Exercise and Nutrition Tips

Exercise Improves Self-Esteem

Exercise Tip:

Improved self-esteem is one of the top benefits of regular physical activity. While exercising, your body releases chemicals called endorphins that can improve your mood and the way you feel about yourself. The feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as “euphoric” and is accompanied by an energizing outlook. Exercise can help you cope with stress and ward off depression and anxiety!

Healthy way to lose weight

Nutrition Tip:

The healthiest way to lose weight is not through a fad diet or through crash diets. Diets that severely restrict calories or the food you are allowed to eat can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs. It can also lead to a feeling of lethargy. You should think of weight loss in terms of permanently changing your eating habits. While weight-loss goals are usually set in terms of weeks, the goal is to keep those changes for a lifetime.

Exercising to keep weight off

People lose weight all the time without exercise by reducing their caloric intake. But keeping the weight off without exercise is another matter. Many experts agree that exercise is the single best predictor of long-term weight control. If you lose weight and don’t start exercising, there’s a very good chance you will regain it.

Eat Slowly

Try to take at least 20 minutes to complete a meal. This is how long it takes for your brain to realize that your stomach is full.

Holiday Exercise Tip:
Time or lack of time is a big problem when it comes to trying to exercise during the holiday season.  Between holiday parties, shopping and the lack of daylight hours trying to squeeze a workout in can be very difficult.  One way to overcome this is to exercise in you  room as soon as you wake up. A five minute warm-up followed by some 10 second plank holds, push-ups, squats followed by a stretch is a great way to get your day started. It also leaves the rest of the day free.

Holiday Nutrition Tip:

During the holiday season is not the best time to try and lose weight. Will all the snacks and holiday food you are setting your self up for failure. A better way to look at it is trying to maintain your current weight.

Different Muscles Daily

Never work the same muscle group on 2 consecutive days. When you exercise a muscle or a muscle group you are tearing the muscle down. To repair and make the muscle stronger it needs 24  hours of rest and recovery. If you like to work out on consecutive days make sure you train different body parts. For example: Monday work legs and shoulders, Tuesday work chest and triceps and on Wednesday work back and biceps.

Are you really hungry?

We often eat when we’re not hungry. One reason may be that many of us can’t recognize when our bodies need food. The sensation of hunger is instinctual. For many people the first twinge of hunger sends them searching for food, often before they need to eat. Feeling a little hungry at the start of a meal is good, but knowing when you could wait longer is also important. Eating every time you feel hungry can result in overeating. If you struggle with this, ask yourself these questions before your next meal. Am I hungry? (If you’re not sure, wait 20 minutes and ask again.) When was the last time I ate? (If it’s less than three hours, it may not be real hunger.)
Could a small snack tide me over until the next meal? (Try and have ready-to-eat fruit or vegetables on hand.) If you can’t recognize when you’re hungry, make a schedule – eat small meals every three to four hours until you learn what hunger feels like. If you overeat at a meal, get back on track at the next one.

Exercise and Nutrition Tip:

You cannot turn fat into muscle. Fat and muscle are two separate things. You can decrease the amount of fat your body has and increase the amount of muscle has but one cannot turn into the other. Only a proper exercise and diet can decrease fat in your body. Muscle can only be increased by diet and strength training.