Being Active with Physical Limitations

Don’t let arthritis slow you down.

• To help joint movement and make your joints feel less stiff, do stretching exercises almost daily.
• Stretches and exercises are best done when your muscles and joints are warm.
• Try stretching after doing the dishes, taking a warm bath or after a walk.
• Take care of numb or tingly feet or hands.
• Never walk barefoot.
• Keep your feet and hands warm.

• Use tools with thicker grips to help you hold them easily.

Manage breathing problems.

• Break your activity into 5 min. or 10 min. blocks of time. Rest in between if you need to, then try to do a few minutes more.
• Wait an hour after eating before you exercise.
• Try being active soon after taking your breathing medicine.

Preventing falls

• Be sure that stairwells and halls are well lit.
• Take your time on steps and curbs. Look at the steps.
• On icy days, walk with a friend or do indoor activities.
• Put nonskid backing on rugs.
• If reaching makes you dizzy, put things on low shelves.
• Strength training and stretching exercises will help your balance.
• Walking and strength training will strengthen your bones.

Work on upper body stretches.

• Upper body stretches can make it easier to do everyday activities like reaching for things, getting dressed, and doing household chores.
• Do upper body exercises.
• Work on neck flexibility.
• Neck flexibility makes it easier to do everyday activities like turning your head.
• Do gentle neck exercises.

Get a grip!

• Squeeze a soft ball to improve the strength of your grip.
• Use special equipment to help open jars or grasp things.
• Use foam rubber and tape to build up handles on your tools.

Protect your back and leg muscles.

• Good leg and lower back flexibility can help you prevent back injuries and reduce muscle soreness.
• Use raised garden beds or long-handled tools.
• Bend your knees and not your back when lifting.
• Try back stretches.

Do exercises that slowly increase your strength.

• Strong muscles can help prevent pain and injury.
• Use a stretch band looped around a heavy object like a table leg.
• Climb stairs, a few at a time, to increase leg strength.

Move a little more every day.

• Movement gets oxygen to your muscles.
• Do activities that use large muscles—try walking or vacuuming.
• Build up! Start with 5-10 minutes of walking at one time, and increase by 2-3 minutes every few days, until you can comfortably do 30 minutes.

Poultry and Mango Stir Fry

You can save a lot of time by buying a a jar of sliced mangoes from your grocer's produce department and using part of the fruit for this recipe. Store the remaining mangoes for up to 1 week in your refrigerator and enjoy them as a healthy snack.

Serves 4 (3/4 cup per serving)
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast or turkey breast tenderloins, all visible fat removed
1 cup mango or peach chunks
Vegetable oil spray
2 Tbsp. Asian-style cooking sauce for chicken, vegetables, and meat, or sweet and sour sauce
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:
Rinse chicken and pat dry. cut into bite-sized pieces. If using canned fruit, drain it and pat it dry. Set aside.
Spray a large skillet with vegetable oil. Place over medium high heat. Add chicken to hot skillet. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until tender and no longer pink. Remove from heat. Stir in sauce. Gently stir in mangoes or peaches. Return to heat; heat through, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon almonds.

Nutrition Facts: (per serving)
Calories: 224
Protein: 26 g
Carbohydrate: 11 g
Cholesterol: 62 mg
Sodium: 199 mg
Total Fat: 8 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Polyunsaturated 2 g
Monosaturated 4 g

Source: American Heart Association - Quick & Easy Cookbook pg. 131

Dairy Tips

Use lower fat milk and yogurt.

• If you do OK with milk, drink some each day. Work your way down from whole or 2% milk to 1% or skim (nonfat).
• Buttermilk has no butter—it can also be a healthy choice.
• Cook with whole milk or 2% milk instead of cream. Then try 1%.

• Mix whole fruit (sliced banana, strawberries, or peaches) into plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt for a healthy snack.
• Avoid creamers in coffee. Instead, choose reduced fat milk or try evaporated skim milk for a creamy taste without saturated fat.

Go easy on high fat cheeses.

• Try sharp cheeses like sharp cheddar or Parmesan—you get more taste with smaller amounts. Slice it thin or grate it.
• For snacks, cut a small piece of cheese and put the rest away. It’s easy to eat too much!
• Don’t add a lot of cheese to meat sandwiches—regular cheese is high in saturated fat and adds extra salt (sodium).
• Ask for pizza with half the cheese and more vegetables.
• Go easy on the cream cheese toppings for sandwiches and bagels.
• Make lasagna and casseroles with cottage cheese or mozzarella.
• Choose cheeses that are low in salt (low sodium).

Butternut Squash Soup

Serves: 6 (3/4 cup per serving)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 to 12 minutes

Ingredients:
1 tsp. light margarine
2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup frozen chopped onion or 1/2 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic or 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen no-salt-added whole kernel corn
1/2 cup frozen butternut squash thawed
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh dillweed or 1 tsp. dried, crumbled

Directions:
Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook maragrine, carrots, onion, and garlic for 2-3 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth, corn, and squash. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, stir together water and flour. Add to soup and cook over high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add dillweed  and cook for 30-60 seconds, stirring occasionally.

Cooks Tip on Frozen Butternut Squash
To avoid wasting half a package of frozen butternut squash, cut the package in half with a sturdy serrated knife. Freeze one half in an airtight plastic bag for later use-perhaps to thaw and swirl together with mashed potatoes for a fun and different side dish.

Nutrition Facts: (per serving)
Calories: 88
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Cholesterol: 1 mg
Total Fat: 1 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sodium: 87 mg

Source: American Heart Association - Meals in Minutes Cookbook pg. 53

Tips For Cutting Calories

When it comes to healthy weight management, small steps add up. In fact, little changes in eating and activity level have a more positive impact on health than drastic ones. This is because you are more likely to stick with smaller changes over time. Extreme diets and intensive exercise regimens may work well at first, but they rarely last over the long term.

Healthy weight is all about balancing food intake with physical activity. Most of us could improve our energy balance by shaving just 100 calories a day off our usual intake. It’s not difficult:

• Lighten up your favorite coffee drink with non-fat milk and sugar-free syrup.
• Trim all fat from beef, pork and chicken. Remove the skin from poultry.
• Dish up slow-churned, reduced-calorie ice cream in place of regular.
• Enjoy raw vegetables with salsa or fat-free ranch dip instead of chips.

Small Changes Add Up
Here are more great ideas that will cut calories from your daily intake, possibly without your even noticing:

1. Downsize Your Dishes. Use smaller plates and bowls to help you eat less. We tend to fill up the dish we’re using and then eat it all. Our brains also think we are getting more when the same amount of food is placed in a smaller dish.
2. Savor Your Meals. Eating slowly helps you consume only what your body needs to feel satisfied. Eating too quickly, in less than 20 to 30 minutes, leads to overeating and feeling uncomfortably full afterwards.
3. Leave Some Food on Your Plate. This is especially important if you grew up in the “clean plate club.” By leaving even a few bites, you can focus more on your internal signals of satisfaction and less on eating food just because it is there.
4. Don’t Eat Out of a Bag or Box. When you eat out of a package, you are likely to keep eating until it’s all gone – no matter how many servings the package actually contains. Pour one serving into a small bowl.
5. Choose Your Glass Wisely. Here’s another place where our eyes play tricks on us. When glasses are short and wide, we tend to fill them with more fluid and to drink more. Use a slender glass for any beverage except water.
6. Rethink Your Drinks. High-calorie beverages like soft drinks, juice drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees and alcohol add calories just like solid foods. Whenever possible, replace these drinks with plenty of water.

Source:
American Dietetic Association