Prescriptive Health's Newsletter     2 016
In This Issue
Strong Glutes
Constipation
Exercise IS Medicine
Thieves Essential Oil
Small Victories
In the Company of Women
Recipe
Life Updates
Did you know?


WHY YOUR GLUTES ARE SO IMPORTANT 

The rear-end is one of the areas of the body that people typically want "harder", "more toned", or "tighter".  Why not? Who doesn't want a butt that's high enough to NOT hit the back of your legs? Or to not crease when you squeeze into a pair of jeans? Yeah, you get the picture! Looking great in a pair of jeans isn't the only thing your glutes are good for! If y ou've heard me repeatedly saying "squeeze your glutes" for the past few months, it's not because I'm obsessed with your butt, it's so I can get you to engage those beasts! 

Your glutes consist of three different muscles. They function to extend your leg behind you, raise your leg to the side, and to turn your leg in/out. They're a huge muscle group that is super important for most every daily activity you do, especially if you're standing! Plus, engaging your glutes will tilt your pelvis, which will allow you to better engage your core. Yah, yah ,yah . . . squeeze your butt. So what?!

Your glutes are more important than giving shape to your backside. Strong glutes are necessary to walk, run, hike, etc. Ever see the glutes on a sprinter? They're huge! That's because the glutes extend the leg, which gives the sprinter more power. They also function to stabilize your pelvis, which reduces back and knee pain. Stronger glutes means reduced back and knee injuries and better performance. Who wouldn't want strong glutes? 

That being said, this is your exercise butt-lift recipe!   Remember, they're the biggest muscle group on your body - work them hard and they'll work for you! They're big calorie burners!
 
1. When doing a squat exercise, push through your heels and squeeze your glutes throughout the entire range of motion.
 
2. Lying on your belly, arms & legs straight. Lift your entire leg off the ground. Repeat 15 times then switch to your other leg.
 
3. Lunges - reduce your range of motion when you step forward or backward, bend both knees deeper, and place more weight on your front leg, pushing through your heel as you stand up. *Split jump lunges (deep) will work your glutes even more!
 
4. Single leg squats - always a great butt exercise! Just remember to put all your weight on that one standing leg and to push through your heels and squeeze glutes. The deeper you go, the more you stretch your glutes, the more you work them. Just be careful not to let your knee turn in toward your other leg.
 
5. Ball leg curl or heel press - lying on your back with the ball under your feet.  Really squeeze your glutes as you pull the ball in and out or as you push down into the ball. Hold your butt as you do this to make sure you really are squeezing your glutes. It works!
  
NOW do you understand why your glutes are so important? :)


ACUPUNCTURE CAN HELP RELIEVE CONSTIPATION

No one wants to talk about their bowel movements, but it's important. The health of your body is reflected in your digestive system's ability to eliminate waste. Theoretically, humans are supposed to have a bowel movement at least once/day. CLICK HERE for more information on your bowel movement health. 

Patients with severe functional constipation (no more than 2 complete bowel movements/wk) found relief from acupuncture! A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine stated that 31% of the participants who received acupuncture felt relief whereas only 12% in the control group found relief. While it's impossible to make any acupuncture study double blind (so the researchers and the participants don't know which treatment they are getting), the results are promising. If you suffer from constipation, you might want to try acupuncture to get your digestive system back on track for proper and full elimination. 

THE EXERCISE CURE

When I first went to college in 1991, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to make people healthy. Thankfully my college encouraged me to shadow a few doctors my first year in college. I say thankfully because that experience changed my future! I quickly realized that I didn't want to MAKE people healthy, I wanted to KEEP people healthy. My focus shifted to exercise as a preventative medicine. Fast forward 25 years and we MIGHT be heading in that direction! 

In a recent issue of Time magazine, there was an amazing article. The article was titled "The Exercise Cure". Of course - "CURE"! The article talks about current research examining the effects of exercise on disease outcomes as well as quality of life measures. What they've found isn't anything "new", but it's now being accepted. Notice the gap? It's not a new concept (exercise as a cure), but now it's just starting to be recognized by medical professionals. Here what they had to say and what they've found:
  • "But as time goes on, paper after paper after paper shows that the most effective, potent way that we can improve quality of life and duration of life is exercise". (Dr. Tarnopolsky)
  • If there were a drug that could do for human health everything that exercise can, it would likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical every developed.
  • Only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of strength and cardio per week. 80.2 million Americans over the age of 6 are entirely inactive!
  • People with low levels of physical activity are at higher risk for many different kinds of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and death by any cause.
  • Knowing that "exercise is good for you" isn't a powerful enough motivator to get people to exercise.
  • Research links exercise to less depression, better memory, and quicker learning - in addition to the physical benefits we know.
  • Exercise causes cellular changes that slow the aging process!
  • Exercise can extend your life span by 5 years.
  • Mice who exercised regularly (in a cage on their little wheel), were lean and tumor free. Those who were sedentary in their cages were full of fat and tumors.
Their conclusion, "If people saw what was inside their sedentary bodies, they'd be pretty motivated to exercise" (Tarnopolsky). I agree. We know the benefits of exercise and we know where and how to exercise - or at least where to get the information. For some reason, knowledge of this isn't enough to get people to do it. Maybe in the future a medical device engineer will develop a machine that allows us to see just how unhealthy our insides are (brain, gut, heart, liver, etc.). We're such a visual society that if we can't see "unhealthy", we don't SEE unhealthy. Start today - exercise, prolong your life, improve your quality of life! 

THIEVES ESSENTIAL OIL: PROTECTION FROM GERMS


Thieves® is a unique blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary. It is an anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-spectic, and anti-infectious essential oil. Did you know that there are over 50 ways to use Thieves® essential oil? ( Click here for the list!). For example, you can put a drop on your children's feet before they go to school to keep germs away; put a drop on a cotton ball & put in a heating vent to kill germs and freshen your air; gargle with water for a sore throat; add to laundry to disinfect, etc.
  
During flu/cold season, this is a MUST have essential oil blend for your home and your family. Get rid of germs before they get you! I diffuse this in the studio often!


SMALL VICTORIES

"The process of truly great home cooking is demystified via more than a hundred lessons called out as "small victories" in the funny, encouraging headnotes; these are lessons learned by Julia through a lifetime of cooking thousands of meals. This beautifully curated, deeply personal collection of what Chef April Bloomfield calls "simple, achievable recipes" emphasizes bold-flavored, honest food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert." 
 
You all know that I do not like to cook. I just like to eat! BUT, I can do this! Actually, Julia told me, "If I can do the Advanced class, you can cook".  So, I did! I've made the turkey meatballs and sour cream pancakes with blueberries. I did it! AND . . . if I can do it, you can too! This is a wonderfully delicious collection of recipes that you WILL want to try! And the stories are entertaining too!  

CLICK HERE to order "Small Victories"


IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN

"Across the globe, women are embracing the entrepreneurial spir i t and overcoming adversity to start their own creative businesses. In the Company of Wom en, Grace Bonney's new book, features interviews and portraits of 100 of these exceptional leaders across a diverse range of races, ages, backgrounds, and industries. There are young media titans and mother-daughter fashion houses, hoteliers and ceramicists, tattoo artists and . . . so much more."   READ MORE

Oblong Bookstore in Rhinecliff is hosting "In the Company of Women".    CLICK HERE  to buy your ticket! My Boston friends, CLICK HERE. 

*Pre-order your book  HERE. This is a book you will want to keep for yourself and to gift to someone else. :)


GRILLED ZUCCHINI + CHICKEN KEBABS with LEMON + OREGANO

INGREDIENTS
2 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup/60 ml fresh lemon juice
¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds/680 g), cut into bite-sized pieces
3 medium zucchini (about 1 pound/453 g), ends trimmed, cut into the same size pieces as the chicken

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Soak 24 wooden skewers in warm water for about 1 hour (this keeps them from burning on the grill...as you can see from the photo, I neglected to do this). Drain the skewers and set aside.
  2. Place the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and oregano in a small bowl and whisk everything together. Transfer half of the mixture to a large bowl and add the chicken and zucchini to the large bowl. Use your hands to combine everything.
  3. Prepare the grill for medium-high heat (or heat a large grill pan set over a couple of burners) and make sure your grates are super-clean.
  4. Thread the chicken and zucchini, alternating them, onto the skewers, using two skewers per kebab, so that you end up with a dozen sturdy kebabs. I find that each kebab will have about 3 pieces each chicken and zucchini.
  5. Grill the kebabs, turning them now and then, until the chicken and zucchini are both really nicely browned and charred at the edges and the chicken is firm to the touch, about 12 minutes all together. Transfer the kebabs to a platter. Give the remaining olive oil mixture a stir and drizzle it over the kebabs. Serve immediately while warm or at room temperature.

*taken from Small Victories cookbook

  • Guy has joined 30MoE as an Assistant Coach this fall. Guy graduated from Cortland with his BS in Exercise Science and is TRX Certified and ACE Personal Traininer Certified! 
  • Olaf is four years old! We've switched him back to his awesome ACANA dog food and his allergies seem to be reduced. Thank goodness!
  • I've been averaging 7.5 hrs of sleep per night for the past few months and feel more rested, energized, and clearer.
  • 30 Minutes of Everything was recently mentioned in the September issue of SELF magazine. Check out the article on page 82!
  • I have been cooking lately - thanks to "Small Victories" cookbook!!
  • Fall is here which means that my hair color will be changing again! So long ice blonde and hello espresso!!
  • I bought a pair of Brooks sneakers and love them! More support for my almost flat feet!
  • I've added TRX to my training and to the studio. Love the new challenges!
  • Michael is still enjoying what he does and I'm still enjoying the food! :)
  • Acupuncture can help with your sleep.
  • Tears are used to clean our eyes but scientists don't actually know why we produce them when we're upset!  
  • During pregnancy woman's brain shrinks and it takes up to six months to regain its original size.
  • Human saliva contains a painkiller called opiorphin that is six times more powerful than morphine.
  • The smell of freshly cut grass is actually the scent that plants release when in distress.
  • All the blinking in one day equates to having your eyes closed for 30 minutes.
  • Human brain is more active during sleep than during the day.
  • 85% of plant life is found in the ocean.  
  • A duck can't walk without bobbing its head.
  • Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backwards.
  • Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill.
  • Sponges hold more cold water than hot.
  • A strawberry is the only fruit which seeds grow on the outside.
  • Reindeer hair is hollow inside like a tube.  
  • Apples are more effective at waking you up in the morning than coffee.
  • Black on yellow are the 2 colors with the strongest impact.
  • Cows don't have upper front teeth.
  • Your skin is the largest organ making up the human body.
  • An elephants ears are used to regulate body temperature.
Thank you!
Thank you for continuing to support me and Prescriptive Health.  It means alot to me that health and wellness are valued and strived for.  I try to live every day with the values and habits that I instill in my practice.  Thank you for sharing in my quest for a healthy lifestyle.
 
Tanya Miszko Kefer, Ed.D., L.Ac.
(845) 659-6133

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