Fitness Fundamentals

DEFINING FITNESS

Physical fitness is to the human body what fine tuning is to an engine. It enables us to perform up to our potential. Fitness can be described as a condition that helps us look, feel and do our best. More specifically, it is: “The ability to perform daily tasks vigorously and alertly, with energy left over for enjoying leisure- time activities and meeting emergency demands. It is the ability to endure, to bear up, to withstand stress, to carry on in circumstances where an unfit person could not continue, and is a major basis for good health and well-being.” Physical fitness involves the performance of the heart and lungs, and the muscles of the body. And, since what we do with our bodies also affects what we can do with our minds, fitness influences to some degree qualities such as mental alertness and emotional stability.  As you undertake your fitness program, it’s important to remember that fitness is an individual quality that varies from person to person. It is influenced by age, sex, heredity, personal habits, exercise and eating practices. You can’t do anything about the first three factors. However, it is within your power to change and improve the others where needed.

WHEN TO EXERCISE

The hour just before the evening meal is a popular time for exercise. The late afternoon workout provides a welcome change of pace at the end of the work day and helps dissolve the day’s worries and tensions.  Another popular time to work out is early morning, before the work day begins. Advocates of the early start say it makes them more alert and energetic on the job.  Among the factors you should consider in developing your workout schedule are personal preference, job and family responsibilities, availability of exercise facilities and weather. It’s important to schedule your workouts for a time when there is little chance that you will have to cancel or interrupt them because of other demands on your time.

You should not exercise strenuously during extremely hot, humid weather or within two hours after eating. Heat and/or digestion both make heavy demands on the circulatory system, and in combination with exercise can be an overtaxing double load.

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Summer Food Safety

Summer and outdoor cooking go together. Make sure that food-borne illness isn’t a part of the season. Always practice food safety so that food-borne illness does not spoil summer fun.

Wash hands and surfaces often when preparing food.  When cooking outdoors wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before preparing the meal, especially after handling raw meat and poultry, and after using the restroom. Use paper towels for drying your hands and cleaning surfaces.

Don’t cross-contaminate by putting cooked or ready-to-eat food on the same surface where raw meat has been. When packing a cooler  for an outing, wrap raw meats securely so that raw meat juices cannot come in contact with or drip onto ready-to-eat or already cooked foods. Wash plates, utensils, and cutting boards that held the raw meat or poultry before using them again for cooked food.

Keep cold foods refrigerated or use frozen gel packs in coolers to keep food at proper holding temperature. Cold food held at room or outdoor temperatures for more than two hours may not be safe to eat. If you are eating outside on a hot day, when the outdoor temperatures reach 90 degrees F or above, food should not be left out of refrigeration or a cooler longer than one hour.

To keep coolers with food as cold as possible, don’t open them often. If the outdoor meal will include drinks, put the drinks in a separate cooler. This will avoid having to open the food cooler to take out drinks, letting the food cooler stay closed and keeping the cold inside it.

Use a food thermometer to ensure food has reached the correct temperature. According to recommendations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ground meat products such as hamburger must be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.  Chicken and turkey, 165 degrees F. Steak and fish should be grilled to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.

Barbecue sauces and marinades are popular when cooking out on a grill. “There are special food-safety precautions for preparing these popular dishes,” Boyer said. “When marinating meat, put the meat and marinade in a clean glass dish and place it in the refrigerator for the time it needs to marinate. Never leave meat on the kitchen counter at room temperature.”

Store  leftovers in clean shallow containers and placing them in the refrigerator immediately. Leftovers may be reheated on a grill to provide added flavor, but make sure all leftovers are heated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F or above.

Virginia Cooperative Extension