SATURDAY SCOOPS
More fitness tips for a slimmer and trimmer you

Advertiser staff and news services

Gannett News Service

1. Get out of snacking and into gardening. You'll learn to get your emotional needs from yard work instead of carbs. Work out your frustrations in the yard while creating a garden sanctuary, which can also serve as a quiet place to read, with a door between you and the kitchen.

2. Keep moving: Pace while you're on the phone. Go up and down on your tiptoes while standing in line.

3. Keep your workout equipment handy. If you walk in the morning, have your shoes and clothes ready. If you swim, keep your soap, shampoo, suit, towel and other stuff in a bag in your car.

4. Instead of a full glass of wine, mix a half-glass with the same amount of diet Sprite or club soda.

5. Grit your teeth and check the nutritional breakdown of your favorite restaurant foods. Check out Restaurant Confidential, put out by those helpful killjoys at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (cspinet.org). Never again can you plead ignorance when you order kung pao chicken, which has almost as much fat as four Quarter Pounders.

6. Invest in a pedometer. Try to take 10,000 steps every day.

7. Let someone else clean the kitchen after dinner so you won't be tempted by leftovers.

8. If you love chocolate, have a piece. One luscious, fine piece. Take tiny bites and savor each one.

9. Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual and use the time to walk or march in place. By the time everyone else wakes up, you've done your exercise for the day.

10. At a restaurant, before even taking that first bite, put half your entree into a take-out container. Save it for tomorrow.

11. Find something to do with your mouth other than chew. Read aloud. Take up whistling. Learn some really good jokes. Blow kisses at passers-by.

12. Find an exercise you like. Does running give you shin splints or the willies? Try dancing. Hate to swim laps? Try water aerobics. Other suggestions: tennis, basketball, biking, walking the dog.

13. A meal should be savored, not rushed through. Use cloth napkins. Light candles. Set the timer for 20 minutes and make what's on your plate last that long. You'll eat less and enjoy the company more.

14. Ease up on yourself. If you eat an extra cookie or don't exercise, consider these words of a wise old grandmother: "If that's the worst thing that happens to you today, honey, consider yourself blessed."

15. Ease up on others. No matter how much you want them to get in shape, they're the ones who have to get off their fannies and do it.

16. Consider the ability to exercise a gift, not an obligation. How wonderful to have legs that can walk, arms that can lift even a 1-pound free weight.

17. Remind yourself that it took longer than a week to get out of shape, so don't expect to be fit and firm by next Monday.

18. Repeat this mantra: I will not super-size. I will not super-size.

19. Order pizza with half the usual amount of cheese.

20. Take a low-fat cooking class.

21. Take care of your emotional health, too. Are you a worrier? Set aside a certain time to worry (say, from 2 to 2:20 p.m.), or schedule a worry-free day once a week. OK, worries gone until next time. Now kiss your kids or take a walk.

22. Have healthy snacks handier than non-healthy. Position yogurt, string cheese, mini-carrots and snack-size snippets of grapes so you'll see them first thing as you open the fridge.

23. Opt for fresh fruit over fruit juice. You can down 120 calories of orange juice in a hurry. But for about half the calories, eat a real orange.

24. Put a gold star on your calendar every day you work out. When you've accumulated a certain amount, treat yourself to a pedicure or a new book.

25. Use treadmill time to catch up on your reading.

26. Congratulate yourself for adding so many healthy habits!

Disease-busting munchies with the most wallop

Fitness magazine went to the experts to find the top four foods to beat disease.

• May help prevent: breast and colon cancers, heart disease, hypertension and birth defects.
• How it works: The brassica-family vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy and collard greens) contain sulforaphane, an antioxidant that assists the body in detoxifying carcinogenic substances from the environment or the diet. Plus, a half-cup serving of cooked broccoli provides more than 75 percent of the vitamin C you need in a day, a hefty amount of cancer-fighting beta-carotene, more fiber than a slice of whole-wheat bread and nearly two-thirds of a banana's potassium — all for just 23 calories. And broccoli is one of the best sources of folate.
• How much to eat: Eat broccoli at least three times a week. One study found that four servings a week can reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer by as much as 50 percent. A serving is one-half cup cooked or one cup raw.

Seafood

• May help prevent: heart disease, arthritis, depression.
• How it works: It's the fat in fish — specifically, the omega-3 fatty acids — that keeps you healthy. Two of these, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), may help prevent heart attacks by stabilizing the electrical signal that controls heartbeat and by preventing abnormal blood clotting. Omega-3s may be helpful against rheumatoid arthritis.
• How much to eat: Two three-ounce servings a week.

Oats

• May help prevent: cancer, heart disease, obesity.
• How they work: The fiber in oats (beta-glucans) can lower your risk of heart disease by limiting the absorption of fat. Oats also prevent the constriction of arteries that usually follows the consumption of a high-fat meal. They contain tocotrienols, antioxidants that have heart-healthy benefits similar to those of vitamin E. The insoluble fiber in oats may help reduce your risk of colorectal cancer and even obesity.
• How much to eat: One to 1 1/2 cups of cooked oats or the equivalent per-serving fiber content (six grams) in oat-based cereals and baked goods most days of the week.

Citrus fruits

• May help prevent: cancer, heart disease, birth defects.
• How they work: The pectin in citrus may help reduce LDL cholesterol levels; the folate helps lower homocysteine levels (a risk factor for heart disease); and the antioxidants (of which vitamin C is just one) help prevent age-related oxidative damage, protecting against the narrowing and hardening of the arteries that contribute to heart disease and stroke. A medium orange provides 100 percent of your daily C requirement, as much fiber as an apple and more folate than a slice of enriched bread. Pink grapefruit packs an additional heart-health benefit: four milligrams of lycopene, almost half as much as a medium tomato contains.
• How much to eat: One to two fruits or juice servings daily.

A few trends that 2003 may bring into your home

So as we begin 2003, let's rejoice in silver linings and take a lighthearted look at what may lie ahead on the domestic scene:

• TV's "Trading Spaces."
• Beaded lampshades.
• Handmade high-quality items.
• Exotic influences.
• Paris chic decor.
• Tangerine appliances.
• French advertising posters.
• Fruit/vegetable centerpieces.
• Flat-screen TVs.
• Sit-down dinners at home.
• Fondue supper.
• Hot spicy hues.
• Outdoor kitchens.
• Pan-Asian cuisine.
• Platinum.
• Boudoir lamps.

Dust off your shoes for the diabetes walk

Tailored by its organizers to appeal to couch potatoes as well as hard-core fitness buffs, the annual diabetes walk is easy, manageable and unintimidating. Walkers can lock in their New Year's resolution of a commitment to fitness and a healthy lifestyle by registering for this fun family event and collecting donations for a good cause.

All money raised will be used for diabetes research and public education.

The Walk for Diabetes is set for March 29 at Kapi'olani Park. Pre-registration is happening now, and available until March 14.

By participating, you help raise money for the more than 85,000 people with diabetes in Hawai'i. The event also helps to raise awareness of a new, simple screening test for the approximately 30,000 people in Hawai'i who have or are at risk for diabetes but don't know it.

Collect donations of $75 or more to earn a T-shirt and other prizes. To pre-register, pick up a registration form at participating Chevron dealers, Longs Drugs or Times pharmacies, or log onto www.diabetes.org/walk. Information: 947-5979.

Shasa Emporium offers trendy women opportunity to take fashion chances

To encourage experimentation, the former Queen's Medical Center emergency room social worker has created a comfortable, friendly environment for shoppers, as well as their significant others (an overstuffed arm chair and surfing magazines) and keiki (child-size chairs and books).

Shasa's target customer is the hip twentysomething, though the merchandise mix extends to homebodies of any age. From Lala in Laguna Beach, Calif., come India-inspired pillows, quilts and duvet covers. Candles are by Primal Elements and Votivo. There are also inspirational books and yoga decks, "things that make you feel good," Kirkpatrick said.

Fashion-forward T-shirts, a staple at the shop, are from Lacey J, Velvet, Petite Bateau and Project E. Jeans are by Blue Cult, Diesel, Red Engine and Paper, Denim, Cloth. Swimwear lines include Selena, Pualani, and Honey Girl; soon to come: Dolce & Gabbana.

Feminine but edgy skirts, dresses and lingerie round things out. 735-5122.