Health
Bjarney Sara Höskuldsdóttir
Is it time to shift your focus from weight loss to fitness? (English - Icelandic)
A thin figure is often considered healthy and envied by many. People easily assume that anyone who has a thin frame is completely fit. Therefore, the question arises, since when has being thin become a synonym to fitness?
Though it's somehow true that a person who enjoys a thin frame is free from many health problems but taking it as a symbol of complete wellness is irrational.
One should vie for health and not a model-like figure! Here are some important, not-to-be- missed signs, to tell you if it's time you shifted your focus from 'weight loss' to fitness:
-If you start gasping for breath even after climbing only 15-20 stairs.
-If you constantly feel light-headed and dizzy.
-Sleeplessness.
-Brittle nails, dry and parched skin especially lips.
-Tendency to constantly fall ill.
-Susceptible to frequent bouts of cold or other communicable diseases.
A thin frame should never be your parameter to judge health. If a person is on the heavy side, it doesn't mean that his body is full of ailments and vice versa. Therefore, never hit the gym if you want to shed some kilos, just because size zero is 'in'. Look closely for hints given by your body about your wellness and true health!
Icelandic translation:
Grannur vöxtur er oftast álitinn heilbrigður og er oft öfundaður af mörgum. Fólk ákveður oft strax að sá sem er grannur sé í mjög góðu formi. Þá vaknar spurningin, síðan hvernær hefur það að vera grannur/mjór verið tákn yfir heilbrigði og styrkleika?
Það er þó satt að sá sem er grannur nýtur þess frelsis að vera laus við mörg heilsuvandamál, en að hafa það sem samheiti yfir fullkomna vellíðan er mjög órökrétt.
Fólk ætti að keppast um heilbrigði en ekki um að líta út eins og tískufyrirsætur. Hér koma nokkur mikilvæg, ómissandi ráð, sem segja þér að það sé kominn tími til að hætta að einblína á þyngdartap og fara að pæla meira í heilbrigði og hæfni.
- Ef þú byrjar að missa andann af mæði, jafnvel eftir að hafa aðeins gengið upp 15-20 tröppur.
- En þér svimar stöðugt og ert óstöðugur.
- Svefnleysi
- Stökkar neglur, þurr og bökuð húð, sérstaklega varir.
- Tilhneiging til þess að verða stöðugt veik/ur.
- Næmni fyrir kvefi og öðrum smitsjúkdómum.
Grannur vöxtur ætti aldrei að vera þín mælieining á heilbrigði. Ef manneskja er í yfirvigt, þýðir það ekki að líkami hennar sé laslegur og slappur og öfugt. Þessvegna, áttu aldrei að fara í ræktina til þess að losa þig við nokkur kíló, bara vegna þess að það er í tísku að vera í stærð 0. Hafðu augun opin fyrir vísbendingum sem líkaminn þinn gefur þér varðandi þína heilsu og vellíðan!
I chose this text because it suits my subject very well and it is almost the same thing I have been saying in my magazine and leaflet. It also includes some sings you need to keep your eyes open for your health and it's good to read it so its possible to have it in mind when in doubt of our health. The methods I used to find this article was just to google "health and fitness articles" and then I found this article on the webpage http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/fitness on page 2.
Jóhanna S. Hannesdóttir - Interview
I chose to interview Jóhanna because she recently published her book 100 health advices for longer lifetime. She went to the same school that I do so I thought she was ideal for my assignment. She was also very nice and her interests are similar to mine.
Can you tell me briefly about yourself, what’s your occupation and education, when were you born and a somewhat you have done interesting so far.
I was born on the 28th of November in 1982. I was born and raised in Stóra-Sandvík in Sandvíkurhreppi and I still live there today with my husband and two children. I finished a BA-degree in ethnology at the University of Iceland last spring. My thesis I discussed refrigerator doors and how they can tell you how the household members. It received several attentions in the media and elsewhere. I have worked as a journalist more and less since I was 17 years old. Today, my husband and I own the news-page sunnlenska.is and there we do our best to tell high quality news from all across the south of Iceland. Besides that I grow beets, the wide famous Sandvíkurrófur, along with my father and siblings. It’s very rewarding to work in gardening.
How do the advices you give in the book benefit in daily life? (healthy eating, positive mind and/or something else?).
My advices revolve around that people assimilate good habits on daily basis. What you do today affects tomorrow. You lay the foundation of your health (and your future) with what you do today, whether it is working out and eating healthy or being positive and being kind to those you travel along you. The advices have that in common that they are both fun and easy to follow, but you have to remember to perform them so they can have effects. What you do regularly is what counts, not what you do only occasionally.
What inspired you to write and publish your book?
I have always had interest in health but it has grown with the years. After my studies in ethnology I had learned how to look for sources and tamed myself critical thinking about what I was reading. In the spring of 2013 I created a health blog (vanillaoglavender.is) where I share recipes of healthy and good food and disseminate health knowledge that I have gathered through the years. I try to read 1 foreign book a mount, order a lot of books from the internet and try to have a wide perspective on health and diet. Doctors and experts do not always agree on what’s most healthy for people so I want to be able to make my own opinion and perspective by exploring theories and researches from a lot of scholars. I also read regularly books that relate to mental health, but mental health is just as important like physical health. Both of these need to be steady I you are supposed to live long and well.
Last spring a publisher contacted me after he ran into my blog and he wanted to publish a book with health advices I have treasured. The funny thing is that I had been thinking about writing a book for two years with advises that would lengthen and improve life of others. You don’t need to change everything to change everything.
The summer then went to writing the book that was in my head on paper. I searched mostly for longevity researches and what long life people thanked for doing for their long lives and connected that with the knowledge I had gained.
Do you have a favorite health advice? If so, what is it?
My favorite advice is definitely to love myself. When you love yourself exactly like you are that’s when miracles happen. Instead of wishing you were different or that you looked like somebody else
or that you would be great if you would just lose 5 kg or when you will get that amazing dress you’ve wanted for some time, you should rather take yourself like you are right now and love yourself. There is no one like you, we are all special and we are all great.
Then we really love ourselves we start to treat ourselves like somebody we love. We don’t put bad food into somebody we love and we also don’t let anybody treat somebody we love badly. When somebody loves him/herself and accepts him/herself like he/she is of all their hearts that’s when everything else will happen almost by itself.
The book 100 heilsuráð til langlífis
Jóhanna S. Hannesdóttir
Jóhanna at her book launch
Setting the "right" goals (Icelandic - English)
Hvað mun hvetja mig til að stunda líkamsrækt?
Hvatning er ekki bara spurning um viljastyrk, því viljastyrkur fylgir skammtímaáætluninni, (,,ég ætla ekki að reykja þessa sígarettu".... ,,Ég ætla ekki að borða þetta súkkulaði"... ,,Ég ætla í göngutúr núna") Hvatning er langtímaaðferð til að öðlast eitthvað sem hugurinn girnist. Viljastyrknum getum við kveikt og slökkt á eins og ljósrofa en raunveruleg og sönn hvatning er eilífur logi sem aldrei deyr.Áður en þú byrjar á ferð þinni að heilsusamlegra líferni þá verður þú fyrst að ákveða hver þín persónulega hvatning er.Það þarf kjark til að líta í eiginn barm og spyrja sjálfan sig hver getur verið sú sterka hvatning sem hjálpar þér að framkvæma erfiðar breytingar, til að öðlast betra líf. Þú munt sennilega upplifa einhverja vanlíðan, því það eru jú oftast veikleikar okkar sem við horfumst í augu við, en þú verður að taka á þessu með jákvæðu hugarfari. Þessi innri hvatning mun koma djúpt innan frá undirmeðvitund þinni og styðja þig í gegnum erfiðu stundirnar.
[...]
Til að ná toppárangri
er nauðsynlegt að setja sér raunhæf markmið, bæði til langs tíma og styttri markmiði sem koma þér að lokum að langtímamarkmiði þínu. Þessi markmið skaltu skrifa niður, en passaðu þig á því að vera með markmið sem standast og er mögulegt að ná.
Ekki ætla þér að missa 20 kíló á tveimur mánuðum eða hætta að borða nammi fyrir lífstíð. Þetta eru óraunhæf markmið sem munu að öllum líkindum enda með að þú verður mjög vonsvikin(n) og enn verr sett(ur) líkamlega og andlega en áður en þú hófst átakið.
What will encourage you to start working out.
Motivation is not only about willpower, because willpower comes with the short-term plan („I’m not going to smoke this cigarette“... „I’m not going to eat this chocolate“... „I’m going to go for a walk not“) Motivation is a long-term progress to gain something the mind desires. We can turn the willpower on and off like a light switch, but true motivation is like a eternal flame that never dies. Before you begin your journey to a healthier lifestyle you need to decide what your personal motivation is. It takes courage to look at yourself and ask what can be the strongest motivation that helps you to manage something with difficulty, and to achieve a better life. You will probably experience some kind of hardships, because we often need to confront our weaknesses, but you need to have positive attitude. This inner motivation will come through you subconscious and support you through these hard times.
[…]
To achieve maximum performance
It’s necessary to set realistic goals, both for long-term and short-term that will get you to your long-term goal. You shall write your goals on paper, but make sure that they are passable and reachable.
It is not possible to lose 20 kg after two months or stop eating sweets forever. These are unrealistic goals that will most likely fail and you will end up disappointed and worse set physically and mentally than before you started.
I chose this text mostly because I think goal setting is very important to know and fun to read about. It also contains a enhanced vocabulary for me, but even so it was very fun to translate. Ok it may not be the hardest text to translate but it took my ability to translate from icelandic to english to another level. I googled "heilsa" on google and after some time on the website www.heilsubankinn.is I found this article and desiced to shorten it a litte.
http://www.heilsubankinn.is/vefur/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=494&Itemid=21
Why some people find exercise harder than others
http://www.ted.com/talks/emily_balcetis_why_some_people_find_exercise_harder_than_others
Yes, I survived cancer. But that doesn't define me
http://www.ted.com/talks/debra_jarvis_yes_i_survived_cancer_but_that_doesn_t_define_me
Ueli Gegenschatz: Extreme wingsuit flying
http://www.ted.com/talks/ueli_gegenschatz_extreme_wingsuit_jumping#t-209484