Katy Santiago Bowman

Katy Santiago Bowman, M.S., is a biomechanical scientist focused on educating people on how their body works, so they can make informed and educated decisions. She is the creator and talent behind the Aligned and WellTM DVD program releasing Fall 2009, the Director of the Restorative Exercise Institute, and the creator of the Restorative Exercise DVD kits for Gaiam. Katy is also the spokesperson and Senior Science Advisory member for Earth Footwear. She is a regular contributor and expert for national health, fitness, and wellness publications. Read more from Katy's own blog at www.katysays.com

I love the section some magazines have where they list interesting and fun statistics, like … 48:  Number of bugs eaten per year in your sleep.  3,154:  Number of texts sent by the average teenager (per month).  14:  Number of states visited in an average lifetime.

I have some statistics for you, and I assure you, nobody’s laughing.

The National Institutes of Health, in monitoring obesity and overall public health, has announced the impact of “holiday weight-gain” on the long-term issue of obesity. Are the 5 to 7 extra pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas really an issue? No, not really. Most people will take the initiative after the new year and get most of it off. But it’s the most of it that’s the problem. There seems to be about 1 extra pound that lingers each year, and that yearly pound is beginning to look like a possible cause of the slow, age-related (upward) movement of the scale.

Why is it that we follow a doctor’s prescription to a “T” but then take additional advice like “no sugar” and “You need to exercise” with a shrug of the shoulders? If your exercise plan was written out for you on a tiny prescription pad, would you follow it? If you had to go to the pharmacy counter to get your grocery items, would it change the way you eat?

I’m back from my vacation, and what an adventure it was.

And in addition to being great, I found it completely amazing how physically exhausting a vacation can be (tour bus pick-up at 6:30 a.m., plane rides, bus rides, and scary car episodes with a French taxi driver who insisted on taking all the Corsican island curves — which, did I mention, are only one lane — at 100 kilometers an hour by looking BACK at me so that I could confirm that yes, the island was beautiful, and yes, I was completely relaxed … just not right at that moment).

I consider myself a very “healthy” person. I eat well and walk and stretch every day. I challenge my balance to make sure I still can. I look both ways before crossing the street. But even with this preventative mindset, I still manage to end up wounded every month like clockwork. Don’t worry. It’s nothing my body isn’t designed to handle. And it is a wound borne by half of the people on the planet at about the same frequency.

Ah, I see I got your attention.

And you are wondering what I could be talking about. The treadmill in your guest bedroom? (The one with the clothes on it.) The roller blades in your closet? The semi-inflated ball in the backyard, or the weights you have lying around just in case you are inspired to bicep curl? Nope, none of those. Give up? This one-size-fits-all, miraculous tool of amazing design is the FLOOR!

I recently wrote a quick tip on Twitter about habits and bone generation.

“Here is an Osteoporosis Quick Tip: Ditch the heels and the diet soda if you want to generate bone.”

(Is it rude, or at least redundant, to quote yourself while blogging?)

Have you ever exercised a bit harder because you had ice cream the night before? Ever justified making a poor dietary decision (dessert/second helping/third cocktail) by thinking, “I’ll work out twice tomorrow,” or “It’s OK, I ran 10 miles today”?