Yesterday morning (Monday), I awoke in a funk. Just didn’t feel right, kind of low, not really depressed but not feeling all too positive. I definitely didn’t feel like working out, but knew that I needed to because the rain over the weekend threw a curveball to my usual routine of great weekend workouts. I literally pushed myself out the door, and did some jump rope, pullups, back-saving lunges, body weight squats, band resistance work for my abs and back muscles, and got my heart rate soaring for about 20 minutes. Guess what! My whole attitude and outlook on the day inverted to a very positive one, and I charged into the day with the vigor and swagger that I’m used to. It’s amazing what a little blood and O2 can do for a person. The nugget to take from this is that I don’t always feel like exercising, but I have never regretted it afterwards, and the mental boost it gave me yesterday was priceless. There is nothing quite so invigorating as the feel-good feeling I get from exercise. Know that you will have days like this too, but push through them, it’s so worth the effort.
Sex is good for you….duh. But a new study shows that people who have sex at least twice a week increase their levels of Immunoglobin A (IGA) significantly. IGA is in your saliva, and is very important for fighting cold and flu viruses. Have at it.
Pistachio nuts are good too. Eating 2 ounces/day for four weeks increases the amount of gamma-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E, in the blood, according to a study presented at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference in December 2009, according to Consumer Reports On Health’s latest issue. Other research suggests this form of vitamin E may help ward off lung cancer.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.