Dance On!

Have you ever had “Saturday Night Fever” and wanted to “Do the Hustle”? Or have you not heard LMFAO sing Party Rock it starts “party rock is in the house tonite. Everybody just have a good time”. It’s a great get-up and go dance song that has everybody moving their feet and shuffling!

From wedding’s, to bar and bat mitzvah’s, to birthday celebrations, I am surrounded by good friends and family sharing the joy! The energy at both the ceremonies and celebrations is contagious! Typically, we dance all night (ok, maybe we eat and drink too!).

Recently at a past celebration, I became aware of, and realized how important the art of dancing is to one’s health! Now, anyone who knows me on the dance floor can attest that rhythm is not my strength! I inherited a lot of good qualities from my parents, but I am not heading for dancing with the stars! Oh well…

However, I do have fun when out there on the dance floor (especially as a I note my children’s embarrassment!).

I searched the web and found that my desire for fun is supported by research that says dancing is a great way for people of all ages to get in and stay in shape. Besides being fun, dancing has many positive health benefits.

Some of the benefits are: flexibility, strength, endurance, and an overall sense of well-being.

Flexibility is an important part of being healthy. Dance requires a great amount of flexibility. Strength is defined as the ability of a muscle to exert a force against resistance. Dancing builds strength by forcing the muscles to resist against a dancer's own body weight. Dance is physical exercise. Exercise increases endurance. Endurance is the ability of muscles to work hard for increasingly longer periods of time without fatigue. Regular dancing is great for improving endurance, especially vigorous dancing.  Dancing is a social activity. Studies have shown that strong social ties and socializing with friends contribute to high self-esteem and a positive outlook.

So, get up and dance and be light in your feet and enjoy yourself and people you are with!

And, after you are all done dancing the nite away, to treat yourself to something sweet, try these amazing cookies (they are healthy and delicious!):

Healthy Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves 2-6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic raw whole rolled oats*
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup) organic mashed pumpkin (from a can is ok)
• 1 small ripe banana, chopped
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 3 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 3 tbsp grade B maple syrup
• 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice**
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a baking sheet with a natural olive oil or canola oil cooking spray. Combine pumpkin, banana, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix on high with a hand mixer until mostly smooth, about two minutes. Fold in the oats, almonds and flax using a large wooded spoon until the mixture is uniform. Form 6 large cookies and bake for 14-16 minutes until set. They will stay soft but hold together well. Let cool 10 minutes before eating, and store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

This recipe also works well if you make 12 small cookies of equal size and bake for 11-13 minutes.

*Oats are gluten-free by nature, but some are processed in plants that also process gluten-containing ingredients. Read the package instructions for more info, and, if necessary, buy oats that are certified to not contain gluten.

** Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & clove. I recommend buying the blend at your local natural grocer (it’s inexpensive and contains proper proportions), or you can make your own if you’d like.

Enjoy!

For more information, contact me at Rachel@livehealthynyc.com