To maintain your health, don’t let your core muscles sag.
Core meltdowns aren’t just fodder for scary movies like “The China Syndrome.” If your core sags, you’re looking at some pretty serious health risks that can destabilize your body, too.
Core muscles include all your abdominal, back, hip and butt muscles; they support your spine and keep you balanced. Weak core muscles can lead to falls, bad posture and back pain — not to mention a bulging belly.
Here are four ways to strengthen your core
• Crawl, like a baby (knee pads allowed). Engaging hips, thighs, shoulders, arms and abdominal muscles, this complete workout is the latest in core-building exercises.
• Plank. Lie on your stomach; raise yourself up onto your forearms and tips of your toes. Hold for three deep breaths. Rest; repeat as many times as you can.
• Bridge. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat, arms on floor along your sides. Lift your butt in the air as high as possible; hold. Try clasping hands together on the floor under your arched back. Repeat.
• Eat flat-belly foods. Fat around your midsection weakens your core and boosts inflammation so you’re at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and some cancers! Go for 5-9 servings daily of produce, only 100 percent whole grains and healthy fats found in salmon, olive oil and walnuts.
Help for depressed teen Q: I think my daughter is depressed, and I want her to talk to a counselor, but I’m afraid she’ll just go off. She’s 14 and has built this wall between herself and the rest of the family. How should I approach her?
Jennifer W., Seattle A: Teens can throw up walls when they’re confused or are experiencing emotional pain. It’s not uncommon. But that doesn’t mean you should just say, “It’s a stage” or “She’ll get over it.” Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to take down the walls and help her regain enjoyment of everyday life.
According to analysts from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who looked at the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, the incidence of adolescent depression grew by 37 percent, and teen suicide rates, particularly among young girls ages 10-14, tripled in the past 15 years. But many parents (and doctors) don’t know the signs or what to do about it.
If your daughter has lost interest or pleasure in daily activities that she once enjoyed, is having insomnia or sleeping too much, binge eating and then not eating, she could fit the criteria for a major depressive episode. Plummeting grades and possible substance abuse also are signs.
As for signs of suicidal thoughts or behavior, they include uttering phrases like “You’ll be better off when I’m gone” and “I hate my life.” Checking her social-media accounts may provide clues. Also, search online for “YouTube Mayo Clinic teen-suicide prevention” to watch a very informative video.
Call your daughter’s primarycare physician for referrals and advice, talk to a school counselor and arrange for a meeting with a therapist and/or psychiatrist so that you can discuss starting treatment for her and whether medication is needed. Then set aside time to talk each day; listen — do not judge. You will find that these approaches can help her enormously.