Making healthy choices

by Sean McCarthy

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

If that’s your belief, then you’re in the company of a lot of health professionals.

Creating a healthy future can have simple and easy beginnings. Everyday activities such as eating, sleeping, breathing, and moving can be used to improve how you feel and reduce risks to your wellbeing down the road.

If you think being healthy is a rigorous endeavor, you will be pleased to know that you can get started by making small adjustments to things you have been doing all of your life.

But you’re advised to start as soon as possible.

“It’s not about the sit-up, or the push-up, or the pull-up – it’s about the show-up,” says Jon Leaver of Jon Leaver Wellness in Westport and Wareham.

“Some days you’ll have more energy, and some days you’ll have less energy, but it’s all about doing it. Just begin doing it.”

And one key to making progress with your health is making physical activity a routine.

“Increase your range of motion by being active every day,” Leaver says. “With age we tend to slow down and use our bodies less, but as we exercise there is an unwinding of the tissues that takes place. There are different ways to be active: strength training, aerobics, cardio-vascular, yoga, or Tai-Chi, and more. You can join a YMCA or a gym. My advice is to find a buddy who wants to do it with you and commit to that person. Meet at a specific time, and even if they don’t show up you’ll already be there.”

There can be enjoyable social aspects to getting your daily exercise.

“We have a welcoming atmosphere for seniors,” says Micki Poulton, Senior Director of Health and Wellness for YMCA Southcoast. “We cater to seniors with our classes so that they’ll feel comfortable with their peers. There’s a camaraderie.”

The YMCA offers many classes for people over 55, including areas such as strengthbuilding, flexibility, mobility, stability, and balancing. There are classes in culinary arts with demonstrations and recipes as well as classes in Diabetes prevention. There are aqua-fit classes that assist in recovery from injuries that are easy on the joints. In addition, there are classes in line dancing and zumba/latin dancing.

Stretching out

Another exercise option is yoga, a practice that is growing significantly in popularity, and has shown numerous health benefits.

“With yoga you’re using your breath to establish a mind-body connection,” says yoga instructor Christine Maiato FitzGerald of Dartmouth. “It’s easy to get introduced, with forms such as gentle yoga and chair yoga, and you can go at your own pace.”

FitzGerald says that while you can do yoga on your own, the best option for beginners is to get started by attending classes at a local yoga studio. She also recommends consulting a doctor before beginning any form of exercise.

“Get out there, find a beginner’s class, and don’t be intimidated,” she says. “You might not be able to do every pose, but any movement is good movement. Everybody is different. There’s a lot of good yoga studios in the area.”

Yoga has been shown to assist with back and hip issues, building muscle, improving flexibility, balance, and posture, heart health, sleep, and increased blood flow and energy. It has also shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as relieving menopause symptoms.

“I have a herniated disc in my lower back, so I often wake up with a lot of pain,” she says. “By doing one session in the morning I feel 100 percent relief. It’s amazing.”

FitzGerald says that ideally most yoga classes include some form of meditation, before or after. But she also points out that meditation can be done separately from yoga and will also show benefits.

“Meditation is something that is free and can be done anywhere,” she says. “Sit or lie down comfortably and focus on something for five or 10 minutes, such as a word, a phrase, or your breathing. The mind is active, so it’s normal that you will get distracted, but always return your focus. If you do it regularly it will eventually become as normal as brushing your teeth.”

FitzGerald says benefits from meditation include reduction in stress and anxiety, and improved sleep.

And you may be surprised to find out that the act of breathing through your nose instead of your mouth can have important benefits.

“Your nose is not just for decoration on your face, it serves a real purpose,” says Kelly Coucci, a Speech Language Pathologist dealing in Voice Disorders at South Coast Ear, Nose & Throat in North Dartmouth. “Nasal breathing filters, warms, and humidifies the air we breathe. It helps regulate air flow, making sure we’re not over-breathing, which can be detrimental as it can overwhelm and dry out the throat and airway tubes.”

Coucci says that nose breathing keeps us calmer, reducing anxiety and stress.

“Breathing is a pathway to our nervous system,” she says. “It can make us mentally healthier. Breathing also plays a role in the immune system, trapping bacteria and viruses, especially important now in the age of COVID. There are a lot of amazing connections between nose breathing and our health that most people are completely unaware of.”

Coucci says that we can train ourselves to be nose breathers.

“If you’ve been a mouth breather for a long time it’s possible to begin breathing through your nose, starting with awareness,” she says. “You don’t have to work hard at breathing because we live in an oxygen-rich environment. You don’t need to be taking big, gigantic breaths to get oxygen. You can breathe more quietly through the nose with much less volume of air.”

Clean eating

In addition to taking in air, we also take in food. According to Leaver, a good first step to improving your nutritional practicies is by significantly reducing or eliminating meat from your diet.

“Meat and animal fats are the causes of almost all cardio-vascular disease,” he says. “There are thousands of reports explaining this, but the American food industry wants you to eat a lot of junk – meat and processed foods.”

Leaver recommends a plant-based diet, but this doesn’t mean you have to be boring about your eating choices.

“I suggest starting with ‘Meatless Mondays’ and go from there,” he says. “Find out how to flavor things, make enjoyable sauces to go with your meals such as cilantro, garlic, lime, honey, and maple syrup. You don’t need to be eating raw carrots all day.”

Leaver uses the natural world as evidence for his stances.

“We get a lot of protein from meat and chickens, but they get their protein by eating plants,” he says. “There’s a lot of strong animals who don’t eat meat. There’s a saying: ‘If it’s made in a plant, don’t eat it; but if it’s made from a plant, eat it.’”

And you can also experience benefits when you’re not awake by practicing good sleep hygiene.

Meridith Pease, a Registered Nurse at Hawthorn Medical in North Dartmouth, says that you should think about quieting your mind 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed to get prepared for restful, quality sleep.

“Avoid over-stimulating your mind to get into a relaxation mode, it’s a lot easier than people think,” she says. “A big part of sleep hygiene is putting down our phones and digital media a half-hour to an hour before bed, and not falling asleep with the television on. You want to have a quiet, dark place when you’re trying to shut your mind down.”

Pease says that you should establish a regular time to go to bed and wake up.

“Sleeping in on the weekends is enjoyable but it isn’t always the best plan, because you don’t want to disrupt your sleep schedule. You also want to avoid naps during the day that are longer than 15 or 20 minutes. You can’t force sleep, so if you’re lying in bed with thoughts and anxieties, it’s best to get up and do something calming, like reading or meditating. Ruminating on why you can’t sleep can only make it worse.”