Recently I introduced the idea that we live in a “toxic environment,” which provides easy access to high-calorie, unhealthy, inexpensive food and promotes physical inactivity. The focus was on the toxic food environment, so now it is time to explore our toxic activity environment which makes easy to be inactive and can discourage activity. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a time to celebrate the birthday and reflect on the accomplishments and legacy of Mr. King. It is also a on which people are encouraged to use their day off from work and school to volunteer in their community. Individuals and groups across the country participate in community service, with some making this their first-time volunteer effort and many more continuing a year-round commitment to service.
You can maximize your impact in community service activities by being fit and healthy. To be sure, there are ways that people of physical abilities can contribute, but many service opportunities require a baseline level of fitness to participate. And it is certainly more enjoyable to volunteer if you aren’t being pushed to your limits. In fact, some service activities are similar in exertion to many forms of exercise and some may be consistent with maximal exercise. Unfortunately, the common pattern of inactivity and obesity can limit people’s ability to function optimally at school, work, or in leisure-time activities, including community service.This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
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Posted in Health & Fitness
The term “toxic environment” was popularized years ago to refer to conditions that promote the consumption of high-calorie, unhealthy food and encourage being physically inactive. This combination is thought to be a major factor that contributes to obesity and other chronic diseases, so understanding both aspects is important. For now, lets focus on our toxic food environment, which I do in my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Getting in shape is a common goal for the New Year. Before you start an exercise or weight loss program you may want to have a fitness test to determine your current status and to assess improvement as you progress through the program. If you join a gym, a fitness assessment may be required. This is wise, because a fitness test is important for determining a safe and effective exercise recommendation. It also provides a baseline for you to realize your improvement. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Tagged body composition, endurance, flexibility, percent fat, strength, VO2max
Since Christmas is next week our attention is naturally focused on one person: Santa Claus. Have you ever wondered how Santa gets in shape for his yearly sleigh ride to deliver gifts to good boys and girls around the globe? Like many elite athletes, Santa does not publicly discuss his training or his fitness. There are certainly no published studies that report his one repetition maximum strength or his maximal oxygen uptake.
Given this lack of information, I attempted to make an educated guess about Santa’s training, fitness, and health. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
The holidays are often a time of joy, togetherness, and indulgence. Family gatherings, festive meals, and busy schedules can disrupt even the most disciplined routines. While some may worry about straying from their healthy eating or exercise plans during the holiday season, it’s important to remember that giving yourself a break can be a vital part of overall well-being. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Stress during the holidays is a common challenge for almost everyone. Elevated stress levels can lead to increased production of cortisol, a hormone that can negatively affect health when chronically elevated. Allowing yourself to relax and enjoy the holiday experience—even if it means skipping a workout or indulging in rich foods—can help mitigate stress and create a more positive outlook.
Healthy eating during the holidays doesn’t have to mean strict dieting or completely avoiding favorite foods. Instead, focus on moderation. Studies suggest that flexible dietary approaches are more effective for long-term weight maintenance compared to restrictive diets, which often lead to feelings of deprivation and eventual overeating. Applying this principle during the holidays means enjoying your favorite treats in reasonable portions while prioritizing nutrient-dense foods when possible. For example, adding a colorful salad to your plate at a holiday dinner or choosing roasted vegetables as a side dish can provide essential vitamins and fiber without detracting from the festive spirit.
Likewise, staying active during the holidays doesn’t have to involve sticking to your usual gym routine. Physical activity can be woven into holiday traditions, like going for a walk after a big meal, engaging in a family game of touch football, or dancing to your favorite holiday tunes. Even small bouts of activity can contribute to better overall health. Research shows that accumulating short, 10-minute sessions of moderate activity can still yield significant cardiovascular and metabolic benefits.
Another critical aspect of taking a holiday break is recognizing the importance of rest. Exercise places stress on the body, and recovery is when the body adapts and grows stronger. Overtraining, or insufficient recovery, can lead to fatigue, decreased performance, and even injury. Scheduled breaks, whether due to holiday travel or simply a desire to relax, can allow your body the time it needs to fully recover
The foundation of a healthy lifestyle is consistency, not perfection. Health behaviors should be viewed over a longer time frame rather than as isolated actions. Missing a workout or enjoying an extra dessert during the holidays does not negate the months of effort you’ve put into maintaining a healthy routine.
In addition to physical rest, mental recovery is equally important. Being overly critical of yourself for not maintaining your usual routine can create unnecessary guilt and stress. Instead, acknowledge that it’s okay to pause, enjoy the moment, and prioritize your relationships and emotional well-being. These aspects of health are just as important as diet and exercise.
While it’s important to allow yourself some leniency, setting realistic goals during the holidays can help you maintain a sense of control without overloading yourself. Focus on small, manageable habits, like drinking plenty of water, limiting sugary beverages, or aiming for 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Celebrate the small wins—like eating an extra serving of vegetables or finding 15 minutes for a brisk walk—and don’t dwell on perceived setbacks. This mindset helps build resilience and fosters a positive relationship with health-related behaviors.
Ultimately, the holidays are just a few weeks out of the year. What truly matters is your overall pattern of choices throughout the year, not the occasional deviations. Allow yourself the grace to savor the season and focus on the joy it brings.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Exercising outdoors during the cold winter months can be an invigorating experience, but it requires extra attention to safety. Cold temperatures and shorter daylight hours—maybe even snow and ice—present unique challenges for outdoor enthusiasts. However, with the right precautions, you can enjoy outdoor activities while minimizing the risk of injury or health issues. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
One of the most important factors in exercising safely in the winter is proper clothing. When it’s cold outside, your body’s natural response is to conserve heat, which can lead to overheating during physical exertion. To counteract this, experts recommend layering clothing to help regulate body temperature and wick away sweat, which can increase the risk of hypothermia if it cools too much.
Wearing moisture-wicking fabrics as a base layer can help keep the skin dry, which is crucial when exercising in cold temperatures. The second layer should provide insulation, such as fleece or down, while the outer layer should be windproof and waterproof to protect against wind chill and precipitation. The layering system allows you to add or remove clothing based on your activity level and weather conditions, ensuring that your body stays warm without overheating.
Additionally, it’s essential to protect extremities like your hands, feet, and ears, as these areas are prone to frostbite. Wearing gloves, thermal socks, and a hat or headband can prevent heat loss from these vulnerable parts of the body.
Cold muscles are more prone to injury, so warming up becomes even more important during winter workouts. When temperatures drop, blood flow to muscles decreases, which can make them less flexible and more susceptible to strains or tears. A gradual warm-up before exercising in cold conditions can enhance muscle elasticity and reduce the likelihood of injury.
A good warm-up in cold weather should include light aerobic activity such as brisk walking or easy jogging, followed by dynamic stretches that focus on the muscles you plan to use. Dynamic movements like leg swings, arm circles, and walking lunges help prepare the body for more intense exercise by increasing blood flow to key muscle groups.
Many people assume that hydration is only a concern during hot weather, but it remains a vital part of cold-weather workouts. Dehydration can still occur in winter because cold air and dry indoor heating systems can increase fluid loss.
It’s important to drink water before, during, and after exercise, even if you don’t feel thirsty. For longer workouts, you might consider a sports drink with electrolytes to help replace minerals lost through sweat. Additionally, monitoring your body’s response to exercise is crucial. Be mindful of early signs of hypothermia, such as shivering, confusion, or numbness, and frostbite, which can cause tingling, redness, and numbness in the skin. If any of these symptoms appear, seek shelter and warmth immediately.
One final consideration when exercising in the cold is knowing when it’s safe to do so. Extreme cold temperatures (below -20°F or -28°C) can increase the risk of frostbite and hypothermia, so it’s important to adjust your exercise schedule based on the weather forecast.
Exercising outdoors during the winter months offers numerous physical and mental benefits, but it also requires special precautions. By dressing in layers, warming up properly, staying hydrated, being mindful of slippery surfaces, and knowing your limits, you can reduce your risk of injury and enjoy a safe and effective winter workout. With these safety strategies in mind, outdoor exercise can be a healthy part of your winter routine.
Posted in Health & Fitness
The holiday shopping season is underway, so you may be searching for that perfect gift for a friend or family member. You probably know someone who plans to start an exercise program, try to lose weight, or otherwise improve their health in the upcoming year. The right gift from you could help them get a good start on their New Year’s resolutions. With so many options for books, exercise equipment, apps, and other gadgets, it can be difficult to pick the right gift. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Boo! Since Halloween is this week, it’s a good time to think about what makes this holiday so scary. It’s not the ghosts or zombies that come to your door in the evening seeking candy that you should be scared of, though. In fact, you don’t even need to wait until dark to get spooked. You are likely to see the scariest “costumes” on your breakfast table on Halloween morning—candy and soda dressed up as healthy food! Here are three common examples:
Fro-yo dressed as healthy yogurt
Most people would consider yogurt to be a healthy breakfast. And it is, provided you aren’t getting tricked! Low-fat and fat-free flavored yogurt is almost always sweetened with sugar. This is true for the yogurt tubes that kids love and much of the Greek yogurt that is so popular. Sure, it contains protein and beneficial bacteria, but the added sugar makes it equivalent to frozen yogurt or ice cream in terms of calories and sugar. Some of these yogurts even come with toppings, like bits of chocolate, just like fro-yo!
A healthier alternative is plain yogurt with real fruit. Sure, it’s not as sweet, but you will be getting the benefits of eating yogurt without all the added sugar.
Soda dressed as fruit juice
Many “fruit” drinks contain less than 5% juice but plenty of added sugar, so they are essentially soda without bubbles. For example, the orange drinks like Hi-C or Sunny D are a popular substitute for orange juice, but they are far from a nutritional equivalent. The same is true for other drinks, including juice boxes and pouches, which are commonly part of breakfast, lunch, or snacks. Even scarier is the fact that these drinks are much sweeter than real fruit. Children may develop an expectation that oranges or orange juice should taste as sweet as soda and prefer the sugar-sweetened version over the real fruit.
A better choice is to make real fruit and fruit juice, not soda disguised as juice, a part of meals and snacks
Candy bars and cookies dressed as cereal and breakfast bars
Many popular breakfast foods targeted at children include sugar-sweetened cereals, pastries, and bars. Some breakfast bars and cereals that seem healthy are really candy bars in disguise. Some even skip the disguise and actually look like candy or dessert. Pop Tarts and some granola bars are covered in chocolate or frosting, and favorite cereals often contain marshmallows or are shaped like cookies. No surprise that these foods are as high in calories and sugar as cookies or some candy bars. Worse, a child who is used to breakfast or snack foods that taste like candy or cookies may resist real food when it is offered. Now that’s scary!
When you think you are eating something healthy but it’s really not—I call this Candy and Soda for Breakfast. And it’s not just breakfast, it happens at every meal.
While the focus here is on food for kids, it really isn’t much different for adults. Breakfast foods like donuts and pastries are almost always topped with icing and it would be difficult to distinguish many muffins from cupcakes. For many people, coffee isn’t just coffee anymore, but a drink that contains as much sugar and as many calories as a milkshake, sometimes with whipped cream on top. What’s really scary is that this is how many people eat every day.
The good news is that you can make your breakfast healthier without too much effort. While there is much debate about what constitutes a healthy breakfast, there is agreement about what it doesn’t include—lots of added sugar! Look for cereals that are low in added sugars and high in fiber. Include real fruit, fruit juice, and milk (or soy milk) whenever possible. If you have time, eggs are an excellent source of protein and healthy fats. Yogurt is good, too, but watch out for added sugars in flavored yogurt. Whole grain toast or a bagel with peanut butter makes a good alternative to Pop Tarts or breakfast bars.
As a general rule, steer clear of foods that look like dessert. Frosting, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and sprinkles simply aren’t part of a healthy meal!
If you are worried about the big bags of candy that get brought home on Halloween night, keep this in mind. While eating a lot of candy is never healthy, a typical Halloween candy binge lasts a few days, after which time the candy is gone or the kids are literally sick of eating it. The long-term effects on your kid’s health (and teeth) can be offset by a good diet, regular activity, and diligent brushing and flossing. The same applies to you, too, if you find yourself digging into the big bowl of candy that is inevitably left over.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Tagged candy, food, halloween, health, healthy breakfast, nutrition, sugar, unhealthy food
Many people in our area are still dealing with damage from Hurricane Helene and the overwhelming impact it is having on their lives. Hurricanes and other natural disasters can have a profound negative impact on our physical and mental health. From everyday pressures to the aftermath of natural disasters, finding effective coping mechanisms to deal with stress is crucial.
Exercise is a potent tool for stress relief and resilience, both in daily life and in the wake of catastrophic events. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
Posted in Health & Fitness
Tagged exercise, fitness, health, mental health, outdoors, walking, wellness
Dr Parr Says... 