Fall Into Food and Fitness

There is a touch of Fall in the air. Every October, the weather breaks and there is noticeably less humidity than in our summer months. This year we had record rainfall. It was good to keep fires down and it fed our local crops. Now we must move forward officially into Fall with Winter around the corner.

Fall is a time to make adjustments in the foods that you eat and the activities that you participate in. Seasonally, crops such as squash, pumpkin, chestnuts and apples provides us with excellent nutritional vitamins, fiber, and minerals to help keep our bodies healthy. Squash and apples contain fiber, vitamin C, and calcium and apples provide us with quercetin. Pumpkin has a lot of vitamin A and potassium. Brussels sprouts and chestnuts are also packed with disease fighting natural phytochemicals and fiber. All of these Fall foods can be consumed and fill you up while not adding weight to your body. Cold and flu season is around the corner and we want our immune systems to be prepared!

In Southwest Florida, Fall is a great time to ramp up your cardiovascular health while also toning your body. In addition, getting some strength training 2-3 times per week is very important for your overall well being.

Cardiovascular training helps to tonify your heart muscle with attempts of lowering your pulse and keeping your blood pressure in check. Monitoring these vital signs can give you a good indication if you are working at the right pace for you. When a person exercises, naturally their pulse will rise in order to get more oxygen to the tissues that are working. It is also common that the systolic blood pressure (the top number) will raise depending upon the demands on the body. It is not good for the diastolic pressure (bottom number) to go up more than 10mmhg. This could be indicative of an underlying problem. As you walk or run a little faster, your heart rate will increase but as your body adjusts and strengthens (heart), the heart rate recovery should improve. This many times goes hand in hand with feeling that you have more energy and endurance.

Strength training, though relative, is important for the rest of your body as well. As the body develops more tone and strengthens the metabolic rate may increase and this will get you into a good position for the holiday season that is fast approaching. Muscles burns more calories than fat and provides us with the framework to perform everything from simple activities of dialing living to playing golf or tennis or even participating in triathlons or other races.

Be smart as we prepare for the Fall and Winter seasons by adding fall fuels to the body while getting yourself in a better place physically. This combination will also propel your mental attitude into the beginning of a beautiful season. If you need guidance in a program that is right for you, don’t hesitate to call Fitness Together where private personal trainers and physical therapists are working diligently to help others like yourself improve their nutritional, physical, and overall mental well being.

To your health!

For further information you can

call me at 239.263.9348 at Fitness

Together in Downtown Naples. It is

never too late to work on yo