Holiday gift-giving is a great tradition, but do you need to give or get another scarf or box of chocolate? How about giving gifts that promote health and wellness instead?  Here are my top 8 gifts to give your loved ones a healthy start to the new year!

• Yoga mat–  Yoga is a wonderful low-impact exercise that can improve symptoms of arthritis and reduce stress
• Basket of healthy foods– We all hear about foods that can improve our health.  Why not create a basket with an assortment of all these foods.  I recommend a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil, chia seeds, flax seeds, and walnuts.
• Spice rack– Replace the salt shaker with exotic spices such as curry, basil, mustard, and chili powder.  Food will taste much better and healthier.
• Exercise bands–  Perfect for the person who says they don’t have time for exercise because they travel a lot. These bands can fit easily into any suitcase and do not take up much room.  Speaking from experience, they can give a workout that is comparable to using weights.
• Bottle humidifier–  The cold dry air during the wintertime can lead to increased respiratory infections and dry skin/lips.  By keeping the humidity of the room higher, you will feel much better.
• Live plants– Studies have shown that people feel much better when they are around live plants.  Plants remove toxins and carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air.  They also add humidity to the air.  I find that lucky bamboo plants are easy to care for and can adapt to even the harshest conditions.
• Pedometer/Fitbit–  Help your loved ones track their steps.  These are great tools to encourage more physical activity and help them stay accountable to their goals.
• Himalayan salt lamp– This is a beautiful source of warm light that can also help to purify the air of chemicals.  I keep one in my office and the air always smells crisp.

I see many sporting injuries in my practice.  Often these are fall into some major categories and my recommendations on how to prevent yourself from injury:

• Weekend warrior: who are essentially sedentary from Monday to Friday and decide they want to engage in high intensity sports on the weekends.  This usually involves some serious injuries to muscles and joints.  The Fix:  Be a weekday AND weekend warrior.  Engage in some form of exercise during the week.  Ideally, this should be something that is similar to your sport.  For example, if you play basketball, run a few miles on the treadmill.  You’ll see your game performance will be much better!
• Cardio fanatics:  Repetitive stress injuries from people who do the same exercise (working a limited number of muscles and joints) again and again with little rest in between.  Distance runners and cyclists usually fall into this category  The Fix:  Cross train.  One group of athletes I almost never see in my practice are triathletes.  I recommend doing something different each day for example, one day run on the treadmill, the next day use the elliptical machine, and the day after do some cycling or swimming.  This helps you work different muscles (which leads to more stability) and allows your muscles and joints to rest in between intense workouts.  
• Aging athlete:  This is someone who may have played sports in high school or college, but has not played for years (maybe gained 20 or 30 pounds over the years) and feels a sudden inspiration to play again with people half his/her age.  The Fix:  you should gradually work up to the level of intensity desired.  Start off slow and track your goals each week.  For example, if you were a track star in high school but haven’t run on pavement for years, start off with some brisk walking for 2 weeks, then advance to a light jog, and then increase the distance.  As mentioned above, cross training is important for this type of athlete.
• Gym watcher and doer.  This is someone who goes to a gym and watches others do exercises and then tries to do them himself without personal instruction.  He may have read about the exercises in an illustrated magazine but has never done them himself.  Injuries usually result from improper form or using excessive weight that is not matched to his physical ability.  Many workouts with weights need instruction and guidance of a trained professional.  You wouldn’t try to learn how to drive a car by just reading books or watching people driving, would you?  The Fix:  Hire a trainer or enlist a friend who works out regularly at the gym and have them show you how to do the exercises and critique your form.  If you feel severe pain in your muscles the next day, that could be a sign you may be doing the exercises improperly.  With any exercise, always start out with the lowest resistance/weight when you first start to do it and build up gradually to heavier weights/resistance.

We all have small bits of time waiting in line, standing in an elevator, being put on hold during a telephone call, waiting for your files to download from the internet, at the airport gate waiting for your flight, or watching commercials on TV.  These are otherwise wasted minutes unless you can turn them into mini workouts.  When I’m in an elevator alone, I do squats (bending the knees and going down and back up).  While it may seem like this wouldn’t amount to much, think about how many times you are “waiting” and the calories you burn can actually be significant.  Trust me, the calories can add up very quickly!  Be creative.  Here are some types of things you can do while waiting.

• At the grocery checkout line, do crunches with your shopping basket, handbag, or canned foods.  (lift them up and slowly lower your arm back down)
• Stretch with both arms above your head and pretend you’re arms are being pulled up to the ceiling, lengthen your spine.
• Do lunges while you are on hold during a phone call.  Put the call on speaker phone and each time the annoying recorded message or jingle repeats means you have to do another lunge.
• Turn commuting into a mini workout.  If you have an extra 5 minutes getting to work, take a different route, walk around the block, take the stairs to your office, or get off one subway train station earlier and walk the rest of the way.
• While surfing on the internet, lift your feet from the floor until your legs are horizontal.  This is a “leg lift”.  Repeat each time your computer takes time to download content from the internet.
• Walk brisk laps around the airport terminal.  This is a great exercise especially when your flight is delayed (which is quite often these days!) or you’re waiting for your connecting flight.  You will burn extra calories if you are carrying luggage.  I always wear sneakers whenever I go to the airport for this reason.
• Clean your house.  Cleaning can be a very vigorous exercise.  Scrubbing a bathtub, sweeping the floor, wiping down tables, and cleaning the windows are great ways to burn calories and your house will look beautiful.

When was the last time you forgot to… (fill in the blank with “breathe, sleep, eat dinner, drink water”)?  When was the last time you were too busy to… (fill in those same words again)?  Now, I will tell you that exercise should be just as important as part of a daily routine on par with all other necessary activities associated with living.  Exercise has numerous health benefits including feeling more energetic, getting better sleep, reducing anxiety, stronger bones, and most importantly reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Don’t think you have enough time to exercise everyday?  How about just 5 minutes?  Ideally you should do about 30 minutes per day, but studies have shown that even 5 minutes has some benefit.  Need to get motivated? Here’s a post on how to get moving.

Make exercise a part of your daily routine and you will find yourself a healthier, happier person!

I often have patients who know the mileage of their cars or how much money they have in each bank account, but they don’t know the important numbers regarding their health.  The next time you have an annual physical with your healthcare provider, ask about these lab values and get a copy of your labs so you can keep them on file and can refer to them when needed.

• Total Cholesterol– this should generally be below 200 for everyone.  If you have a history of heart disease or diabetes, your physician may want to see this number even lower.
• LDL “Low Density Lipoprotein”, aka “Bad Cholesterol”– this should be lower than 160 for everyone, but should definitely be lower than 130 if you are over 50 years old.  If you have diabetes, heart disease, your goal should be even lower.
• HDL “High Density Lipoprotein”, aka “Good Cholesterol”– this should be as high as possible.  If this number is above 59, it is considered a marker of reduced  chance of heart disease (as long as your other cholesterol numbers are normal)
• Blood Pressure– Elevated blood pressure leads to heart disease and stroke.  Blood pressure consists of two numbers.  The top is called the “systolic” and should be no more than 150, and the bottom is called the “diastolic” which should be no more than 90.
• Body Mass Index– This is calculated from your body weight and height.  A body mass index of 25-29 means your are likely overweight and this increases your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.  30 and above indicates you are obese.  In certain populations such as Asians and Latinos, body mass index may not be accurate (underestimates risk).  For example, an Asian woman with a BMI of 22 is likely at higher risk of cardiovascular disease than a Caucasian woman with the same numbers.
• Fasting Blood Sugar– This is a test that you do after an 8 hour fast.  It tests for diabetes and pre-diabetes.  Numbers below 100 are considered normal.  100-125 are considered pre-diabetic state, and 126 and above can indicate diabetes.  In general, it takes years to develop type 2 diabetes, with a gradual progression.  It is important to recognize a rising trend in fasting blood glucose early and take steps to prevent the onset of diabetes.
• Creatinine– This is a measure of kidney function and varies based on body mass.  A lower creatinine generally indicates improved kidney function.  People with diabetes and high blood pressure need to make sure that this number is as low as possible.  A rising creatinine can sometimes indicate poor blood pressure control or poor sugar control.
• AST/ALT-  These are liver enzymes.  Again, they should be as low as possible.  Elevations of AST/ALT can indicate inflammation of the liver, known as hepatitis.  Common causes of liver enzyme elevation are fatty liver (occurs when your cholesterol/saturated fat intake is high), acetaminophen(Tylenol) use, alcohol ingestion, and viral hepatitis (Hepatitis A, B, and C).  If you drink any amount of alcohol, it is important to make sure these numbers are normal.  Current recommendations are no more than 2 alcoholic drinks in 24 hours for men and no more than 1 drink for women.
• Hemoglobin-  This is a test for anemia.  A low number can indicate blood loss either from not being able to make enough blood (such as in iron-deficiency) or losing blood which may occur with colon cancer.  For this reason, any anemia that is found needs immediate and thorough work-up.