Fitness Tips 'n Tricks - Be Active!

Tip of the day:  Be Active!  

You really do not have to sport the Spandex shorts and head to the gym every day.  There is no reason to do that.

Did you know that exercise is cumulative?  You can go for a 15 minute jog on your treadmill in the morning.  Then take a 15 minute walk on your lunch break.  Go for a 15 minute bike ride with your kids in the afternoon.  Or even take a walk in the evening with a friend.  All of those activities count.   Pick a few of them to do each day and they will add up to a nice workout!  

If nothing else, wake up and do a few pushups and sit ups.  Get that heart rate pumping with some jumping jacks.  Better yet, get yourself a jump rope and do a few intervals (take your heart rate up and then let it come back down - repeating 6-8 times) to help get that fat burning mode up and running.  

It is summer time.  Take advantage of the beautiful weather.  Get outside with your kids, be a good example to them and show them the benefits of being active!  

(Courtesy - www.Cartoonstock.com)

Out train a Poor Diet

There are a whole lot of people out there that will spend hours at the gym or run outside for an extended period of time, to just come home and pork out on junk food and low-nutrient foods.  The thought process is something along the lines of, "If I work out really hard, then I can eat whatever I want, right?"  

Wrong!  

It doesn't matter how long you spend at the gym or how much exercise you get, if you don't clean up your diet.  You will see little to no results if you only increase your workouts.  You have to commit to eating more whole foods and more fruits and vegetables.  Toss the processed junk and go for more foods that can be found in nature!  

A study from the University of Texas found that without dietary control (not dieting, just eating healthier), people who completed a 12-week program of resistance training and high-intensity training lost only 1 percent of body fat!!  

Don't waste all of the time and effort you spend working out, by eating poorly afterwards.  Pull out the almonds, apples, string cheese, carrot sticks, etc.  Toss the potato chips, pop tarts, candy bars, etc.!  

Brain Busters - Fruits & Veggies

Eat a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables.  Consuming plenty of healthy vegetables and fruits helps prevent heart disease and strokes, diverticulitis, control your blood pressure, prevent some types of cancers, and guards against cataract and macular degeneration or vision loss.

Try to pick out at least two or three different colored fruits and vegetables every time you go to the grocery store.  Why not try something that you haven't tried before?  Chop up some turnips and add them to your veggie tray.  Or steam some beets and drizzle a little olive oil on top.  Your body will thank you!

Fitness Tips 'n Tricks - Don't Pill pop

Don't pop a pill after you work out.  Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences found that ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) were no more effective than a placebo in relieving post exercise muscle soreness.  More important, they say the drugs may actually suppress muscle growth when taken after a workout.

Instead of reaching for a pill, try taking a walk or doing some light stretching to ease those muscles.  If you have access to a gym, you can sit in a sauna for a few minutes to loosen your muscles.  Afterwards, stretch the muscles that are bothering you to help relieve the soreness.  Be sure to warm up your muscles before stretching!

Interesting News Article - Food May be Addicting for Some

Want another interesting article about food and how it can be addictive?  Find it here.  Here are a few interesting tidbits.


"A new study suggests that people who struggle to say no to chocolate, french fries or other junk food suffer from something more insidious than lack of willpower: They may actually have an addiction."  

"Just as most people who abuse alcohol or smoke marijuana aren't addicts, this study suggests that no single explanation or solution exists for overeating. In cases where the underlying problem is addiction, psychiatrists say that neither gastric-bypass surgery nor lifestyle changes are likely to prove effective. Among addicted eaters, 'the current emphasis on personal responsibility…may have minimal effectiveness,' concluded the paper."


Read more about some real solutions to food addictions by going to the Lightpoint website.  

Don't depend on the scale!

There are a lot of women (and men) out there that step on the scale every day.  What an unpleasant way to start your day!  

Stop depending on the scale to tell you the answers you already know.  If you feel like your pants are fitting too tight, then that is the time to do something about it.  If your pants fit fine then move on and enjoy your day!

There are so many variables to your weight.  It can be up five pounds or down five pounds depending on what time of day it is that you weigh yourself or whether you have had anything to eat or drink.  It is unhealthy to be checking your weight all the time.  It puts too much emphasis on a number.

Plus, it really is true that muscles weighs more than fat.  A person can be a size smaller in their jeans but weigh 5-10 pounds more than they "think" they should weigh.  The scale is NOT accurate.  

We all need to focus more on feeling good and having a positive mental image of ourselves.  YOU tell yourself - don't let the scale tell you!  

Brain Busters - Sugar

Whether you are at home with small children, sitting at your desk at work, or out and about trying to get things done, when 3pm comes it is tough to keep up the energy to last the rest of the day.  Try reaching for an apple and some almonds or even a string cheese and some whole grain crackers.  Stay away from the refined sugars!  


You don't have to understand how your brain processes sugar to know that after you eat a meal high in carbohydrates or sugar, you feel a slump, have trouble focusing and start to fall asleep. 

Begin to look at food as fuel. 

You can only expect your brain to work as well as the fuel you put in your body to operate it's control center. 


You would not put dirty gasoline in a race car and expect the engine to operate optimally. 


Check out this article from Shape magazine talking more about the effects of sugar.