If you work a regular office job, there’s no question about it, you’re likely fairly sedentary throughout the better part of the day.  High levels of inactivity is one of the largest contributing factors to the obesity issues that we’re facing in today’s world so it’s important that we approach this issue head on and figure out little ways we can work physical activity into our day.

The following ten tips will help you accomplish just that and will easily allow you to see the benefits of fitness all without leaving your office building.

Sit On An Exercise Ball
The single best way to strengthen the core muscles while at the office is to sit on an exercise ball.  Replace your standard chair with this and you’ll quickly find the entire abdominal area as well as the muscles that run along the spinal column will be tighter.

Take The Stairs
You’ve likely heard it before, but if you want to quickly firm the lower body muscles, nothing beats taking the stairs.  Even if you just walk two flights, five times a day, this can really add up over time.

Set An Alarm To Stretch
Most of us don’t take the opportunity to stretch often enough throughout the day so start setting an alarm to signal yourself to stretch once every two hours.  By doing so you’ll help to improve your overall focus and concentration as well.

Practice Deep Breathing
Along with stretching, another important thing to consider is deep breathing. This will automatically open up the chest better and ensure that you’re getting the oxygen you need.  As an added benefit, as it causes you to sit up your ab muscles will get called into action.

Perform Stomach Contractions Once Per Hour
To further enhance the stomach if sitting on an exercise ball is not possible, consider performing stomach contractions.  For this you simply tighten up the abs, hold, and then release for a set of ten once per hour. Do this eight times a day and you’ll quickly see a difference.

Utilize Heavy Grips
Heavy grips are an excellent tool for working on your grip strength and will be especially important if you happen to do a lot of typing throughout the day as well.  Make use of these at least once per day for best results.

Consider A Mini Exercise Bike
To get in a bit of cardio and burn off some calories, try a mini exercise bike. This one fits nicely under your desk and could be used right while you are working.  By using it daily you’ll boost your leg strength and help tone the quad muscles.

Invest In Some Tubing
Another great piece of equipment that you may want to consider is some rubber tubing.  You can perform a variety of exercises with these such as bicep curls, lateral raises, and tricep extensions. Taking a break from your busy day to do a few sets here and there will quickly provide strengthening benefits and give the body a break.

Sit Up Straight
Another vital thing that you are sure you are doing is sitting up straight throughout the day. This is going to help work all the muscles associated with proper posture and really help to make you instantly look slimmer. Often those who work office jobs do notice poor posture so spend some serious time fixing this bad habit.

Take Mini-Stepper Breaks
Finally, another way to get in some cardio if you aren’t a bike fan is a mini stepper.  This can easily be placed in the corner of your office and used when needed. So don’t let your office job get you down any longer.  With a few unique ideas, you can get in a quick workout without having to go to the gym.

I am very sorry for my delay in posting! Luckily, I think the technical difficulties are finally over and I have added kombucha pictures and am ready to tell about my latest Sunday Chef recipe which is simply scrambled eggs and veggies. The catch is that they actually taste delicious together.  And I say veggies loosely because I just use whatever I happen have in the fridge that will cook up nicely.

This time I had used broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms, then topped the dish with freshly diced tomatoes. YUM! To start, I usually mix 2-3 eggs in a small bowl with a splash of milk and dash of salt and pepper. I melt butter in two small pans and saute the veggies in one and cook the scrambled eggs in another.

I have tried combining them by sauteing the veggies then adding the eggs and scrambling them in the same pan. This works and tastes fine, but the outcome of the eggs isn’t quite as nice looking. So I now cook them separately, then add the veggies to the scrambled eggs and mix them once everything is done. If I have cheese on hand, I might sprinkle some of that on at this time so it melts a little.

Then you can top the eggs and veggies with anything you like such as freshly chopped herbs, salsa, etc. In a pinch, this can also make for a great lunch or dinner :)

So you can imagine what I’m sipping right now as I write this post! I am very thankful that my first attempt at kombucha was successful. After letting the kombucha brew/set for about 10 days (without moving it), I removed the large mother scoby (pictured left), with clean hands and no rings, and placed it in a small mason jar with enough kombucha to cover it.

I also removed my new “baby” scoby which grew from the mother and placed it in a separate jar of kombucha. My baby scoby looks like a cute little pancake (pictured right)!

After doing this and straining the kombucha (straining is not necessary, but I preferred it), I still had plenty left to enjoy (pictured above). It tastes pretty sweet still, like sweet tea, but unfortunately mine has lost the fizz. I had covered it tightly in mason jars, but I actually need flip-top bottles in order to keep in the fizz.

I am going to try EZ Cap bottles for my next batch which are recommended on other kombucha making websites. I actually met a woman at a recent health event who even puts frozen raspberries in the kombucha before bottling it for some extra flavor- yum!

Now it’s time to explore some of the health benefits of this wonderful fermented drink! Kombucha helps detoxify the liver and is also said to prevent and possibly fight cancer (this is mostly from personal experiences people describe than scientific testing). Either way, I’m truly hopeful that it does prevent it by ridding toxins from the body and I certainly don’t trust anyone profiting in the cancer “industry” that may knock it anyway.

In addition, kombucha is “live” and contains probiotics which can help with digestion. What a great benefit since digestion is of the utmost importance to the body! In addition, there are anti-oxidants in it that help to boost the immune system. I can’t say no to all this goodness, especially since it tastes delicious and has the refreshing, fizzy carbonation I crave (well, the next batch will anyway), especially in the summer!

These week’s Sunday Chef post is a little different! I am trying my hand for the first time at homemade kombucha. I have purchased bottled kombucha from health stores in the past (and they come in a variety of wonderful flavors), but they are pretty pricey for a small amount. A member of Nourishing Ways West MI (a chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation) gave me a kombucha mushroom or SCOBY- Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast to start my first batch, although they can also be purchased online.

The recipe I used stated to bring 4 cups of distilled or filtered water to boil in a stainless steal pan. I then added 1 1/3  cups white sugar and let it boil for 5 minutes. I then turned off the heat and then added 3 bags of black tea and three of green tea. I covered the pot and let the tea steep for 40 minutes before removing the bags.

While the tea cooled slightly, I added 3 quarts of cold water to a gallon mason jar and then poured in the tea. Once it was about room temperature, I added the kombucha mushroom with clean hands and no rings (darker side down) and then covered it with a cloth and rubberband.

I will let it sit for about 10 days in a dim room while the tea ferments and becomes more sour than sweet. If I were to wait 14 days, all of the sugar would be gone. Also, another mushroom will grow on top of the one I began with. The New Homemaker (where you can find a great deal of information on making kombucha) stated that once the new mushroom is at least 1/8″ thick, the kombucha is done. I”ll report back next week on the final kombucha, the mushroom removal and storage, and of course, the health benefits!

I came across an interesting article called “Posture in Women” by Andrew Schafer, DC in the May issue of Natural Awakenings magazine regarding womens posture and how important it is to health. This is something that I am personally working on since I have a nasty habit of slouching and hunching my shoulders (not pretty!). If only I would have taken my mother’s advice to stand up straight years ago, I wouldn’t have to work so hard to change now!

Unfortunately, in addition to simply looking unattractive, poor posture can cause headaches, back pain, and neck pain. The article states that slouching actually puts the vertebrae in misalignment which can pinch, stretch, and chafe the spinal nerves. This triggers pain signals to the brain and poor posture overall can cause full portions of the spine to be misaligned which results in large areas of the spine sending pain signals.

Slouching specifically can actually make you breathe more shallowly by shrinking the pectoral muscles and reducing the thoracic cavity. It also requires the heart to work harder which can contribute to heart disease. The overall stress slouching causes on ligaments, nerves, and muscles can also make a person feel tired in general.

Keeping the head too far forward is a big culprit of bad posture. The ears should be directly over the shoulders, but if the head protrudes farther, so does the vertebrae and this creates pain in the neck due to misalignment. This also stresses the neck muscles at the bottom of the skull (since they have to work holder to hold it up in this position) and can result in neck pain and headaches from the tension.

There are many lifestyle factors that can contribute to poor posture such as desk jobs, driving, sleeping positions, pregnancy, and wearing high heels. For people with desk jobs, the article suggests keeping a computer monitor at eye level and near the front of the desk while using a pullout tray to type and use the mouse. This will help prevent slouching to look down and forward at the monitor as well as straining and lifting shoulders to use the keyboard.

If poor posture is used in office work or driving, this may result in excessive curvature in the upper back and shoulders and a “hump” in the upper back. Excessive curvature in the lower back would make it look as though a woman is sticking her butt out. In this case, the woman probably has weak ab muscles and tight lower back muscles. This can be caused due to poor sleeping positions (such as on the stomach), pregnancy (the weight of the baby pulling the belly forward), and wearing high heels.

Now that you know all about bad posture, let’s explore good posture! If you stand with your back against the wall (with your heels 2-3″ from it), there should only be a small space behind the head and lower back. You do not want your shoulders to be more than 3″ away from the wall. Your head should be upright, looking forward, with your chin tucked in. Your knees should be slightly bent and feeling a slight squeeze between your shoulder blades is good.

It’s a lot to think about all at once, but by being aware and carefully modifying your posture, you can waste less energy and feel better as you will be resting on your bones instead of your muscles.

Tour Geri Young’s backyard while identifying common herbs and their uses. You will also learn how to make poultice and tincture and leave with garlic to start your own herb garden. The cost is $15 and you can RSVP to Geri at 616-896-7814.

Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Learn how to make kombucha (a wonderful fermented beverage with many health benefits) with Sue Myer in this afternoon workshop. The cost is $10 and everyone will leave with written instructions on how to make kombucha and a SCOBY to beging making your own. RSVP to Geri at 616-896-7814.

Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Today’s recipe is for easy homemade granola and it’s the perfect healthy snack or topping for a yummy fruit and yogurt parfait. I found the recipe in the April magazine issue of Body + Soul, but also located it at their website. I actually cut the recipe into approximate thirds (that was a little hard to do!), but it certainly made enough for me as it pretty well covered my whole baking sheet.

The ingredients needed for the full recipe are:

• 6 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cups chopped nuts of your choice (I used walnuts because they are my favorite!)
• 1/3 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup seeds (I omitted these)
• 3/4 Tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 Tsp salt
• 1 cup dried fruit (optional)

To start, mix the first five ingredients in one bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites and salt with a whisk until bubbly. Then add in the honey and oil to the eggs and mix well. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined. Spread the granola flat onto two baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes, flip the granola with a spatula and then bake for another ten minutes or until golden brown. Cool the granola on the pan and then transfer to a bowl once cool. At this point you can add the dried fruit if desired.

If you want to get extra creative with your granola, I also located some tips for different combinations and flavors you can check out.

I learned this weekend’s recipe at the Wise Traditions 2009 conference and it is a super quick & easy salad dressing that is also pretty! I think it would be particularly good on a spinach salad with mozzarella cheese, dried fruit, and walnuts (but I’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow to try that!). It is a tangy dressing and you can substitute any flavor of jam that you want. I just happen to love raspberries!

The four ingredients you will need are listed below:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp jam
• 1 Tbsp wine vinegar or raspberry vinegar
• Pinch of salt (I omitted this because I somehow missed reading it until now!)

Mix all of the ingredients well in a small bowl using either an immersion blender or a fork (which I used to just quickly beat the mixture). This will help to make the dressing nice and creamy.

This past Wednesday, I attended a wonderfully informative lecture put on by Nourishing Ways West MI. The founders of NourishMD.com, Dr. Sue McCreadie, MD and Holistic Health Counselor Angelle Batten, spoke about a number of health issues that affect children and how REAL foods (not processed, fake foods) help make kids healthy.

Being a medical doctor, Sue has a traditional background in medicine, but has since expanded her practice to holistic medicine. She described traditional medicine as looking at all of the parts of the body (including organs) separately and holistic medicine as looking at everything at once since it is all connected.

Angelle and Sue spent a good amount of time talking about the digestive system, which is extremely important to the entire body, as 70% of the body’s immune system is the gut. In fact, they stated that almost any issue (including allergies) in the body goes back to the gut and second to the spine only, the gut contains most nerve endings in the body. If you think about it even in simple terms, the digestive system is how we convert outside food into usable nutrition and energy for the body, so if the body can’t do this well, we’ve got a big problem on our hands.

Eating REAL food is a good first step to helping out the digestive system. Foods that are unprocessed and close to their natural state are best, and ensuring they are good quality is also important. This means eating organic, pastured meat and organic fruits, vegetables, and grains when possible.

Sue and Angelle noted that it is not possible to go from eating processed foods to real foods overnight so they suggested “bridge” foods. The example they used was apple flavored snacks as processed, fake food and a local, organic apple as the REAL food. Storebought applesauce would be the bridge food in this scenario. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly less processed than the apple flavored snacks.

Also, to help make the transition easier, Sue and Angelle suggested thinking about what foods can be added to your (or your child’s) diet rather than thinking about what must be taken away. That way, the good foods can begin to replace the bad ones. They also noted that meal planning is important and I’m working on this myself, but can’t say that it is necessarily easy!

Luckily, Nourishmd.com offers a great selection of healthy recipes using REAL food. I’ve tried a couple of them already (including the homemade baked oatmeal-yum!). They also have a great deal of information available and an interesting health blog. I definitely recommend checking out their site!