her life as a beauty editor.

We probably all have one habit that negatively impacts our life.

What if we all made a small change "instead" that will lead to better health?

-Use foot power instead of a car to run an errand
-Walk on the treadmill instead of sitting on the couch while watching TV -Breathe the fresh air in a nearby park instead of spending time in a smoky bar
-Enjoy tasty slices of a crispy apple instead of a piece of processed pie
-Invite a friend out to lunch instead of checking e-mail at the office
-Record a late night talk show instead of cutting precious time for sleep

Take some time to think about your daily routine -- are there any small changes you could make that would have a big positive impact on your life?

Perhaps it is difficult to imagine or even believe that making a seemingly small healthy behavior change such as walking daily could have much of an impact on your life.

Consider the possibilities: if tomorrow you resolved to walk 30-minutes a day, these are the changes you could expect by the first day of spring.

-A loss of five pounds

-Enhanced cardiovascular health and a reduced risk of heart disease

-Increase in physical conditioning—which means doing more with less effort

-A brainpower boost leading to better concentration and easier decision-making

-Greater restorative benefits from sleeping

-Improved mood and outlook on life

-Lowered risk of degenerative diseases and cancer

-Money in the bank saved by not buying medicine or paying for doctor's visits

So lace up and get walking. Taking this "step" towards better health is well worth the effort.

Oh, it is that time of year - and no, it's not the holidays or spring. You can always herald its coming by the sniffles of those around you. Where you live, it may just be cold season, but for those who live in Austin, we have come upon "cedar fever". I am fortunate that I haven't lived here long enough to be affected, but I see the suffering of those around me. Nevertheless, here are a few at-home tips from a massage therapist to make your life more comfortable.

1. Steam – Steaming your sinuses allows for you to breathe deeper. Most of us do not have a steam room at home, but this tip can be done in your kitchen. Boil several cups of water and pour them into a large bowl. Cover the back of your head with a towel and lean over the bowl.  Breathe deeply for five to ten minutes. Adding a few drop of eucalyptus oil or rosemary to the water will also help clear your sinuses while giving you the "steam room feel".

2. Take a hot bath (around 100 to 110 degrees). Fill the tub with Epsom salts to help detoxify the body or use a bath oil specifically designed for decongesting.

3. Have a cup of peppermint tea. Peppermint is a wonderful decongestant as it has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. To make best use of your tea, seep dried peppermint leaves into hot, sippable water.

4. Eat food high in horseradish, which also helps clear the sinus passages. For the sushi lovers, that means pile on the wasabi!

5. Massage your sinus and their pressure points. The pressure points are located above your eyebrows and at the tips of your toes and fingers.

6. Roll up a few bath towels so that the roll is about 12 inches thick and the length of your spine. Place the roll underneath your spine and lay back. Relax your chest and head while allowing them to sink toward the floor. This will help alleviate any back pain caused by constant sneezing and coughing.

Try one of these tips and let us know if you are breathing easier this season!

You're almost two weeks into the New Year and feeling confident about achieving resolution success because of the following.

The resolution you chose means something personal and you want to achieve your goal because when you do, your life will be impacted in many positive ways.

You thought about the problems you are likely to encounter that will interfere with keeping your resolution and the barriers that might prevent you from reaching your goal. 

You also thought about ways to overcome those problems and barriers so even if you face difficulties or have a minor setback, you will not be thrown permanently off track.

All you have to do now is follow through on your good intentions. No sweat, right?

Not exactly; there will be effort involved; however, if you keep the following hints in mind, your journey will be a lot easier. Write your goal in your day planner, post it on your bulletin board, and place reminders at your desk, in your car and around the house. Written words are much more powerful than thoughts or ideas and seeing your goal in print throughout the day will be a strong reminder of your pursuit.

Talk about your resolution to family and friends. If they understand its importance, they are more likely to provide support and motivation if you feel discouraged. If possible, team up with a buddy with the same or similar resolution. If that’s not possible, socialize with like-minded friends. For example, if your resolution is to exercise more, workout at a gym, register for a dance class or join a walking club.

Realize that there will be bumps in the road so you won’t quit when difficulties arise. Do not demand perfection from yourself or allow a minor slip-up to cause you to abandon your plan.

Understand that those who are successful have stopped and restarted many times along the way. The key word: restarted. Track your progress and celebrate baby steps and small victories with some form of reward system.

How do you spell success when making a behavior change?
C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-C-Y.

If you’re not proceeding exactly accordingly to plan, congratulate yourself for proceeding forward in a positive direction. Making a positive behavior change can be very satisfying and rewarding in more ways than just achieving a goal. 

Keep in mind your initial reasons for wanting to make a change and also how your life will be better once the change occurs. And remind yourself frequently that you can do this—and eventually you will!

Chef Marge Perry writes, teaches, broadcasts and speaks about cooking, food and nutrition. She is author of cookbook Dinner Tonight, a syndicated food columnist for Newsday, Contributing Editor for Cooking Light and Health magazines, restaurant critic, contributor to many other books, newspapers and magazines, and frequent guest on television and radio.

What is your favorite kitchen tool and why?
My knife: I have owned and used the same knife for over 20 years, and it feels like an extension of my arm. No other knife is balanced quite the same, and no other handle feels as united with my hand. I travel with my knife, and use it for almost every cutting task in the kitchen. And when it comes to my beloved knife, I am a very bad sharer—even with my husband, who is also a chef!

What is your favorite comfort food?
To me, a comfort food is not about a dish, but about the way in which it has come to me. When I have been writing for hours at my desk under deadline, having forgotten to eat, and my husband brings a plate with cut up fruit and pieces of cheese—that is comfort food! When I am sick and he brings me a bowl of his roasted chicken soup—that is comfort food. And when I come home after a long day of meetings or teaching and there is a plate filled with warm food and accompanied by a glass of wine waiting for me—that is comfort food. And—a bowl of buttered noodles always tastes like a good hug feels.

What was you best meal ever in a restaurant?
I was dining in a small restaurant on the coast in Portugal that was situated directly across the road from the sea. When I ordered my dinner, the chef, a gruff fellow (with a cigarette dangling from his mouth!) shouted something at a bus boy and pointed to the shore. The boy ran across the street and dragged in a net full of flopping fish. He grabbed one and brought it to the chef, who deftly cleaned it, slapped it on the grill and sprinkled it with herbs and sea salt. Minutes later, I ate the first bite of the best fish I have ever had. To this day, I don’t know what kind of fish it was.

What is your favorite herb or spice and why?
Rosemary. Not only do I love the way it smells and tastes, but I love what it stands for. Rosemary is the herb of romance and remembrance. In Crete, the women dry their bed sheets in the sun over enormous hedges of rosemary—which makes sleeping in those beds an intoxicating experience (and may help keep Crete well populated!). I carried rosemary in my wedding bouquet.

What is your fondest memory growing up in the kitchen?
Truly, it is the first time I was ever allowed to wash dishes at the kitchen sink. I felt very grown up, standing on my stool, my arms immersed up to my elbows in warm, bubbly water and my mother right next to me, doing her work getting dinner ready as I did mine making those dishes sparkle. Now that I think of it, my mother was quite clever to make doing dishes seem like a privilege!  

What was your favorite pet growing up?
Barney, the Wonder Dog, a golden retriever who knew that “clean up” meant to get rid of whatever we’d spilled on the floor, used to terrify our teachers when he’d escape the house at recess and “retrieve” by grabbing our arms with his mouth (he never once broke the skin) and never told on us when we snuck all the liver to him under the table.

What is your favorite spa treatment?
My favorite treatment is the first massage I have after arrival at the spa, when I feel all the tension just ooze away from me, and I know I am in one of my favorite places in the world.

If you are thinking about making a resolution this year and you also read last week's blog, then you most likely took some time to really consider why your resolution is personally significant, how achieving this goal will positively impact your life and how you feel about taking the steps necessary to make the change.

Today we'll focus on the potential barriers standing in the way of your success.  One way to determine what might get in your way is to ask the question, what situations or experiences in my daily life might cause me to make a self-sabotaging choice regarding my resolution and prevent me from achieving my goal?

Since "losing weight" is a pretty common resolution and was used last week as an example, we'll continue with that resolution to illustrate potential barriers.  For most, losing weight is a challenge and there could be numerous obstacles (barriers) along the way that could stall progress or even cause a permanent setback.

Some problems or barriers might be:

-Too many tempting food commercials on TV that send me to the kitchen for snacks

-Treats are readily available at the office and are difficult for me to resist in the afternoon

-Not taking the time to shop for healthy foods so running out for fast food meals is common

-Not knowing how many calories I should consume a day so I am probably eating too much

Once you have a list of problems to overcome, the next step is to find solutions.  For example, if you don't know how many calories you should be eating, one solution is to learn this information from your physician or from a nutritionist.  Once you know your appropriate calorie allotment, you can plan for several meals and a couple of snacks that add to the total.  And although it might require a little bit of measuring and calculating in the beginning, over time, you'll learn what foods are appropriate and you'll recognize the caloric content and proper portions sizes of many foods at a glance.

The objective is to know what might throw you off track or hinder your progress.  What problems might you encounter that would interfere with keeping your specific resolution?  Brainstorm and make a list of any barriers and then come up with ways to overcome each problem.  The reasoning is to have a plan in place before the barrier arises so it is easier to keep your resolve.

So the task this week is to take the second step towards achieving your resolution: determine your barriers standing in the way of success and come up with alternative behaviors or decisions to overcome those barriers.

Next week, we'll put these steps together so regardless of your resolution, you'll turn your good intentions into achievable success.

I am one lucky kid. (Sure sounds better than saying, "I am one lucky old lady," doesn't it?) Seriously, I find myself exceptionally grateful today for so many reasons. I am blessed with a terrific family whom I love dearly, great friends that keep me laughing, amazingly talented co-workers that continually overwhelm me with their generous and caring hearts, wonderful guests that I look forward to seeing and catching up with and so much more. There isn't much about my life I would change. Like I said before, I am one lucky... okay, forever young at heart, lady.

During the holidays, I visited with four different guests who were really struggling with difficult family and work-related issues. The stories were heartbreaking and it made me realize how lucky I am and how grateful I should be. I say "should be" because like many of you, I don't always appreciate the many blessings I have. I am going to try to face 2012 with a more grateful heart.

I read an article a few weeks ago written by a man who decided to send a brief thank you note every day for one year as a daily reminder to have a more grateful spirit. I think that sounds like a wonderful idea and I am going to give it a try. I encourage you to join me. My plan is to take 10 minutes each day to write a brief note of appreciation to someone who has touched my life. Some may have shown their kindness recently while others are long overdue. It is my hope that this small effort will remind me daily to grateful for my wonderful life.

And not that this counts as day one, but I want you each to know how truly grateful I am for the opportunity to meet and get to know you, for the business you give Lake Austin Spa Resort that keeps so many amazing people employed and for the brief time each year that you share your lives with us. Thank you.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2012!

E-mail Tracy at tyork@lakeaustin.com.

As 2012 begins, many view the New Year as an ideal opportunity to make a resolution - so we enthusiastically embark on our programs to lose weight, start exercising, or stop smoking. After a few weeks, some are making progress and steadily moving towards achieving their goals while many more, despite their best intentions, are giving up and literally abandoning their resolve.

Are you in the latter group? Is this the third, fourth or even tenth year that you are once again making the same resolution?

Instead of criticizing yourself for a lack of willpower or blaming outside forces that are seemingly out of your control, perhaps it's time to approach the resolution-setting process from a different point of view. Researchers have learned that positive and lasting change will most likely happen when following these steps: thoughtfully considering what you actually want, investigating the barriers that are preventing you from achieving what you want and deciding if you are willing to do what is necessary to overcome those barriers so you can reach your goal.

The first step, "thoughtful consideration" simply means allowing enough time for reflection so you will select a resolution that is meaningful for you. Imagine for a moment that weight loss is your desired goal. Carefully think about this goal and ask yourself if you are arbitrarily choosing weight loss because it's the classic New Year's resolution or because you're jumping on the bandwagon of friends and family members who want to lose weight or if you're simply following the familiar pattern of an objective set in previous years.

After some thought, you might realize that yes you do really want to lose weight; however, reaching this resolution might have a deeper, underlying reason. Instead of "losing weight" for the sake of pounds lost, you are actually hoping to fit into some of your favorite clothes, wanting to have the energy to run around with your grandchildren, or following your doctor's advice to reduce your cholesterol and blood pressure.

While "losing weight" might help you accomplish any or even all of the above, your goal should be stated in a more meaningful way—what is the real reason you want to lose weight?

Think about it this way—which of the following makes you smile and feel motivated?

I want to lose weight.

I want to have the energy to hold my granddaughter's hand, see her smile and hear her laughter while we run around the park. And if I drop a few pounds, I could do that a lot easier.

If you are thinking about making a resolution this year, then take some time to really think about why your resolution is significant for you, how achieving this goal will positively impact your life and also how you feel about taking the steps to make the change.

And then check our blog next Friday for tips on investigating and overcoming any potential barriers and how to manage what is necessary to make the changes required for achieving your goal. This could be the year you follow through on your resolution and realize a sense of accomplishment.