If you're in your 20s, you should be building your aerobic capacity. It's at its peak at this time in your life, say the exercise experts at Canyon Ranch. And women in their 20s, especially, should be doing weight-bearing activities that put stress on their bones.

Already making your way through the 30s? You should be making exercise a priority even though life is getting busier. Start strength training, if you haven't already, to maintain bone and muscle mass. The Ranchers don't stop here. Check out what they have to say about those of you in your 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond.

40s -- It takes more now to keep from gaining weight, so commit to a fitness program and stick with it. Now's the time to have your bone density checked too.

Source

Imagine a sliced apple, say the health experts at Canyon Ranch. Leave those slices sitting for a bit and before long, they'll turn brown. Oxidation is the cause. And harmful free radicals are the result. Free radicals pull apart molecules in healthy living tissue and eventually cause the apple to dry and shrivel. They can cause human skin to wrinkle and can cause cancer too.

Now don't forgo apples in your diet -- just don't slice and let them brown. But do let the visual of those brown pieces motivate you to choose a rainbow of colorful, antioxidant-rich plant foods to enrich your diet each day. Here's what you need.

Source

My top five veggies are broccoli, peas, corn, squash, and spinach salad leaves. These aren't the five eaten by the majority of Americans, though. The overall top five in this country, according to Canyon Ranch's Connection magazine, are:

• Iceberg lettuce

• French fries

• Potatoes

• Potato chips

• Canned tomato

This is alarming, says the Ranch experts, because these foods have far fewer vitamins than other vegetables. Don't be part of the statistic, they say. Instead, make an effort to eat one new veggie per week so you'll get a wider variety of nutrients.

Source

I'm not a big party-giver. Planning the event just seems too daunting for someone like me -- translation: Someone who doesn't cook much of anything daring or spectacular. This shouldn't hold me back, though, say the chefs at Canyon Ranch. With proper attention given to the Do's and Don'ts of party planning, I could get pretty good at this entertaining thing.

Here's what the food guru people suggest I DO.

• Plan, plan, plan -- I should pick my menu in advance, review ingredients, consider what I need to buy and how much time I'll need to prep and cook each dish. I should also determine how many dishes I can make in advance.
• Shop ahead -- I'd be wise to buy my ingredients in bulk and store them early in my pantry.

Source

Anger is bad for the body. Studies have long linked this maddening emotion with high blood pressure, increased heart rate, soaring stress hormones, and decreased immune system response. Stress can also lead to lack of sleep and unhealthy habits, like smoking, drinking, and poor eating practices.

The experts at the spa destination Canyon Ranch say the best anger solution is not to express or repress the feeling but to create less of it.

Say you're driving to an appointment, you're short on time, and the driver ahead of you is making slow progress, causing you to get caught behind several red lights. It would be easy to get angry because driving is depersonalized -- we're indifferent to other drivers' needs because we don't know them. Practicing empathy, though, can prevent anger from unfolding. Try to imagine the other driver as someone you know and love. It might just make it easier to understand the reasons for the drivers' actions.

Read on for a calming five-step strategy for defusing anger.

Source

For the weight I've lost, the healthy eating habits I've gained, the workout tricks I've gathered, and the wellness tips I now practice, I thank Canyon Ranch. They do a lot of good there in Tucson, Arizona -- the location I visited -- and this very health and healing spa destination is now cooking up a new way to make a difference in others' lives.

In addition to their Thriving After Breast Cancer programs, Canyon Ranch is expanding their efforts to support finding a cure for breast cancer. They're tackling their mission by hosting 10 breast cancer survivors for Cook for the Cure Survivors Week, taking place April 10-14. Each trip is being auctioned with 100 percent of the proceeds -- yep, that's everything -- benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Made possible by KitchenAid, Canyon Ranch, and Continental Airlines, selected survivors will not only bask in the glory of luxurious accommodations, healthy meals, endless fitness and wellness classes, powerful nutrition consultations, and spa services -- they'll also receive hands-on cooking lessons in a fully-equipped KitchenAid demonstration kitchen. Wow. I'm jealous. Mostly, though, I'm happy for those who will benefit from this week -- those whose spirits will soar at Canyon Ranch and those who just might live a little longer because of the funds raised during this week.

Interested in more information about this Canyon Ranch venture? Contact Stewart Goodbody at sgoodbod@digitas.com.

The nutrition folks at Canyon Ranch offer a great tip for grocery shopping excursions. Before you drop anything in your cart, ask youself, "Did my great-grandmother eat this?" If the answer is "no," then it's best to pass that item right by.

It's best for all of us to eat a variety of healthy foods, the same healthy foods our ancestors ate -- fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, fish, and lean meats. Not all that packaged stuff, that processed stuff, that trans fat stuff. Even the stuff we think is good, like "low-fat products," are often full of sodium and corn syrup and other sweeteners.

Our food nowadays is too loaded with gunk to be wholesome. Sticking with whole foods is our safest bet. If it worked for great-grandma, it can work for us too.

Source

While at Canyon Ranch -- a health, healing, and fitness resort in Tucson, Arizona -- a nutritionist told me to take a breather from hard-core healthy eating once in a while. "Order a pizza once a week," she told me. "Everyone needs a break." At the time, before I embarked on my strict diet overhaul, this seemed like sound advice. It was an invitation to let loose. I liked it. But now, five months and 15 pounds later, I can't seem to let go of my nutrition reins and give in to that cheesy, greasy pizza.

Is my diet behavior too extreme? Should I loosen up? Perhaps. But what about those who go to the other extreme? The one where letting loose is practiced a bit too often.

While every health nut should lighten up now and then and a short hiatus from the gym is certainly OK, it's not wise to go overboard. Practicing a healthy diet all week long only to guzzle beer on the weekends, shovel in the junk food, and party until the wee hours of the morning is simply counterproductive.

Source

I knew long before I did anything about it that there were many changes I could make specific to diet and exercise. Heck, I even knew exactly what I needed to do -- eat less calories than I burn, stock up on fruits and veggies, nix the red meat, soda, and junk food, and work out strenuously. But something held me back. I think it was motivation.

I found just the push I needed at Canyon Ranch spa in Tucson, Arizona. This desert oasis boasts the finest in not only pampering but also in healthy living. For four days, I ate the healthiest foods, indulged in fitness classes galore, and learned from experts how to fine-tune my ways for optimum functioning and survival. It was grand. And for five months now, I have not wavered in my newly disciplined life. As a result, I am leaner, healthier, and happier than ever before. Thank goodness for my trip out west.

Sometimes it just takes a little kick in the pants when it comes to mastering the whole diet and exercise thing. And many are signing up, like me, for their own personal kick.

Source