Fall Chi Quest: Health and Fitness

FALL CHI QUEST INTRO | YOGA | HEALTH & FITNESS | GOAL SETTING

As the season’s change, it’s important to nourish your body to maintain or improve your overall health and fitness. Here are some tips for nutrition, prevention and training as we transition through fall.

SEASONAL NUTRITION
This is a good time to shift your diet away from raw, cold foods such as salads, and add more lightly steamed veggies or foods that have more substance like squash and potatoes. My friend Rebecca DeLong, who was a great adventure racer, always makes this in the fall. We’d love to hear your favorite foods too!

Photo by mckaysavage

Roasted Autumn Veggies
Go to your local healthy food store or farmer’s market and buy at least one of every root vegetable, if you know what it is or not. Here’s one potential shopping trip’s worth:

1 small butternut squash
1 small rutabaga
2 Jerusalem artichokes
3 large carrots
1 large onion
2 parsnips
2 beets
1 yam
1 Burdock root (it’s good for the blood)

Chop all veggies into cubes, then lightly season, drizzle with olive oil, and roast in the oven at 350 degrees, mixing occasionally. It will take 20 to 30 minutes, but it’s ready when everything is tender.

PREVENTION
Fall can be a great time to strengthen your immune system. It’s no secret that this is a time of year we are prone to catching colds. To keep these pests away, I tend to rest more this time of year. I start eating soups and warmer foods, and follow Dr. Bea’s Cold and Flu Rescue as soon as I start to feel under the weather. But above all, I laugh(the best medicine) and stay lighthearted.

Photo by k4dordy

FITNESS
As with many things in our lives, change —  especially with the seasons — is wonderful. This also applies to our overall fitness and training. Running the same loop at the same time at the same pace on the same days throughout the year is just not good for your mind or your body. Fall is an excellent time for a change from your normal summer activities. Go from mountain to road bikes (or vice versa, depending on where you live). If you’re a runner or hiker, move from the roads to the forests and trails where you can see the leaves changing close up. If you’re a swimmer, you’ll probably be moving to indoor pools from outdoor pools and lakes or the ocean. Don’t try to hang on to summer; embrace fall and the change it brings.

Whatever you do, make sure you end each session with a short stretching program or meditation (see the Fall Chi Quest yoga segment), and make sure you don’t go super anaerobic (without oxygen) this time of year — don’t go out and go super hard. I will tell you more about how to build up your aerobic base in the winter months, but for now get outside and enjoy the last days of fall and treasure every moment!

FALL CHI QUEST INTRO | YOGA | HEALTH & FITNESS | GOAL SETTING

COLLEEN CANNON is President, CEO and founder of Women’s Quest, a multisport fitness retreat providing athletic and holistic training for women worldwide. Prior to founding Women’s Quest, Colleen was a professional triathlete competing worldwide with over seventy career victories... {more»}