Let's Hear It For $5 a Gallon

It's hard to believe there's an upside to higher gas prices, but there is. Finally, gas is so costly that people are starting to drive less, and walk and bicycle more. It's called exercise, and any way you cut it, or cause it, it's a good thing for our nation's health.

Chew on this: If the price of gasoline went up an additional $1 a gallon, obesity rates in the United States would decline by 15 percent over five years. This, according to Charles Courtenance, a Washington University researcher reporting in a recent ACE FitnessMatters magazine.

Not only would people get more exercise, but they would also eat fewer meals in restaurants. And — we all know from years of ordering crispy fries and finishing supersized portions — we eat healthier and less expensive meals when we cook at home.

So there it is. The two-sidedness of things; the yin and the yang. Are you biking more and eating out less? Is the gas tank half empty or half full?

Be Smart, Be Thrifty: Cut Your Juice With Water

Dehydration is one of those cut-and-dried fitness issues: If you don't drink enough fluid, your body cannot function well. You'll get tired, you'll get headaches, your cells will rebel.

One tasty way to stay hydrated — especially in summer —- is to drink fruit juices: orange, apple, grape, pomegranate, even the much-mocked prune. But this is where you have to read the labels. All juices are not created equal. Some are 100 percent juice, some are 12 percent or less. Many juices are very high in calories and, over time … well, you know the rest.

The smart move is to dilute these juices yourself — with water or seltzer — and get twice the fluid and half the calories. Or you can buy commercial light juices, and leave the watering down to someone else. But the problem with many of these is that they use artificial sweeteners.

So again, read those labels. If you see that the juice contains the wonderful new sweetener called "acesulfame potassium," take a pass. It's poorly tested and one of those suspicious ingredients you don't need and should avoid.

Summer Madness: The 1,740 Calorie Splurge

This is why I am in favor of following New York City's example and posting calorie counts in restaurants and fast food joints: People Don't Know. It's also possible People Don't Care, but let's not go there now, not in mid-June, when it's so much fun to stop and enjoy a yummy ice cream cone.

Remember that simple pleasure? A scoop of chocolate, vanilla or strawberry in a sugar cone — a little peace of heaven that totaled about 300 calories? But that was before the 160-calorie waffle cone, and the 320-calorie dipped-in-chocolate cone, and it was all before Cold Stone Creamery unleashed the Founder's Favorite.

Hold onto your waistband extenders! The FF consists of a scoop of ice cream the size of a cantalope, resting in a waffle bowl (cousin to the Super Bowl), smothered in bits of brownie, pecans, fudge and caramel. That amounts to a whopping 1,740 calories or 48 grams of saturated fat, according to my bible on things like this, the Nutrition Action HealthLetter.

No problem, as long as you're planning on a boiled zuccini for dinner.

See how helpful posted calorie counts could be? Write your congressperson today and push for posted calorie counts everywhere that heart disease is sold.

Correction: In Breathing, The Play's The Thing

In a recent column about touring by bicycle, I was on a roll with some riding tips, and I misspoke. To give you more energy and endurance going uphill, I suggested you practice a particular breathing technique: one inhale followed by two exhales. It's OK and worth trying, but the breathing pattern I actually use going uphill is just the reverse: two short inhales, followed by one long exhale.

The real point is to play with your breathing when you bike, run, kayak, swim or do any sport. It brings strength and energy to your body, and clarity to your mind. "Breath is the key to ultimate emancipation," says the ancient textbook called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Free your mind, and your body will follow, even on a bike up the highest hill.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! NEXT TIME YOU'RE STRUGGLING . . .

"Focus on your breath — imagine yourself breathing in wisdom, and breathing out determination." — Avraham Tsvi Schwartz

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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