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Figure it out: How to get healthy without raising a sweat

Sun-Herald Magazine Sunday Life Feature 8/01/2006

The fireworks are just a memory and the champagne and beer bottles have been carted away for recycling. It's a brand new year but where is the brand new you? We consulted the experts on how you can improve your health in 2006 by ironing those kinks out of your everyday life. Work, play, sleep, eat, and generally live well every moment: here's how to become the guru of your own balanced life by making the smallest of changes.

1. CLEAR THE CLUTTER
If there's too much "stuff" going on in your life, then it's time to simplify, says Paul Wilson, author of Perfect Balance. "This doesn't only apply to your possessions but to your routines and responsibilities as well," he says. Take these three steps:

Make a list of the 20 or so activities that make up your week.

Rate them according to the following: A is absolutely essential; B is desirable and you love doing it; C is kind of desirable; D is something you could get by without.

Now cross out every activity that you've rated C or D. Concentrate on the others.

2. EAT FISH FAT TO FEEL FINE
If you're feeling down and lack energy, try to get enough complex carbohydrates (wholemeal breads, grains) and some good slow-release energy foods (bananas, yoghurt) to maintain blood glucose, says nutritionist Helen O'Connor, who also recommends iron (red meat, legumes) to beat fatigue. A growing body of research indicates omega-3 fatty acids, found in fresh, oily fish such as salmon, as well as flaxseed and walnuts, could be important for happiness. It is speculated Omega-3 might help the feel-good chemicals in the brain, serotonin and dopamine, to function. Levels of Omega-3 are lower in depressed people's blood than other people's blood. On the other hand, a study in June 2005 in the Journal of Lipid Research study showed depressed rats had high brain concentrations of omega-6 acids, found in most edible oils and meat. Suddenly, fish is looking very appetising.

3. TAKE A POWER NAP
A 30-minute day nap can do wonders, says Sydney's Woolcock Institute sleep researcher Naomi Rogers. But set aside 50 minutes for it, says Rogers: you'll need 20 minutes to wake up so you don't walk around groggy. This is just long enough to allow you to feel rested, without falling into a deeper sleep. Any longer and you might pay off too much of your "sleep debt" and rob yourself of getting to sleep that night. Do this on the days when you feel your body needs it. If you keep normal hours, try to nap before 2pm, so that it doesn't interfere with your nighttime sleep.

4. LUNCH SMARTLY IN THE CITY
If you're working in town, and life is too hectic for packing a lunch box each day, here are five lunch choices recommended by nutritionist Catherine Saxelby, author of Nutrition for Life:
1. A salad box from a salad bar, where you can point and choose the ingredients: mixed lettuce and baby spinach as a base, then add chicken, nuts and capsicum, plus croutons and chickpeas.
2. A grainy bread roll filled with plenty of salad and good protein: either tuna, chicken, cold lamb or ham.
3. A sushi box. Raw fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Combined with rice for energy, it's the perfect healthy meal.
4. An Asian stir-fry with meat and vegetables. Just make sure the ingredients are prepared in front of you, not taken from a stewing bain-marie.
5. A Lebanese donor kebab, with meat and salad and hummus. A favourite hearty man's meal, with lamb usually less greasy than chicken.

5. LUNCH HEALTHILY AT HOME
"I know it sounds awful," says Catherine Saxelby, "But I like leftovers." When cooking a chicken stir-fry, refrigerate a portion to microwave the next day, she suggests. This is a handy lunch if you are busy, but want to eat heartily. Alternatively, consider making a banana smoothie for lunch: if it's energy you're after, blend a banana with milk, yoghurt, a little ice-cream, wheat germ and soy. If you're watching your weight, forget the ice cream, use low-fat milk and yoghurt and employ oat bran as a thickener for added fibre.

6. STOP STRESS ON THE SPOT
Office politics? Difficult clients? Queue rage? Carolinda Witt, author of T5T The Five Tibetan Exercise Rites, suggests you spend a few minutes doing some slow breathing any time you are feeling stressed, but concentrate more on the exhalation than the inhalation. First, slowly breathe out through the nose to empty the lungs. Aim to double the length of your usual exhalation but don't struggle. Then pause for a second or two. Slowly breathe in through the nose, using the diaphragm as your primary breathing muscle. As you breathe in, the belly should slightly expand outwards, the ribs expand sideways, and the collarbone lift slightly of its own accord.

7. WORK COMFORTABLY
Your seat and desk height should be adjustable, says Sydney-based ergonomist Neil Adams, who estimates more than 80 per cent of workstations need fixing. Your feet should be firmly on the floor. If you're short or your desk or chair are too high and not adjustable, you need an adjustable footrest. The pressure should be evenly spread across the buttock and thighs; the front edge of the seat should not be so high that it causes a narrow band of pressure.

If you can sit at your desk so there is a slight down slope from the buttock to the knees, and a slight down slope from the elbows to the wrist, you've got it right. If you work a lot on the keyboard, says Adams, invest in a keyboard rest pad, so you don't have to lift your wrists when typing. Armless chairs are best for the posture of those who type a lot, as are note holders beside the computer to maintain hard paper copy at face height, rather than craning the neck back and forwards between desk top and computer.

The computer screen should be 50 to 70 centimetres from your face and its centre about one to two centimetres below the horizontal line of your eyes. Sitting by a window might be inspiring but there should be no lighting behind your screen that makes you squint, nor any behind you that reflects on the screen.

8. CURB YOUR COFFEE HABIT
If drinking four or five cups a day is making you stressed or edgy, make every second cup a decaf, suggests dietitian Ben Desbrow of the Heart Foundation Research Centre at Griffith University. Ask the barista for a smaller shot of the heavy stuff: one click, not two, on the espresso machine. Desbrow is no coffee wowser but has proven it is impossible to control your caffeine intake if you're not making it at home. [It might even be impossible to control the caffeine in coffee you make at home when you buy fresh coffee.] In a study soon to be published, he went to a bunch of cafes and bought 99 short black espressos - the base unit for many coffees sold - and was shocked at the laboratory analysis: some coffees contained up to 10 times more caffeine than others, from 25 up to 214 milligrams. Canadian researchers conservatively say the level for which debate begins about adverse effects of caffeine is 300 milligrams during pregnancy and 400 milligrams for other, healthy adults. Desbrow's research suggests pregnant women - and perhaps any man or woman with high blood pressure - should have no more than one cup of coffee a day. Other healthy adults should have no more than two. Instant coffee, with more consistent caffeine, might allow an extra cup, if you want to sacrifice taste. Decaf, incidentally, is not caffeine free: it typically contains 5 to 20 milligrams of caffeine a cup. Coffee drinkers who have trouble sleeping are better off switching to herbal tea from about lunchtime onwards: Tel Aviv scientists showed in New Scientist research published in 2002 that drinking coffee in the afternoon interrupts the brain hormone melatonin [see below], which is necessary for sleep.

9. SLEEP PEACEFULLY
Get seven-and-a-half hours of sleep a night, says Woolcock Institute sleep psychologist Delwyn Bartlett. Give yourself about an hour's wind down time doing what you love, be it reading or watching TV, "but don't do it to go to sleep, do it as time out for you". The brain is powerful and the more you consciously think of the need to sleep - or about last night's awful sleep - the more your brain might stop you achieving it tonight. Minimise bedroom light: the dark releases melatonin in the brain, which is slightly hypnotic and lowers the body temperature to a level necessary to sleep. That's why hot nights make falling asleep so tough. Keep your bedroom well ventilated: consider air conditioning, a fan or an open window. Waking and getting out of bed at the same time each morning, says Bartlett, is more important for "resetting the brain" than always going to sleep at the same time.
Working close to the bright light of a computer screen at night delays getting off to sleep. Herbal tea might help you drift off, says Bartlett, but few studies prove as much. Likewise, says Sydney University nutritionist Helen O'Connor, carbohydrates might induce sleepiness but the literature is unclear. In a study of 12 men soon to be published by O'Connor and colleagues Ahmad Asaghi and Chin-Moi Chow, some were given either jasmine rice, which has a high glycaemic index [GI] rating of 109, or basmati rice, with a low GI rating of 50, four hours before retiring. When going to sleep, the jasmine rice men took a mean nine minutes to nod off, but the basmati rice men took 17.5 minutes. The drawback? High-GI foods at bedtime are fattening.

10. SPIN FOR ENERGY
This is known as Tibetan caffeine, says Carolinda Witt: spinning for a natural high if you're feeling low. You'll want to spin in just a small circle, rather than lose control. Place your arms out like wings - or bend them slightly if there is a lack of space - with the palms face down. Spin in a clockwise direction and relax your eyes. Remember to breathe normally, through your nose. Start with three spins a day, and build up. Witt advises you spin no more than 21 times: it's a "mystical" number, beyond which there is a "reverse effect".

11. UPDATE YOUR SHOPPING LIST ESSENTIALS
Your shopping list should always contain fruit, vegetables, protein, dairy and grain, says nutritionist Rosemary Stanton. The trick for fruit and vegetables is always picking a variety of colours: not to look pretty on the plate but because the nutrients they contain are so different. It's a must to buy in season, too: apples in January will either be left over from last season or so early that they will lack flavour and turn you off apples all together, says Stanton. Good fruits this time of year are stone fruits, mangoes and berries, while green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes are the best vegetables right now.

Best breads include wholegrain and sourdough - unprocessed breads with a shelf life of about two days. Anything that lasts four or five days or longer "has a lot of additives and junk", says Stanton. Another important buy is natural muesli, because it contains wholegrain oats and wheat germ, all good for digestion and energy. A variety of seeds and nuts are essential for nutrients many Australians have in short supply, such as vitamin E and minerals. We're also often low on calcium so stock up on milk and soy. Finally, protein is a must: lean red meat, fish, chicken and chickpeas.

12. PREVENT A DOWAGER'S HUMP
Here's a back stretch that's good for reducing tension between the shoulder blades and correcting posture, says Carolinda Witt. Sit on a chair facing the back of the chair, with your arms behind you, and your hands grabbing the chair base. Point your chin towards your chest. Pull your navel towards your spine, which you should maintain throughout the movement for core stability. While breathing in, lift your breastbone upwards without puffing out your ribs, and smoothly arch your head and torso backwards. Keep your neck long and strong. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the back and focus on expanding the front of your chest. Then, while breathing out, reverse the movement smoothly back to your starting position, bringing the chin back towards your chest. Begin with three backbends per day and build up to 21.

13. MEDITATE EASILY
No need for a guru or teacher for this technique when a friend or even a mirror will do. Stuart Mackay of Australian corporate meditation training company Peace at Work suggests you slip on some relaxing music - he prefers Baroque - and practise open eye meditation for 10 minutes. Sit opposite your partner and focus on the bridge between each other's eyes (or, in the case of a mirror, between your own eyes). Occasionally, take a deep breath or gently stretch your fingers or toes but the main idea is to focus. This technique draws tension to the surface, says Mackay, whose clients include Flight Centre staff. Watching the emotion in another's face or in your own "reminds you to let go" and "clears the chatter from your head".

14. RAISE YOUR HEART FITNESS
Gyms aren't the only place to get a cardio workout. Personal trainer Donna Aston, author of Losing It, proposes:
1. On your daily stroll, which you should do for half an hour, take short sprints every second street light you reach.
2. Set an alert on your phone or computer to get up and move around hourly.
3. Suggest to clients and colleagues that you hold your meeting during a walk in the park.
4. Sit up tall, draw your navel in, and hold the contraction for 10 seconds: good for stability and heart rate. "No need for funny faces," says Aston. "Just remember to breathe."
5. Keep a pair of runners in the car so you can walk long distances when the mood strikes.

15. HEAL YOUR HEEL OBSESSION
This is one for women. The first piece of advice for those of you wearing heels every day: don't. Podiatrist Lynley Keynes says problems ranging from bunions and callouses to stress fractures and osteoarthritic kneejoints await you. That posture you might think looks sexy - calf muscles bunched up, bosom and bottom jutting out, head back - is wrecking your feet, legs, and perhaps your spine. "The best thing women can do is stop torturing themselves to look attractive to men," she says, suggesting your heels measure no more than 2.5 centimetres.
If you insist on wearing heels, lots of exercising, such as calf stretches, is in order. Place a phone book on the floor and stand with the balls of your feet on the phone book and your heels on the ground. Straighten your spine and give your calves a stretch. Hold for at least 20 seconds. Do 10 of these, three times a day.

16. EAT GOOD FAT
About 30 per cent of your energy consumed should be fat in a moderate diet, according to the National Health and Medical Research Council's 2003 guidelines. One gram of fat provides 37 kilojules in energy, so the average man needs about 82 grams of fat to provide 3000 of his 10,000 kilojules a day, while the average woman should get 65 grams of fat, to provide 2400 of her 8400 kilojules. [If you are overweight, says the NHMRC, exercise more and drop the fat content to 20 to 25 per cent of your diet]. But favour good fats: mono-unsaturated [olive oil, macadamia nuts, avocados] and polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as the Omega-3s [fresh oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, flaxseed, wallnuts and pecans]. Nutritionist Libby Ellis of the Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat on the Gold Coast says too many people assume low fat or no fat is the way to better health. Low fat products such as apple pie are high in refined sugar, which only lowers white blood cells and therefore immunity, she says, and starves you of vitamins and minerals. The NHMRC says saturated fats [fried foods, full cream milk, butter and cream, and processed foods such as biscuits, pastries and cakes] have the strongest associations with raising blood cholesterol and risking cardiovascular disease, so limit these. Trans fats, formed when edible oils are hydrogenated to make hard margarines, are also bad for you, but nutritionist Stewart Truswell says Australians' intake of these has fallen because they have been virtually eliminated from soft margarines.

17. GET A FLAT STOMACH (SAFELY)
Personal trainer Donna Aston suggests you work up to 20 of these stomach crunches, every second day. "Anyone who says they can do 100 crunches is not doing them properly," she says. Lay flat on your back with your knees bent, and the soles of your feet on the floor, your heels as close to your bottom as possible. Put one hand over the other at the base of your neck [interlocking the hands can cause neck strain.] Point your elbows forward rather than back, so that you avoid back strain and engage your abdominal muscles more efficiently. To activate your core muscles, pull your navel towards your spine. For each forward movement, while exhaling, slowly roll each vertebrae forward until your shoulder blades lift off the floor [this might take several attempts before you can completely get the shoulders off the floor]. Pause for a second or so at the top of the movement, and focus on squeezing the top of the abdominal muscles to achieve a full contraction. Then reverse the movement, inhaling as you go back down, until your head is on the floor again.

18. GET A LITTLE SUN
Most of the time you still need a broad spectrum sunscreen but this summer, for the first time, Cancer Council Australia, bone and mineral experts and dermatologists now say you should uncover your face, arms and hands for a short period, preferably before 11am or after 3pm. Australians, from babies through young adults to the elderly, are increasingly showing up as vitamin D deficient, and the sun's UVB rays are the best source. Vitamin D is essential for bone preservation and muscle strength, and usually there is not enough in the diet to cover our needs. The head of Sydney University's physiology department, Rebecca Mason, says most days you should get sun on about 15 per cent of the body's surface - so you might substitute legs for face or arms - for about one third of the length of time it normally takes your skin to go red. In summer, that roughly means five to 10 minutes' exposure, early or late in the day, when the UV rating is below 3. Cancer Council Australia chief executive Alan Coates admits it's a complex public health message to sell.

19. GO ORGANIC
Yes, organic produce is more expensive than standard supermarket fare, but if money is tight, nutrtionist Libby Ellis advises you prioritise: buy cheaper, non-organic fruit and vegetables with skins you are likely to peel before eating, such as bananas and oranges - the peel takes the brunt of the pesticide and herbicide - but pay a little more for organic produce you are more likely to eat whole with the skin on, such as apples and carrots. Organic fruit and vegetables have at least 20 per cent more vitamins and minerals, she says. Organic meat, such as pasture-fed beef - as opposed to ordinary grain-fed beef - contains more beneficial fats, says Ellis. The produce should be certified organic, with the Biological Farmers Association logo the most common.

20. SMILE.
Smile, but make sure it's genuine. You can tell a person's smile is real when they smile with the eyes, known as the Duchenne smile, named after a French neurologist who mapped the facial muscles. There should be crinkling produced around the eyes due to contractions of the zygomatic major and [begin italics] orbicularis oculi [end italics] muscles. Fake smiles produce almost no crinkling [smilers who have been Botoxed might have trouble being considered sincere.] Zurich researchers suggested in a study of 56 women published in HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research in 2004 that real smiles might increase pain tolerance. The subjects were asked to watch an episode of Mr Bean. They also had one hand submerged in iced water before, immediately following, and then 20 minutes after the show, and their reactions were videotaped. The researchers found givers of genuine smiles, involving the eyes, were better able to withstand discomfort than those whose smiles or laughs were faked. Real smiles, it is speculated, release feel-good endorphins, which might have an analgesic effect. So, say cheese honey, but with feeling, particularly when you're testing the water this year.