Americans walk significantly less than other cultures

There’s no use denying it: we are on a trend toward making walking obsolete. We drive, we bike, we segway, we sit; we work on our butts, relax on our butts, and commute on our butts, we eat on our butts; is there an activity that can’t be done on our butts anymore?

But this is not a problem to be taken lightly: imagine (or think about reality) that you are a deskbound worker who sits for the greater part of eight hours on the job each day. If you are awake for 16 hours, then this is 50% of your waking life that you are spent sitting. Here’s what that is doing to your body:

• Muscle degeneration: the core, the hips and lower body, the upper body and neck, all the important parts of your body suffer and will eventually start to cause pain. 
• Brain function lowers: circulation of blood and, consequently, oxygen to the brain is hampered.
• Digestion is affected: abdominal contents are compressed which slows down digestion and causes all kinds of untimely bodily discomfort!

This is before you even take posture into account!

Getting back to a walking-heavy lifestyle

Simply put, being sedentary is taking years off your life. It’s time to make a commitment to standing up and walking every once in a while; walking helps you manage weight, improve circulation, strengthen muscles and bones, boost your mood and improve the function of your brain! 

• Park your car further away
• Always take the stairs
• Walk across the office rather than sending an e-mail 
• Make your lunch hour sacred
• Take walks throughout the day, especially after lunch and dinner!

These are simple things that go un-thought of and stop us from walking! At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we support an anti-sedentary lifestyle. If you need help getting inspired to start walking more or help with healing the troubles brought on by hours spent sedentary, give our office in Fremont a call to schedule an appointment today! 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Winter fatigue can be combated with a diet rich in energy. 

And let’s cut straight to it: soda and candy don’t provide you with enduring energy. They may provide you with a quick boost, but the body quickly processes simple carbohydrates, leaving you with low blood sugar and low energy. What you need is something to sustain and complex carbohydrates, of the kind found in grains, provide you with just that: clean-burning fuel to keep you pushing through the fatigue that is brought on by winter. 

Attention to proper nutrition and proper timing of eating makes a world of difference to your vitality.

Everyone has heard not to skip breakfast, but the pressure of time often leaves us shorthanded in the mornings. A coffee and croissant set a pretty poor tone for the rest of the day, so if you can wake up just a second earlier to consume a balanced breakfast (think oatmeal with fruit; toast with yogurt) you can start off on the right foot. Modern nutrition suggests that you distribute calorie consumption evenly across all meals, so you set the tone for the rest of the day with breakfast. 

A high energy diet includes: 

• Iron: a mineral that helps allocate oxygen to where it is needed by way of the red blood cells. Oxygen is essential for energy and many of us are chronically deficient in iron levels. 
• Vitamin D: for fighting off seasonal depression, D is important. But it is also hard to come by in winter. Add it in by consuming cold water fish such as salmon, which also happens to contain high levels of protein and omega-3 fatty acid. 
• A mix high in complex carbohydrates, medium in protein and low in fat and plenty of fruit and vegetable to provide you with all the micronutrients necessary to help you truly thrive. 

At Scorca Chiropractic, we help you fight through the fatigue of winter naturally

Diet is a cornerstone, but so is keeping your body fit so that you can stay active in the winter months. We help you keep your body in top physical form by providing you with chiropractic adjustment, of the kind that removes nerve impingement and boosts range of motion. Give our office in Fremont a call to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Why do I constantly feel tired and down during winter? 

It is an outcome of nature: the shorter hours of daylight and the dearth of sunlight combine to affect your sleeping and waking cycles. We produce more melatonin, which makes us feel sleepier (and even drowsier) than normal, which could be why you find yourself pining for bed earlier than normal. So the first step is to relax- it is happening to all of us, albeit on different scales. On the more extreme end is Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mood disorder that is thought to be experienced by up to 20% of the population. And to a certain extent, we probably all feel the sensation of winter tiredness- how it affects and shapes your life is determined by your response.

Things you can do to combat fatigue and keep energy up throughout winter

• Get out despite the cold and exercise: by getting you out in the sun, you can recoup some vitamin D and the endorphin release that comes with exercise helps increase happiness. 
• Consume vitamin D: this vitamin is harder to come by in winter, so we must add it in through the diet. Cold water fish and fortified dairy products are the best ways to do so. 
• Use diet- more on this in the future, but there are many energy giving foods that can provide you with a boost to get through the day. 
• Fight stress on all fronts: work in some relaxation to your everyday to keep stress at bay. 

Use our services at Scorca Chiropractic to boost vitality in the dead of winter

Many of the bullet points above can be aided and optimized by chiropractic treatment. By regulating the nervous system through chiropractic adjustment and addressing the physical manifestations of stress. we help your body find a semblance of stability despite the upheaval of the season. Give our office in Fremont a call to schedule an appointment today!

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Using your body to train for strength.

When it comes to breaking into the fitness world, we find that one of the best places to start is in your own home with your own body weight. The gym is not for everyone, but fitness should be and, as creatures of comfort, humans benefit from exercises that are convenient. Squats, push-ups, planks are incredibly effective exercises that require zero equipment and can be done from the comfort of your living room. 

The benefits to be gained from body weight training.

• Conditioning the entire core
• Getting your heart rate up
• Burning calories
• Building muscle 

And most of the exercises require no extra input besides your body, a little time and the power of gravity. We can show you how squats and jump squats, jumping jacks and jumping lunges can be done in just minutes a day, to the benefit of your body and mind.

Keeping your fitness up in winter is critical

Cold weather can kill motivation. And for people who already avoid the gym out of principle, the winter months make it more difficult to get outdoor exercise. At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we want you to maintain fitness levels because a healthy body makes for a happy spirit. We can help you stay motivated and keep muscles loose and injury free in the face of colder temperatures. Give our office in Fremont a call to schedule an appointment today!

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Winter is a time to consolidate the gains of summer.

It’s a stark fact that we don’t get out as much in the darker, colder months of winter which means that, despite new years resolutions, it is not everyone’s favorite time of year for starting on new fitness goals.  Add to this that November-December are our favorite months for overeating and you’ll see that our summer bodies face a real winter threat. But winter offers a lot of opportunities for maintaining wellness, if only we choose to change our perspective on things.

Winter fitness is about getting creative.

• If you are going to be inside more, chances are you are going to be sitting more. It is a great time to focus on the littlest things which can make the biggest difference: posture and breathing are two great examples of this. 
• Planking: for establishing core stability and strength; to help make holding good posture easier; to ease lower back pain. With next to no movement, you can do all these things, 30 seconds at a time, 3-5 times a day. 
• Yoga: doesn’t take much space and your own living room can be a yoga studio which you can use to specifically target your weak and sore regions. 
• Turning your house into a fitness zone: stretch while everyone is hanging out around the Christmas tree, try a fitness DVD, make sure you are moving a lot!

Winter means less vitamin D

This is a vital vitamin which helps preserve the health of bones and you can totally get it from dietary sources! Fortified dairy products, egg yolks, fatty fish and mushrooms are all great sources of D. Life keeps moving in the winter time and it is important to keep up with the pace so that your body and mind don’t fall behind. For a little extra help, you can always count on your Fremont chiropractor so give us a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C.