With Thanksgiving next week and then the rest of the fun, festive, and food-filled holiday season right after it, it's more important than ever to try to stay active. For one thing, it will help squelch the stress that can accompany all the, um, "joys" of the holiday season (gift buying, gift wrapping, gift returning; relatives in town, relatives in your home, relatives who overstay their welcome and give unwelcome advice). For another, it can help you ward off the seemingly inevitable scale creep-up that comes this time of year. One thing I've always wanted to do was to start a holiday tradition of preceding or following the Thanksgiving feast with a walk or run or another sporty activity. You can go out as a family and just walk around the neighborhood, or better yet, make it "official" by joining in one of the hundreds of "Turkey Trot" races around...
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Ever since Oprah's good pal Dr. Mehmet Oz introduced millions of viewers to the Neti pot, the little nasal irrigation system, people have been sloshing warm water through their nostrils more than ever. The goal is to clear out pollutants, ease sinus and allergy congestion, and soothe irritated nasal passages. While I'll admit it sounds like torture to me — I personally HATE having anything in my nose, especially liquid! — devotees claim it feels great, and helps keep them free of sinus pain and pressure. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing: researchers presenting at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology report that overuse of Neti pots can actually contribute to sinus infections. Apparently using the pot a few times a week during a particularly stuffed-up time is okay, but doing the nasal wash every day can actually backfire by tweaking...
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With daylight savings time having just ended, it's getting dark ridiculously early again, and while the mornings will be lighter for a while, in general we all know that winter simply means shorter, darker days. And for people who exercise outside, it means trying to stay visible to the cars (and cyclists) that zoom by us. Getting the attention of those drivers, in particular, is a serious situation; according to recent statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 6,000 people were killed and 500,000 injured due to driver distraction in 2008. And of pedestrian deaths, 10% were related to them not being visible to drivers. It's during the 6pm to 9pm window of time when it's most dangerous—which coincides with a lot of people's evening workout times. Of course, wearing light, reflective clothing helps, and a new shirt from Saucony does that task one better, coming with...
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When the doctor gives you instructions or advice, do you always follow it to the T? I've had a few occasions lately where I've been to a health-care practitioner, and she's told me to do something, and then I realized later that I wasn't really adhering to her guidelines as strictly as perhaps she'd have liked. I am not talking about anything really, really serious (or at least I don't think so), but for example, now that I am just five weeks post C-section, my midwife gave me the go ahead to do some "light jogging" and/or some "powerwalking", if I want to. (She knows how important exercising is to me.) Well, I went out for a light jog, and three miles of huffing and puffing later, I came home. I have a FEELING that she didn't mean quite that much jogging, but I did watch myself for any warning...
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It seems like all anyone can talk about these days, and all you can hear about on the news lately, is the flu. Both the regular, 'seasonal', flu and the H1N1 flu (aka Swine Flu)... And while I am not about to add to the swirling stew of information and anxiety, I'm mostly just wondering if people are getting worried about it and if it's affecting your decisions about getting the flu vaccine in general. For some people, this will be the first time they get a flu shot, and for others (like myself), it's just another sign of autumn—dropping leaves, shorter days, and a jab in the arm. (I get one every year.) What about you? Do you normally get the flu vaccine each year? Will you get one this year? And are you planning on getting the swine flu vaccine, if/when it becomes available to you? (At this...
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Regular readers will know that I'm fairly obsessed with finding products that let you exercise with your music in your ears but your hands free. (I hate having something gripped in my palm during a workout!) I've already found a few good products, and now I've got two new favorites to share. The Armpocket (below) is sort of like the luxury SUV of phone/MP3 carriers—with plenty of room for both items as well as keys, cash, a credit card. It's totally adjustable to any size bicep, easy to put on, and doesn't bounce or loosen up even during a long, vigorous workout. You'll never have to muscle your way through a workout without your tunes again! The Cyfi wireless sports speaker (below) is perfect for bicyclists who want to pedal to a pulse but know that riding with headphones isn't safe. Easily mountable on your handlebars, the palm-sized Cyfi speaker...
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