Blog - Michelle Pitt Co

How much exercise do we need to do, to…

How much exercise is necessary to reduce or even slow down aging, injury and disease?

Exercise. Love it or hate it, it is necessary for a healthy lifestyle.

For too long society has been way to focused on exercise being a weight/ fat loss tool instead of a wellness tool. We need to change our mindset and include it into our everyday lives. As a wellness coach for moms, I constantly hear moms complaining about not having enough time to exercise. Here is the thing though, by saying that we do not have time, we are saying it is not important enough. It means we do not prioritize our health and make time for it.

So why should we be making time for exercise?

Because it will help us delay aging. Who does not want to hold onto that youthful appearance and to age gracefully?

Science Insider says, “people that work out the most have a huge advantage”. “That cells in their bodies are significantly younger.” These scientists studied telomers in 5382 adults. These adults had different activity levels. What is a telomer? A telomer is basically a protective tip (chromosome structures) on the end of your DNA that protects it from damage. These suffer from wear and tear over the years causing aging. This damage can also make you more susceptible to diseases like cancer. The results of the studies showed that people that did no exercise through to moderate exercise had very similar results, yet the cells of highly active adults were nearly 10 years younger. They categorised highly active adults as ones that do 5-6 hours of walking or biking per week or 2-6 hours of running.

I guess we should be asking if that exercise is more important to you if you could have 10 more years with your family?

According to Newsweek, A study at the German Leipzig University found that running, cycling and swimming slows cellular again the most. They studied 266 inactive volunteers between the ages of 30 and 60 years old. Each of these volunteers were randomly given an exercise regimen. These individuals worked out 3 days a week for 6 months. Both the endurance groups and resistance groups benefited. However, those that were given resistance training like crunches and pullups also had a beneficial effect on inflammation. This helps us to see that we need to incorporate cardio (endurance training) and resistance (strength training) to our exercise regime.

Here are the Facts:

Regular exercise will also reduce lifestyle diseases like non-commutative disease.

The main culprits of these diseases worldwide are:

Heart disease.
Stroke and
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd)

Why do we get these diseases?

The Main Factors causing these diseases are

1.sedentary lifestyle

2.poor diet

3.obesity / smoking

Seeing as a sedentary lifestyle is one of the main reasons holding us back from a long and healthy life, we again ask just how much exercise is necessary? According to the world health organization we should be doing Cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week for about 30 min. During this exercise we should be getting our heart rate up to about 60-85% of our max heart rate. Cardiovascular exercise is important because it allows our heart and lungs to work, adjust and recover. This is vital for healthy functioning of these organs. “Cardio” as it is often called, is when we work any large muscle group and raise our heart rate for an extended period.

WHO recommends strength training 2-3 times a week (40 min) and suggests doing stretches after exercise for about 15 min. Alternately a yoga or Pilates session once to twice a week?

Uncategorized

Healthy Beef Stroganoff

This recipe has been adapted from Ucook’ s Samantha Finnegan.

This delicious and nutritious supper takes about 50 mins in total but the time you are hands on is only about 30 mins

Ingredients

(For a family of 4)

300 ml Brown Basmati Rice

600g Free range Beef Stroganoff

250g Button Mushrooms

20 ml Beef stock

10 ml Dried Oregano

2 Onions

10 ml Meat Spice

40 ml corn flour

1 head broccoli

80 ml Smooth Cottage Cheese

Oil for cooking

Salt and Pepper

Water

Butter

Start with the rice. Add 750 ml of salted water to the rice. Wait for it to boil, once boiling simmer for 20 mins. Remove from the heat and allow to steam for a further 10 mins. Remove any excess water and fluff with a fork. Try to keep the lid on the entire time. As someone that either cook’s way too much rice or overcooks it.

This is pretty much full-proof. This kind of rice is also whole grain which is a win. Brown Basmati is high is phytochemicals as well as vitamin B, E, magnesium, iron and full of fiber. It may take a little while to get use to the nutty texture after eating white rice, but it is an easy switch with this yummy stroganoff.

Place a large pan over a high heat and add a splash of oil (Olive or Coconut will do). Cook the beef for three minutes until brown. Make sure there is enough space in the pan for the beef to cover the pan evenly. Season the beef. Once it has cooked, remove from the heat and cover. You can then add the mushrooms to the heat for 7-8 mins. Add the mushrooms to the beef once cooked.

The recipe calls for free-range and that often means more expensive. If you can afford the higher quality cut, then please consider it. It really makes all the difference is taste. Not sure if you should use olive or coconut oil. The taste is a consideration. From a health point of view, I would consider a high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

Fry the onions in the same pan, for 4 minutes, then add the meat spice, add the corn flour and continue stirring. After a minute add the stock slowly, to prevent lumping. (the corn flour allows the sauce to thicken). Then allow the sauce to thicken and reduce slightly. This can take between 10 and 20 mins. While the sauce is simmering boil the broccoli, once cooked, add to the mushrooms. Broccoli is fantastic for bone health, skin health and to boost your immune system

Once the sauce is ready you can add the meat and vegetables back to the pan for 2 minutes to allow everything to heat through. You can then add the cottage cheese and serve together with rice.

Cottage cheese is a great source of protein and allows the stroganoff to have a smooth creamy texture without the added saturated fat of cream cheese.

Enjoy!

Uncategorized

How to find happiness after a pandemic?

2020 has been quite a year. It has disrupted life as we know it. I think it is fair to say that every single person has been impacted by The Corona Virus in some way or another. Many precious lives lost, many jobs and small business are no longer and we as moms are living in burnout. The world is a very different place.

So how do we start to pick up the pieces? How do we start again and gain some sort of normal? Do we live in limbo waiting anxiously for a vaccine? There is no perfect answer but there are strategies we can put in place to focus and prioritize our happiness.

Our first happiness sin

According to Raj Raghunathan from the Indian School of Business is de-valuing happiness. There are many ways we do this. Think about a sale at a shop you really like. An item is dramatically reduced but a similar item is full price. Generally, we will pick the sale item just because we will save money, rather than choosing the item we want.

The same scenario can happen at a Restaurant. After hearing those specials of the day, we might change our mind from something we prefer eating because of the ‘special price’. Now, these small choices might not make a huge difference in our lives but when you use this tactic in choosing a career or life partner, this can completely affect our long-term happiness.

Happiness and fulfilling relationships were picked as the top 2 life goals in a series of surveys done recently. Yet when we ask people the genie question (if you had a magical genie in front of you and asked you for your three wishes) most people wished for money, status and relationships. This shows us how often we forget to prioritize our happiness.

So why do we de-value happiness?

There are a couple of reasons. Sometimes we can hold negative beliefs about happiness. For instance, if your belief that ‘unhealthy food ‘is tastier, you will find it harder to enjoy these ‘healthier ‘foods.

Others feel that being happy will lead to being lazy, but the research says otherwise. According to phys.org happy workers are 13% more productive. In studies from the Queens school of Business, disengaged workers had higher absentee rate, 18 % lower productivity rates and lower job growth overall. With these kinds of numbers, it would make sense for more companies to be focusing on employee happiness.

Some People believe that being happy will lead to becoming more selfish. Quora.com sums it up perfectly “happiness does not make you selfish. Denying others of their happiness in order to have yours is a selfish act. True happiness comes from love, and real love is never selfish.

Another way we fail to see the value in happiness is in our lack of clarity. If we do not even know what our definition of happiness is, how can we strive for it. Instead we follow the very old-fashioned muscular approach of medium maximisation. Quite often that medium is money.

So, what is the first step in finding happiness after a pandemic? It is defining what happiness is to you. Once you figure that out, learn to prioritize these things.

Personal Development

Pre-natal Depression, Yup It Is Real

All my life I have considered myself strong, ambitious and optimistic. I always thought I could ‘pull ‘myself out of any negative feelings and generally I could. (This is something, someone who never actually had depression would say.) I obviously had weak moments when my emotions got the best of me. I found that those generally come around ‘that ‘time if the month or times of extreme stress and pressure.

That was until I was pregnant with my first born. At the time I blamed the excessive morning sickness (basically 6 months of non-stop nausea, and vomiting) a new job and all the other delightful pregnancy symptoms and emotions I was trying to process. I realize now that I was severely depressed and should have gotten help. I didn’t and the depression continued after my son was born however it never really seemed as bad as it was during pregnancy. I know now that Depression during pregnancy is a real thing and is normally referred to as pre-natal depression. This kind of depression less spoken about far less than his ugly twin, post-natal depression. There is a very big difference between feeling a bit off, because of the pregnancy hormonal imbalance and have a chemical imbalance in your brain. According to womansmentalhealth.org a mom that has Hyperemesis Gravidarum like me, is much more likely to develop pre-natal depression than someone that doesn’t have the condition.

Sings Of Pre-Natal Depression To Look Out For

Here are some of the top signs to look out for:

Persistent sadness
Lack of interest in things that you would normally enjoy
Disconnect from your baby
Trouble concentrating
Thoughts of suicide or death
Feelings of failure and worthlessness
Too much or too little sleep
Anxiety
Extreme overeating / under-eating

When you struggle with two or more of these symptoms for more than two weeks, it is time to get help. This is where I feel off the bus a bit. I realised that I had many of these symptoms and spoke to my partner, but I never actually saw a professional. I really should have. I should have listened to my husband who suggested it time and time again!! I see it now but at the time I thought self-diagnosis of exercise, massage and deep breathing would sort me out. I am sure these things helped but I needed therapy too! Once my son was 6 months old, I started going to Clamber Club classes. They become my therapy. My way of seeing that was the same as everyone else. No one else was sleeping. No one had it all figured out and those classes, those ladies were real, they were honest, and they helped me more than they even know.

I went to a talk recently by a psychologist and again these words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea that the stress I was feeling could have affected my unborn baby. At the time, I was feeling guilty enough, that I wasn’t enjoying my pregnancy. I had this idea that it was going to be a magical time in my life and somehow, I was to blame for the way I was feeling. I now know that 14-23% of moms feel this way according to The American Pregnancy Association. I also know that if one mom gets help because of this post, then it was worth sharing. If you are feeling this way YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!, please get help. Don’t be embarrassed, we don’t make excuses for our body not working but I see many people including myself being scared to talk about depression.

My lesson, you can be strong, ambitious and optimistic mom and ask for -help 😊