The time has come to return to routine and with it the need to recover from possible excesses and also to regain the good habits lost during the summer. Experts recommend “a gradual adaptation of this return to school, focused on good eating habits, rest, physical exercise or medical check-ups,” the report states. Dr. Miguel Marcos, Medical Director and Head of Internal Medicine at Quirónsalud Hospital in Malaga.
The start of the season begins as the year begins: with resolutions. “At Christmas, we gain an average of three kilos and we usually dedicate the first months of the year to losing those extra kilos. In summer we put aside this pressure and free ourselves from the routine, but when summer comes back we want to quickly get back to what took us a few months at the beginning of the year.. Difficult. “You have to be a little patient, but also constant and disciplined.”
There are no magic measures, but there are some basic tips. Regarding nutrition, as the internist said, after the summer we must return to the goals we set at the beginning of the year. lose them again kilos too much and get back into good habits,” with diets where the nutritional groups are complete and balanced. We eliminate excess beer, ice cream, cakes, fried or processed… and we reintroduce fruits, vegetables, cereals.…; everything we need for a complete diet.
When Dr. Miguel Marcos talks about “everything we need for a complete diet,” he also refers to the possibility of demanding even supplements to meet certain needs or according to dietary habits, as may be the case for vegetarians, cancer patients or according to age groups. For example, and “always under the supervision of a professional, For those over 50, we recommend supplements of magnesium, vitamins B and D and omega 3 fatty acids to control cardiovascular risk.
Sleep is another area to readjust when returning to work, school, etc.since during the summer we get up and go to bed later. The goal is to do it gradually; that each time we go to bed a little earlier and wake up earlier and thus adapt to our usual schedule. “Also remember that the ideal is to sleep 7 to 8 hours and have a small dinner and about two hours before going to sleep.”
He Physical exercise is one of the most penalized issues during the summer season. We tend to reduce it, or even eliminate it sometimes because of the heat. On the contrary, there are people who take advantage of these holidays to start doing sports. In any case, once again, the recommendation is “gradually join, and always according to our abilities, the practice of the exercise in a way that allows us to acquire or recover physical fitness more easily. It is a fundamental healthy habit, since sport not only helps us recover functionally, but also at an emotional, social or immunological level,” explains the medical director of Quirónsalud Málaga.
As activities, The doctor advises alternating cardiovascular and muscular exercises for young people; and walking and muscle-building exercises for seniors..
Dr. Miguel Marcos calculates that “Functional recovery of the body is achieved in half the time spent standingsomething that serves as a reference for us to be careful and patient with a gradual integration into the routine.
Another piece of advice that this medical team gives in consultation is to pay attention to “how we relate to nature, how we socialize, how We will try to find all the healthy lifestyle habits that we had before leaving space to relax our mind and practice meditation, practice our hobbiesbecoming aware of breathing… and therefore of all those activities that help us to have a fuller life.
Finally, a particularly important aspect upon our return is that we place ourselves in the hands of our doctors and health professionals to assess our state of health. They must analyze risk factors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, weight gain…First, evaluate it: with tests, with checks, etc. And then, “specify the appropriate measures to bring our body to a safe level and where the risk is minimal in terms of the possibility of having cardiovascular disease in a relatively short period of time.”
Dr. Miguel Marcos, also head of medical services at Unicaja Baloncesto in Quirónsalud, acknowledges that We all benefit from a start-of-season medical check-up, tailored to each individual’s needs.. Obviously, the test is not the same as that which should be given to an elite athlete, but at the end of the day, we all undergo a post-holiday adaptation period and, therefore, we must analyze how we are doing.
So, “for the general population, experts recommend a health check that gives us a global picture of how we are right now, including being able to prevent and detect problems that may be invisible in our body“. In this case, the studies necessary for both your age and your condition are requested: analyses, cardiological, gynecological, urological, ophthalmological, ENT examinations…
