COLUMN: Eat and move for life
Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic pill that helps you think more clearly, remember everything you hear and read, have an outstanding personal physique, and perform superbly in your daily endeavors? Obviously, this pill doesn’t exist. However, you have more control over these mental and physical characteristics than you realize. The secret is in your daily diet and exercise habits.
The human body is an incredible, complicated organic machine, capable of performing complicated motions and mental functions that robots and computers are very far from achieving. Like all machines, however, your body requires a particular regime of maintenance to perform at an optimal level. Your diet – what, how, and when you eat – plays a major role in the maintenance process. Your activity level – or lack of activity – also dictates how you feel and perform, and whether your body lasts or “rusts” as it ages. Modify your diet in the wrong direction, and performance suffers. Sit on the couch too much, and your muscles atrophy while you gain body fat. Unlike most machines, however, your body doesn’t come with an operating manual. You are responsible for taking care of yourself.
Whether you are a student in a mad rush to get to your next class, or an employee juggling projects at your work station, your diet and exercise program probably suffers. The “freshman 10” (10 pounds gained the first year of college) is a common phenomenon as students begin to take more responsibility for their diet, away from home. It certainly doesn’t happen to everyone, but it did happen to me, and it wasn’t much fun. Although it could be called the “employee five,” many employees also find themselves gaining body fat, and losing muscle tissue, with each passing year. How well are you taking care of yourself? Ask yourself these questions:
• Do you forget to eat?
• Do you get tired walking up flights of stairs?
• Do you weigh more than you should?
• Do you exercise less than 30-60 minutes daily?
• Do you have high blood pressure?
• Do you fail to eat 3 well balanced meals a day?
• Do you have an irritable bowel or constipation?
• Do you fail to drink plenty of local tap water?
• Do you eat a lot of greasy food and refined sugars?
• Do you have food or beverage addictions?
• Do you fail to eat plant- foods (fruits, veggies, whole grains)?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions (only a sample of possible questions on diet and exercise) you may not be treating your body right. A faulty diet and inactivity can lead to inattentiveness, lethargy and a lifetime of chronic disease and hospital visits. It can make you more prone to infections and colds, decrease your energy level, negatively change your body composition and sabotage your happiness. Package this all together, and you may experience negative effects to your total performance in life. You and your body deserve better than this. You deserve the best return on your investment. Treat your body well, and you will be rewarded. An optimal diet puts you on the right track. Exercise keeps you on the right track.
For more information, please visit:
www.usu.edu/wellness (everyone)
www.myregence.com (employees)
www.usu.edu/swc/nutrition.html (students)
www.sparkpeople.com (everyone)
Caroline Shugart is the USU employee wellness coordinator. She is both a registered dietitian and a registered nurse, and is a contributor to the Be Well Health column.