Welcome back to "Rock Your Body," The State News' fitness and nutrition column. Each week, we hit up our local experts with some questions and pass on their wisdom to you.
But before we get to the goods, we thought we'd tell you a little bit about who'll be giving you advice.
Tom Ostrander: Tom is the owner of Powerhouse Gym, 435 E. Grand River Ave. He is one of Michigan's top amateur bodybuilding competitors. Tom is a personal trainer with experience ranging from professional athletes to stay-at-home moms.
Jim Pivarnik: Jim is a professor of kinesiology and epidemiology. Trained as an exercise physiologist, his specialty is in physical activity and exercise on chronic disease risk. He is also director of MSU's Center for Physical Activity and Health.
Ronda Bokram: Ronda is a nutritionist in the health education department at Olin Health Center.
This week, we asked:
SN: Many people complain that buying healthy foods is expensive. Is there an affordable way to eat healthy?
Tom: It is true that eating healthy can potentially cost more than eating junk food. Think about the logic of that for a minute - it costs more for food that is good for you than crap food. It makes sense. With that being said, it is important that you simply budget for these types of expenses and eliminate negative expenses where there is room to make healthy food purchases.
It is unrealistic to think that you can go out four nights a week and still be able to eat chicken and turkey breasts every day on a student's budget. However, most students don't want to hear that and simply chalk healthy eating up to being unaffordable.
There are also plenty of ways around spending your life savings on food. For example, tuna fish is inexpensive, as are most whole-grain carbohydrates, cottage cheese, eggs, turkey-breast deli meat and fruits and vegetables. Only a few select items such as chicken, beef, sushi and fish can get costly. That is why it is important to stock up on these items heavily when they are on sale.
Ronda: "I would buy those foods but I can't afford it," is a comment I hear frequently. Perhaps it is a way to justify "deals" such as the 99 cent menus at fast-food restaurants.
But, take a minute and consider what "eating healthy" really means. It doesn't mean that you need to buy organic and all-natural foods from a health-food store. If so, your groceries would definitely cost more than a trip to a traditional grocer.
Eating healthy really means purchasing and eating foods that vary in texture (low and high fiber), color (i.e. vitamins A, C) and major nutrient content (protein, fat and carbohydrate). It means that you use a balance of already prepared and from-scratch recipes, incorporating a variety of foods over the day, week and month. In short, balance, variety and moderation are the keys to healthy eating and you can get foods to fit that recommendation on almost any budget.
SN: How do you stay motivated to exercise, especially with cold weather on the way?
Jim: First, remember that even though the temperature might feel cold when you step out the door, this will change when your body heats up.
Eighty percent of the energy we use during exercise is converted to heat. This extra heat serves to warm us when outside temperatures drop. Some thoughtful layering with appropriate clothing will help insulate the body from the cold and allow it to maintain body heat when the temperatures approach or drop below freezing.
The innermost layer should be made of some type of polypropylene material that is manufactured to help draw moisture away from the skin (yes, you still sweat quite a bit in the cold). The next layer can be wool, if it is really cold, followed by a water resistant, yet "breathable" material. The point is to remove moisture from the skin, while at the same time, keep outside moisture from coming in.
While cold temperature is a nuisance, a strong wind can be more deadly, as significant body heat can be lost to very cold wind blowing over bare or lightly covered skin. Skin covering is important, and even critical if the combination of wind and temperature result in a very low wind-chill factor.
Tom: For me, this is a very easy thing to do. I simply have a picture in my head of what I want to look like and I don't stop until I reach that point.
The flip side is that I am never satisfied with how I look and if I also know that I have to work hard just to maintain the progress I have made. For different people, different factors are motivational.
Just as in, say, a management position, you need to find what stimulus motivates someone to achieve a certain goal. For me, it's the fact that I am expected to look a certain way and represent, to some degree, the products I'm selling. For someone else, it might be to look good on spring break or to lower cholesterol or blood pressure.
Whatever the motivation, it is important to set short- and long-term goals for yourself that are both challenging and achievable.
