Friday Tidbits

Let's kick off the weekend with some health bits -

• Research indicates that 30 minutes/day, 3 – 5 days/week is the most effective dose of exercise for enhancing happiness – it doesn’t take much!  

• You’re more likely to stick with positive health behaviors when you’re emotionally involved: sharing the experience with friends, knowing that someone else supports your efforts, focusing on what feels good about an activity, and celebrating or receiving recognition for your progress (even small steps) along the way.  

• Take a brisk 5-minute walk every hour - you’ll accumulate 40 minutes of activity over your 8-hour workday.  

• Despite their wide availability and advertisers’ claims about their benefits, packaged diet foods (calorie/sugar/fat-reduced or free) have not been correlated with weight loss.  These foods are generally highly processed and can actually cause people to overcompensate by consuming more calories later.  They’re best used occasionally (if at all) in conjunction with – not as a substitute for - a healthy, satisfying diet and regular exercise.  

• Pregnant and exercising?  Monitor your exercise intensity with the talk test (able to carry on a conversation) or the Rating of Perceived Exertion (Light to Somewhat Hard).  Don’t use your target heart rate; the variability of your heart rate throughout pregnancy makes this an unreliable guide to how hard you're working.

Happy Friday!