Z. Altug, PT, DPT, MS, DipACLM, OCS's Blog: Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox

5 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues for Busy Professionals

The following are some strategies to beat the winter blues (or Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD):

➡️Engage in early morning physical activities such as walking the dog, walking around the neighborhood, raking the leaves, gardening, or other activities you enjoy.

➡️Engage in outdoor sporting activities such as hiking, table tennis, pickleball, softball, tennis, golf, or other activities you enjoy.

➡️Manage your stress

➡️Maintain a regular sleep schedule

➡️Eat healthful and nutritious foods

For further information about the winter blues, check out the following books:
🔴Defeating SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder): A Guide to Health and Happiness Through All Seasons by Norman Rosenthal, MD (Media, 2023).

🔴 Winter Blues: Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder by Norman Rosenthal, MD (The Guilford Press, 2013)

#lifestylemedicine #healthcare #wellness

Let There Be Light in Your Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox

See the blog post from Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

https://blog.jkp.com/2024/09/let-ther...

October Newsletter

Hello Readers! Here is the next installment of my LinkedIn quarterly newsletter.
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/...

The newsletter will be published 4 times per year (April, July, October, January).

I'll share some lifestyle and integrative medicine research tips and strategies to help improve health, happiness, and performance.

In this newsletter, I will explore:
➡️ Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine
➡️ Upcoming Lifestyle Medicine Book
➡️ Association Spotlight
➡️ Clinic Spotlight
➡️ Stress & Health
➡️ Sleep & Health
➡️ Social Connections & Health
➡️ Nature & Health
➡️ Art & Health
➡️ Lifestyle Medicine Book

Did you know…

“The brain is metabolically expensive. In humans, the brain consumes approximately 20% of our metabolic energy, despite comprising only 2% of our body mass, making it amongst the most energetically costly organs in the body” (Padamsey at al. 2023).

Thinking, working, and being creative require energy!

Source: Padamsey Z, Rochefort NL. Paying the brain's energy bill. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2023;78:102668.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Please see The Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox book from Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2024) for additional ideas.

#creativity #productivity #efficiency
#TheLifestyleMedicineToolbox #LifestyleMedicineToolbox #lifestylemedicine

Workplace Wellness Tip

Part 2: Have you tried “resistance exercise snacks”?

🏋️ A study in Frontiers in Public Health (2024) concluded, “Resistance exercise snacking (RES) could be an effective approach for the workplace health promotion (WHP) to promote resistance training (RT) in inactive women with sedentary occupations and improve their muscle mass.”

🏋️ The authors defined RES as “brief (e.g., ≤ 15 min) RT bouts executed frequently throughout the week or day (e.g., 5–7 RES per week) at low intensities (e.g., bodyweight) with minimal to no equipment (e.g., resistance bands or portable weights)” (Fyfe et al. 2022).

🏋️ For example, the exercises utilized in study consisted of bodyweight exercises such as squats, wall sits, pushups, lunges, heel raises, and standing leg lifts.

What are your “resistance exercise snack” strategies?

Sources:
💠 Brandt T, Schwandner CTL, Schmidt A. Resistance exercise snacks improve muscle mass in female university employees: a prospective, controlled, intervention pilot-study. Front Public Health. 2024;12:1347825.

💠 Fyfe JJ, Hamilton DL, Daly RM. Minimal-Dose Resistance Training for Improving Muscle Mass, Strength, and Function: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence and Practical Considerations. Sports Med. 2022;52(3):463-479.

Please see The Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox book from Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2024) for additional ideas.

#TheLifestyleMedicineToolbox #LifestyleMedicineToolbox #lifestylemedicine
#workplace #corporatewellness

Workplace Wellness Tip

Part 1: Have you tried “exercise snacks” during your workday?

🏃🏽 An article in the Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews (2022) stated, “We define exercise snacks as isolated ≤1-min bouts of vigorous exercise performed periodically throughout the day.”

🏃🏽 For example, “exercise snacks” could include marching in place, stairclimbing, bodyweight squats, or shadow boxing movements.

🏃🏽 A study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (2024) concluded, “Stair-climbing exercise snacks may be an attractive approach to implement in the workplace setting and has potential to positively impact sedentary behaviour and physical activity metrics.”

What are your “exercise snack” strategies?

Sources:
💠 Islam H., Gibala M.J., Little J.P. 2022. Exercise snacks: a novel strategy to improve cardiometabolic health. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 50(1): 31–37.

💠 Stork MJ, Marcotte-Chénard A, Jung ME, Little JP. Exercise in the workplace: examining the receptivity of practical and time-efficient stair-climbing "exercise snacks". Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2024;49(1):30-40.

Please see The Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox book from Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2024) for additional ideas.

#TheLifestyleMedicineToolbox #LifestyleMedicineToolbox #lifestylemedicine
#workplace #corporatewellness

Thank you, PHYSIOTIMES

Thank you, PHYSIOTIMES, for reviewing The Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox in the March 2024 issue!

For more information about PHYSIOTIMES in India, please visit:

➡️ Website: https://physiotimes.in/
➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/phys...
➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GETPHYSIOTIMES
➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/physiotimes/
➡️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/physiotimesma...

#physio #physiotherapist #physiotimes
#lifestylemedicine #lifestylemedicinetoolbox

Workplace Wellness Tip

A study in the British Journal of Nutrition (2017) concluded, “Providing healthy meals, snacks and water during working hours seems to be an effective way of improving employees' dietary intake. Moreover, increased intake of water may be associated with beneficial effects on fatigue, vigour and total mood in shift-working healthcare staff.”

Source:
Leedo E, Beck AM, Astrup A, Lassen AD. The effectiveness of healthy meals at work on reaction time, mood and dietary intake: a randomised cross-over study in daytime and shift workers at a university hospital. Br J Nutr. 2017;118(2):121-129.

What are your strategies?

#TheLifestyleMedicineToolbox #LifestyleMedicineToolbox #lifestylemedicine
#workplace #corporatewellness

Workplace Wellness Tip

Try walking meetings to help increase productivity and improve mood. Bring comfortable walking shoes.

Resources:
➡️ Kling HE, Moore KJ, Brannan D, Caban-Martinez AJ. Walking meeting effects on productivity and mood among white-collar workers: evidence from the walking meeting pilot study. J Occup Environ Med. 2021;63(2):e75-e79.

➡️ Kling HE, Yang X, Messiah SE, Arheart KL, Brannan D, Caban-Martinez AJ. Opportunities for increased physical activity in the workplace: the Walking Meeting (WaM) Pilot Study, Miami, 2015. Prev Chronic Dis. 2016;13:E83.

Hot New Releases in Occupational Medicine

Thank you, Amazon.com.au, for the “Hot New Releases in Occupational Medicine” listing!

#amazon #amazonbooks #amazonnewrelease

The Lifestyle Medicine Toolbox