Wandering through the grocery aisles, you might head towards your favorite summer foods. You find the tomatoes you are getting from a country far away do not taste quite as good as the tomatoes grown in the farm up the road from you. Your local fruit is filled with flavor, bursting at the seams with juicy sweetness.
LOCALLY GROWN
Eating fruits and vegetables grown locally can make a significant difference in your life and your community. You will find the foods pack a punch in flavor, offer the greatest nutritional value, and that you can be assured of their quality. You can choose organic produce bought in bulk at a considerable discount. Your purchase in turn, helps the farmer and supports the community.
We live in a time where we can have food at our fingertips from anywhere in the globe at almost a moment’s notice. However, worldwide distribution has also resulted in a substantial increase in processed foods and foods that traveled more than a thousand miles to get to us, often reveals an associated wear and tear, with less flavor and nutrition. Some foods are also heavily laden with chemical agents, preservatives, and wax coatings to protect them and make them last longer in the journey.
Eating foods in season is not only synonymous with many cherished memories (eating watermelon in the summer, squash at Thanksgiving, etc.) but also offers a natural balance for nutrition.
WINTER
Ward off winter colds with a dose of beta carotene found naturally in pumpkins and squash. Eating nuts also offers rich nutrients desired by the body as the temperature falls. Look for foods with the most color, because they are packed with the most nutritional value. By eating seasonally, you get the most flavor and nutrition in your foods. Winter also relies on fall favorites as well as nuts, corn, and eggs.
SPRING
In spring, look for spinach, Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, basil, dill, and parsley.
SUMMER
In summer, when fruit ripens to maturity, turn to apples, strawberries, plums, pears, mint, cilantro, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, and summer squash.
FALL
Fall invokes harvest foods of carrots, garlic, ginger, and potatoes. By simply steaming or sautéing food, and adding freshly ground black pepper, salt, and a few spices, you can bring out the natural flavor of foods.
VARIETY IN FOODS
The best diet contains a good variety of foods so make your meals enjoyable by focusing on fresh produce, trying out a new item every week, and trying new recipes. Check out recipes on the web or share with your friends and family. Enjoy delicious, wholesome meals that you look forward to every day. Try out new cuisine ideas from different regions and check out handy tips offered by grocers and cooks above foods and in the fish, poultry, vegetable, and cheese areas. Subscribe to a healthy food magazine where you fill find a ton of ideas on preparing food for each season and special occasions, with dietary considerations as well. By choosing carefully, you can enjoy hearty, delicious fare every season.
Triathlons have sprouted all over the country and in many places around the world as a popular endurance sport for people of all ages. A triathlon is a race that consists of swimming, cycling, and running segments. A competitive triathlon athlete has to be proficient in all three aspects and know how to maintain their energy level and endurance, while quickly transitioning out from leg of the race to the next. Hence most triathletes are incredibly fit. Since triathlons involve cardiovascular exercise for the whole body, the overall effect from training is a toned and fit body balanced all over whereas training for one sport alone offers muscle development in only specific areas. Many athletes choose triathlons because of the amazing benefits of these cardiovascular exercises.
The reasons why people choose to do triathlons may vary. However, the benefits are immediate and universal. Training for and participating in a triathlon is one of the most rewarding activities you can undertake in your life, building your self-confidence, giving you meaning and self-discipline in your exercise habits, inspiring and motivating you, as well as expanding your horizons and ability to take on new challenges.
Lose Weight and Tone Simultaneously
Training for a triathlon helps you lose weight significantly while toning up all over, making you incredibly fit in a well-balanced program that burns fat while building muscle. You will experience greater energy levels while feeling stronger and more confident than ever before. Also training requires proper nutrition and feeding your body regularly nutritious foods. You will look and feel younger, while being more energetic and powerful. While running will help you develop long and lean muscles, cycling will build strength and tone your lower body. Swimming sculpts your upper body while promoting flexibility.
Triathlons also prevent injuries because cross training limits the stress you put on your body when you overuse certain joints, tendons, and the same body parts again and again from doing just one sport. Training for a triathlon also is never boring. There is enough variety and challenge from different workouts to help you stay motivated while keeping up your fitness regimen.
Regular cardiovascular exercise from triathlon training helps lower your risk for disease and cancer, while promoting both physical and mental health benefits. You will also add years to your life, while sharpening your mind and focus, helping you return to your activities with freshness. Your ability to handle stress will also grow and you will develop grace under pressure. Training for a triathlon also is one of the biggest boosters to your self-esteem. Your self-confidence will skyrocket. You will be challenged to grow both physically and mentally. You will notice significant improvement in your moods while your motivation to exercise will also increase. You will overcome both mental and physical blocks, replacing weakness with strength, while feeling good about yourself.
Training for a triathlon transports you into another world of self-growth. You will meet like-minded people who enjoy individual sports on a highly personal level. Whether you are a young twenty-year old just starting out, or a grandparent, you can participate in a triathlon and become a world-class professional. Training for a triathlon is highly motivating and inspiring, increasing your sense of purpose in the world, while pushing you to be the best that you can be. You will find significant improvement in every aspect of your life from the discipline, focus, new energy, enthusiasm, and love that you put into your training, that will now flow into everything else in your life. As the triathlete Dave Scott said, “If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race; its up to you.”
Every pet owner or sitter, who enjoys the companionship of a dog, can benefit tremendously from regular exercise with his or her pet. Dogs require regular social interaction, exercise, and attention from their pet owners. By simply taking your dog for a walk, you can provide all of this.
You and your dog together will:
1. Expend some energy
2. Take in fresh air
3. Stimulate the senses
4. Feel connected to each other and your environment
5. Feel good
So many well-intentioned pet owners end up spending most of their time indoors with their pets because of personal and work obligations and inclement weather. However, taking your dog for a walk not only benefits your dog, but also offers you a lot of benefits as well. Just taking the dog for a walk a few times a week offers significant benefits to your health such as better cardiovascular fitness, lower blood pressure, reduced stress, and stronger muscles and bones. Pet owners also experience greater self-esteem from the unconditional love and companionship free of judgment offered by dogs.
1. Dog’s Health
Your dog’s health also significantly improves from regular walks. Pets that do not have enough exercise become overweight and sometimes obese, resulting in illnesses and conditions that include cardiovascular disease, increased anxiety, osteoarthritis, and liver disease. People who walk dogs also often engage socially with others more and experience greater enjoyment during their regular walks. Stress is significantly reduced by interactions with a pet. When you take your dog for a walk, be sure to have a good leash that gives you control over your pet and a plastic bag to pick up after your pet. If you have a pet that is used to spending a lot of time indoors, it may come as a big surprise to both of you how your pet reacts to the outdoors. Encouraging your pet will help them overcome any shyness and fear, while also keeping them fit and agile. Your dog is loyal and committed to you and the enjoyment from spending time in your company cannot be easily surpassed.
2. Dog Socialization
Taking your dog on regular walks also helps eliminate antisocial behavior, reduce pet anxiety, prevent behavioral problems, and encourages your animal to interact appropriately with both people and other animals. By praising and encouraging your dog, your pet will grow closer to you, more confident, aware of behavior that elicits positive responses from you, and be less likely to experience separation anxiety from being left at home.
Considering running a race? After several weeks of running, you might feel ready to start picking up the pace to run a longer distance. Training for your first race is motivating and can help get you out the door and running. It is also one of the best goals you can have to start a lifetime of fitness and healthy living. Participating in a race is beneficial in so many ways. You will feel a sense of accomplishment, connection with a larger community, and reach personal fitness goals.
Where do I start?
Your next question then probably is where do I start? For beginners, the perfect length for a first race is a 3.1mile race, also known as a 5k race. This is an easy goal that can be achieved for a new runner while still posing enough of a challenge for an expert, who wants to develop speed and go for greater intensity.
A 3.1mile race is an attainable goal and by starting out with a simple plan you can succeed and feel good about your success. Always run within your comfort range and avoid pushing your limits in order to prevent injury and burnout. If you follow a good program for eight to ten weeks, you can participate in a race and also develop the lifestyle changes that will encourage a healthy fitness plan that you can maintain all your life.
For your first race, focus on doing the race and completing it. Do not be worried about being first or winning but rather enjoying your run and achieving your goal. By achieving this goal, you will boost your self-esteem, while tuning up your cardiovascular system, alleviating stress, and improving your mood and energy levels.
Participating in a 5k race involves steady running for thirty minutes and for most runners, this will involve training for eight to ten weeks prior to the event. Before you begin, make sure that it is safe for you to commence a running regimen by checking with your doctor first.
What kind of fitness plan do I need?
Initially, you will start by running and walking for twenty to thirty minutes at a time, four times a week. For people who are not used to running at all, you will want to start with walking and then build to running. You can begin by walking first and alternating it with running, such as walking for five minutes, running for two minutes, and then walking again for five minutes, followed by running for two minutes, till you build up to thirty minutes. You will want to do this four times a week. Slowly, you will be able to increase the running segments. Always do this routine within your comfort range. Avoid pushing yourself too far where you feel weak or lightheaded. Always celebrate your successes.
Try to add one minute to your running time each week and take off one minute from your walking time until you can reach your running goal of thirty minutes straight comfortably. This is a great accomplishment so enjoy it and keep it up. The key to success is gradual training so be sure to build in slow increments and always have adequate rest time. Also stay hydrated and eat healthy. You may find that your appetite increases. Feed your body well and pay attention to what your body is asking you. Also get enough sleep. Some trainers say that you need one extra minute of sleep for every minute you run. Your body needs enough recovery time. Make sure you have good running shoes suitable for your personal needs and for the kinds of surfaces that you are running on (inside track, outside pavement, dirt trails, etc.) The best surface to train on is a track, followed by asphalt, then concrete, and finally a dirt road. Also dress in layers. You can try out some of the new fabrics that wick away moisture while keeping you warm and dry. Try to stay away from cotton. Try to train at the time that your race will be. For example, if you have a morning race, train in the morning so that your body can adapt. Get to know your race. If it involves running in town, practice running in town. If your race involves steep hills, run up and down hills so that you feel comfortable with the routine. Also just like other sports, cross training is advisable. So on days that you do not run, try other activities such as pilates, yoga, and strength training, while allowing those muscles worked during running to rest.
Minutes Not Miles
Focus on the minutes instead of the miles. This is a more gentle and gradual approach that is also self-paced and will help you build strength and confidence. Run comfortably and gradually increase your training so that you can improve both your speed and endurance. Through interval training such as running three one-mile intervals instead of doing the entire distance at once, you will build endurance and increase your speed. Alternate between fast and slow running and always start and end your running with a gentle warm up and cool down for five to ten minutes each.
You can run a 5K race in just five weeks of doing three to four runs a week. By working for something specific and having the date of a race on your calendar, you will gain purpose to training and find the motivation that you need to keep up your program. The great thing about a 5K race is that you can achieve this goal as a beginner and it is so much fun.
Celebrate Your Success
Running a local 5K race is excellent for improving your health, getting in shape, and building your self-confidence. You can also support your community through the small donation fee and other non-profit causes, while meeting new people. Also you can continue to build up your running distance and speed and go on to participate in other races and marathons.
What you eat on a daily basis affects your health, energy level, weight, and mood. Eating healthy foods that offer you good nutritional value strengthens your bones, boosts your energy, and lifts your mood, providing you with the fuel necessary to enjoy a fulfilling day. Finding the right balance of foods to provide you with fuel or energy as well as nutrients is essential for health.
Portion Size
Portion size varies greatly depending upon the age, gender, and activity level of the person. In most cases, meals should contain more fruit and vegetables and starchy foods, and less meat, fat, and sugar. However, the portion size in relation to the different food groups essentially stays the same. In general, one third of daily food intake should consist of fruits and vegetables, another third of starchy carbohydrates, and the last third of protein and dairy, with a small portion allocated for fats and sugar. A balanced and sustainable diet provides you with enough nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals for your body.
Food Pyramids
One of the most popular tools for good nutrition is a food pyramid. A food pyramid outlines the different kinds of food groups and helps you eat better. The foods that you should consume in the biggest quantity are at the base of the pyramid while the food to consume in smaller amounts is towards the top of the pyramid. Food pyramids exist for all kinds of diets and cuisine such as Mediterranean, Asian, Vegetarian, and others such as Healthy Weight (proposed by the Mayo Clinic) etc. With so many choices, you may be confused which one to choose. Depending upon the foods that you like to consume most often, such as rice and noodles in an Asian diet versus tortillas in a Latin American diet, you can select the food pyramid that is most appropriate to you. All food pyramids follow the same basic principles:
1. Consume more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.
2. Reduce the amount of cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat.
3. Drink alcohol in moderation.
4. Consume less sweets and salt.
5. Watch the size of your portions and caloric intake.
6. Exercise daily.
Not Just One Food Group
It is important to realize that eating a single food group alone is inadequate and that your body needs a variety of food that provide nutrients and energy to promote good health. When you are first starting out, you may find it very helpful to keep a food journal to keep track of what you are eating. You can also write down your exercise. Over time, this will help you stay motivated, gain awareness of your own eating and exercise habits, while promoting your own health and well-being. When you are first starting out, you may find the changes proposed in the food pyramid a bit daunting if your eating habits vary greatly. Hence, making small and gradual changes will be more effective and help you gain control of your diet with reasonable expectations.
Choose foods from each food group with a wide range so that you enjoy your meals, while getting all the calories and nutrients that your body needs. You can adapt the plan to suit your preferences and individual taste. You can also combine foods from major groups. If you find that you avoid certain foods that your body needs, find other food sources that have the same nutrients found in those particular foods. Eating healthy is often synonymous with eating well so enjoy what you eat and be creative in your meals.
Experiment
It can be as easy as experimenting with new foods such as adding orange slices to a salad, trying something new in your meals such as tofu instead of meat in lunches and a smoothie instead of a greasy breakfast. Eat several small meals rather than large ones and go for nutritious snacks such as fruit or rice cakes in between meals. Increase the vegetable portion of your meal while you decrease the meat part. Explore foods from different cultures such as edamame or quinoa that are delicious nutritious foods. Sprinkle fresh herbs on your grilled or sautéed vegetables for savory flavor.
By paying attention to what you eat and how much you eat, you can lower your cholesterol and ensure the healthy functioning of your heart, muscles, and bones. Oatmeal and oat bran contains soluble fiber that reduces LDL or low-density lipoprotein, which is the source of bad cholesterol. Apples, pears, barley, psyllium, and kidney beans also contain soluble fibers. Walnuts also reduce cholesterol, while improving blood vessels of the heart.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout, and sardines reduce LDL, while boosting energy levels. You can also get omega-3 fatty acids from flaxseed or canola oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are also good for your heart. Another food source that is beneficial to the heart is olive oil. Two tablespoons of olive oil consumed daily offer significant heart benefits.
Reducing the amount of saturated and trans fat that you consume is also important for your health. Trans fat raise LDL levels and are often found in many snack foods. Hence, reading the label is important before you open that bag of chips, cookies, or crackers. Your daily fat intake should contain less than ten percent saturated fats and avoid trans fats entirely.
Eat less processed food. Avoid foods that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar, include high fructose corn syrup, and cannot be pronounced. Often these three factors are indicative of highly processed foods. Try to get your fruits and vegetables locally and if possible, organic from farmer’s markets and co-ops to avoid the heavy pesticide sprays and to ensure peak nutritional value. Choose low-fat dairy whenever possible. Reduce your intake of sweeteners and salt. Enjoy eating delicious, fresh meals as much as possible and you will notice significant improvement in your energy level, mood, and overall health.
Resources
Food Group and Serving Size
http://mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00647
Healthy Weight Pyramid
http://mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00595
Nutrition Tool: http://www.eatingwell.com/health/nutrition_tools/diy_nutrition_analysis.html
Article in New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Strength training and flexibility go hand in hand and are necessary for the overall healthy functioning of your body. Some exercises such as pilates, astanga yoga, and power yoga combine both. Flexibility training and strength training actually enhances each other.
What is flexibility?
Flexibility refers to the range of movement in a joint or series of joints. You can be flexible in one part of your body and not in another. Some people may start out being very flexible and over time, lose flexibility if they do not do exercises that work those areas in the body. Stretching enhances flexibility while also improving your cardiovascular performance since it loosens up, relaxes, and gets blood flowing in the body prior to heart-pumping activities.
Flexibility can be dynamic or static. Dynamic flexibility involves motion where you are able to move muscles through a full range of motion in the joints. Static flexibility does not involve motion. In static flexibility, there are two states, active and passive. Active flexibility involves maintaining extended positions while stretching muscles using only your muscles. Passive flexibility also involves holding positions for extended positions but does not solely rely upon your own muscle power as you can use your weight or another apparatus for support.
Active Flexibility
Active flexibility takes more time to develop since it requires both a foundation of passive flexibility for range of motion and then muscle strength to hold and maintain those positions. Flexibility is affected by factors that include your body’s health and history as well as the environment around you. Internal influences include the joint you are flexing, bony structures that prevent movement, resistance within a joint, and the elasticity of muscle tissue, skin, tendons and ligaments, as well as the temperature of the joint and tissues associated with that joint. Increased flexibility has been noted in people who are exercising and their body temperature is 1 to 2 degrees higher than normal.
External Factors
External factors that can affect flexibility include temperature of location, time of day, stage in joint recovery after injury, age, gender, clothing and equipment. Your experience and level of commitment also plays a large influence on your flexibility. Drinking more water also significantly increase mobility as well as contributing to greater relaxation for the body.
Factors that can limit flexibility include bone structure, excessive fatty tissue, muscle mass, connective tissue, injury, and disability. The bone structure can cause limitations depending upon the type of joint and its condition. This is also where age comes into play since older joints are not as flexible as younger joints.
When either fatty tissue or muscle mass is developed massively, it can disrupt the ability of nearby joints to perform a full range of motion. Lastly, in terms of connective tissue, most flexibility exercises assist in reducing internal resistance of connective tissue. Connective tissue offers resistance to lengthening. Overused connective tissue limits flexibility. If certain muscles are inactive, connective tissues change over time to restrict flexibility. Elastin loses elasticity and collagen grows dense and stiff. Hence inactive connective tissue can have the same effect as aging.
The most elastic tissue in the muscles is in the fascia area of the muscle. Avoid overstretching ligaments and tendons that can weaken joint integrity and increase the likelihood of injury.
At Any Age
Regardless of age, everyone should practice flexibility. However, your flexibility will be very different from that of your partner, friend, or neighbor. Also, flexibility is harder to develop the older you are because of changes in the connective tissue, loss of suppleness, greater calcium deposits, dehydration, and other factors. However, performing flexibility exercises will significantly increase your range of motion, body appearance, and blood flow. Yoga and pilates offer significant benefits to flexibility through a series of flow movements to build flexibility in all major muscle groups.
Stretching
Stretching is one of the best ways to develop flexibility and you can do this right after strength building exercises such as weight lifting or repetitions. After weight lifting, muscles are shortened from repetition of muscle movement and contain lactic acid that makes the muscle appear bigger. Stretching the muscle afterwards restores range of motion to these areas, while removing waste products from the body and contraction in muscles. Static stretching is important after strength workouts.
Strength Training
Flexibility training should go hand in hand with strength training. You should always perform exercises for both flexibility and strength in any group of muscles you work out for balance. Strength training significantly can improve the appearance of your body to provide definition whether it is in the arms, legs, stomach, or buttocks. Strength training when combined with flexibility exercises can help you develop a strong and well-toned physique that has definition with a longer and leaner look.
If you only do flexibility exercises, the connective tissues loosen up and weaken, becoming easily damaged through overstretching or muscle contractions. However, strength training prevents such injuries. For many women who do not want the short physique of a bodybuilder, dynamic strength training can offer you strength without bulk through a series of light dynamic exercises with lighter weights and more repetitions. Dynamic flexibility exercises should be performed prior to any heavy weightlifting exercises.
You can strengthen your body through exercises such as lifting weights and cardiorespiratory activities such as walking, dancing, jogging, and bicycling. The overall look and feel that you desire is always a matter of personal choice. You may want to build a bigger body like a bodybuilder or go for the slender physique of a dancer, or desire overall fitness. You make your muscles stronger by working them against resistance from weights or gravity. If you are first starting out in strength training, begin with light weights and work your muscles on non-consecutive days 2-3 times a week. Over time, you will build strength and be able to add more weight for more of a challenge. Always stretch after strength exercises when your muscles are warmed up. Strength training is an integral part of fitness programs for adults and should include eight to twelve repetitions of eight to ten exercises for the major muscles groups. Some strength training moves include the bench press, lat pulldown, overhead press, bicep curl, tricep pulldown, squat, leg extension, leg curl, and abdominal crunch.
Weight loss requires burning more calories than you are consuming and the best way to do this is through a combination of diet and exercise. Regular exercise helps you build stronger muscles. Muscles in turn, consume more calories than fat, which enables you to lose weight.
Fat versus Muscles
Women have more fat and less muscle than men in general. Some concerns people raise immediately about weight training are the initial gain of weight from building muscles and the body’s need for more food (or fuel.) Muscles do weigh more than fat and initially, when you are first starting out, you will find that your muscles will be getting bigger and that you might actually have a larger number when you stand on the scale to weigh yourself.
However, this truly depends on the kind of exercise you are performing and the diet you are following. For example, if you are doing a lot of weight lifting, you will gain definition and more muscle mass, which would add to your weight. Toning up by doing numerous repetitions with small weight does not add a lot of muscle mass, and only adds slight weight gain, but helps add contours to the body. You will feel and look a lot better. However, if you are doing cardiovascular exercise, you would be shedding more pounds.
Cardio, Nutrition, and Strength Training
Doing a lot of cardio exercise burns a lot of calories, reducing fat, and decreasing weight. However, if you are looking to build muscles in your arms, legs, or stomach, you will need to add weight training to create that sculpted look you desire.
Through proper nutrition, cardiovascular exercise, and strength training, you can gain strength, lose weight, and have a healthy body, with glowing skin. Strength training builds your muscles, strengthening joints and bones, while reducing your risk of injuries. Strength training requires hard work and consistent effort to produce long lasting results. You can begin with developing good habits for both mental and physical health, such as getting enough sleep, water, and good nutrition, and doing enough heart-pumping exercise several times a week.
Choose Your Goal
Whatever your goal is, whether you are skinny and looking to build muscle or trying to shed twenty pounds, or if you want to create a fitness program for yourself for a lifetime, developing good habits for exercise and nutrition will make definite and visible improvements in your life. Believe in yourself and aim high. You will develop greater self-confidence as you grow past your comfort zone and learn from your mistakes. Instead of worrying about the length of time, just focus on what you are achieving. Build in baby steps and keep it simple, focusing on what you want to achieve.
When you burn more calories than you are consuming, you burn energy stored in fat cells, which in turn, shrink in size. When you build muscle, muscle cells expand in size. As people get older, muscle mass decreases while body fat increases. Muscle also cannot contract as easily. Many people still are strong athletes, competing in various activities. Regular exercise can also delay loss of muscle tissue. Staying healthy by eating good food and regularly exercising prevents body fat from significantly increasing.
Feeling Stronger
One of the most significant benefits of strength training is how much stronger you will feel. Strength training builds muscle while lowering body fat. You will be able to do more activities that involve lifting or moving weights easily. Start out with a program of lifting weights three times a week for thirty minutes a week. After your strength training, do thirty minutes of cardio three times a week. You want to burn calories. Be careful that you do not overexert.
Foods In Their Natural State
In terms of nutrition, eat foods as close as possible to their natural state, such as fruits and veggies. Drink a lot of water and avoid junk foods and too many caffeinated beverages and sugary drinks and sweets. Always eat good quality foods and avoid starving yourself. Start your day with a healthy breakfast and drink a lot of water throughout the day. Initially, when you are burning more calories, you will probably feel hungrier. Eat appropriately but pay attention to your portion size. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to keep a food journal such as CalorieKing or other method. Keep track of what you eat. You can find the number of calories in each food you are eating. You will gain awareness of what is in the food you eat, and how much you should eat to maintain, gain, or lose weight. If you want to lose weight, try cutting 500 calories out of your diet every day. Then you can lose one pound of weight per week from your diet alone. Combined with regular cardiovascular exercise and strength training, you will be able to lose the weight you want, while developing a strong and toned body as a result.
Tracking Progress
Set regular goals and track your progress. You can measure your weight change by measuring fat using calipers, taking regular photographs every four to five weeks, maintaining a strength training journal, and weighing yourself once or twice a week. Keeping a journal is by far the most useful thing you can do, since you will be able to gain control of your diet, exercise, and strength training program and see your progress. Always believe in yourself and your goals. You are your own best motivation.
You want to get in shape and you want to eat healthy. So many people focus on calories and forget to pay attention to the actual ingredients in the foods they eat. Let us start with looking a little closer at what a calorie is.
What Is A Calorie?
A calorie is the amount of energy necessary to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.
You might be wondering how does that relate to food. Calories have become the most common method of measuring food energy. We calculate the number of calories a person consumes in a day and compare it to how much they expend, and we figure out what that person needs to eat per day in order to maintain, gain, or lose weight.
3500 Calories = 1 Gram of Fat
There are approximately 3500 calories in 1 gram of fat and so a person looking to lose weight in a healthy way would try to reduce their caloric intake in a week by that amount. Breaking it down into 7 days of the week, that comes to 500 calories per day. However, this calculation is missing two key parts, nutrition and the kinds of ingredients in the food you eat.
What Kinds of Calories You Eat
Your body requires a mixture of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and hence the kinds of calories that you are consuming are very important. For example, if you are having a 100-calorie snack, and all the calories come from carbohydrates, your body will consume the calories immediately for energy or it will store the energy as fat. On the other hand, if the calories come from protein or fat, your body makes use these calories for cell, enzyme, and hormone growth.
Simply counting calories is not enough for achieving a healthy weight. What you are eating is equally important if not more. Pay attention to what you eat and try to eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible. Reduce your consumption of highly processed foods and switch to whole foods that are fresh and organic if possible.
Eating Healthy
Take the time to buy and eat foods that are wholesome and healthy. Processed foods that take five minutes to prepare and to eat, do not offer you the nutrients your body needs. Constant deprivation of your body from the foods it needs will increase your appetite and your dependence on unhealthy foods. The human body has built-in protection to help regulate your appetite through two hormones, grehlin that stimulates appetite and leptin to tell you that you are full. Most people that are looking to lose weight, think that they should eat less but often they need to eat more good foods that supply their bodies with the nutrients they need to feel satiated and for their bodies to function optimally.
Not used to having longer meals? Take the time to enjoy your meals and to make good food. Your body will thank you and you will notice a significant improvement in your health and energy levels.
Additional Resources:
Duggan, Karyn. Nutritionist, Bauman College, Berkeley, CA, 2006.
Francis, R. “Never be fat again” Health Communications, Inc. Florida, 2007
Holford, P. “The 30 day fat burner diet” Piatkus, London, 1999
Kurzweil, R. & Grossman, T. “Fantastic Voyage” Rodale, USA, 2004
Pollan, M. “In defense of food” Penguin Press, USA, 2008
Schwarzbein, D. “The Schwarzbein Principle” Health Communications, Inc. Florida, 1999
Playing sports improves physical fitness and coordination, while teaching discipline and teamwork and enhancing confidence and personal satisfaction. The world of sports has changed dramatically as more girls are playing a greater variety of sports and more sports that were once seasonal, have grown to become year-round activities. About 75% of American households with children have at least one child who participates in an organized and competitive sport. Sport injuries have also increased greatly and hence, proper preventive care has grown more important in reducing the risk of incurring sport injuries.
The risk of physical injury is part of participating in sports. Yet most injuries can be prevented. Some of the most common injuries include torn ACLs, bone fractures, and concussions. In adolescents, the body is still growing. Preventing sport injuries can be as simple as choosing shoes with the proper fit to avoid ankle, knee, and ligament injuries. While girls tend to be more flexible than boys, their skeletal frame and bone structures are different. In fact, the sport most frequently associated with injury for girls is cheerleading, accounting for up to 2/3 of sport injuries and deaths for high school girls according to studies conducted nationwide over the last twenty-five years.
Cheerleading
Cheerleading has grown in to a fully competitive sport of its own, where girls practice aggressively 12 months of the year, doing various gymnastics and body work that requires proper fitness, nutrition, and workout schedules to maintain good health and avoid serious injuries. Often these gymnastic stunts can be quite dangerous and complex and hence learning the rules to avoid injury can help you keep your child out of the emergency room. Examples of complex feats include the basket toss and helicopter toss, where girls catapult into the air.
Gymnastics and Track
Other sports that incur high injuries include gymnastics and track. In general, collision and contact sports have higher rates of injury than other sports while injuries sustained from individual sports tend to be more severe. Many sport-related injuries occur during practice rather than at a game. Often, children aged 14 years and younger have slower responses to injury, which can increase their risks. Another reason for injury can be lack of knowledge and not wearing proper protective gear.
In fact, estimates show that about 250,000 people will rip their ACL or anterior cruciate ligaments in primarily non-contact injuries. Majority of these injuries are sustained by young girls and women in the age group of 15 to 25, many of whom are female athletes. ACL injuries are so commonplace now that parents of teenage girls are often used to seeing entire athletic teams wearing Ace bandages or braces.
What is the ACL?
What is the ACL? The ACL or anterior cruciate ligaments are small fibers that attach the femur of the upper leg to the tibia in the lower leg, stabilizing the knee. ACL ruptures are very painful and require complicated reconstructive surgery. Rehabilitation is a slow and painful process, taking up to nine months for full recovery. So many young women used to injuries or their friends getting ACL injuries, push through the pain, accepting their injuries as part of their regimen for training and competition and endure tremendous pain to keep playing sports they enjoy or excel in.
Fat more than Muscle
Unlike boys who develop more muscle and strength during adolescence, girls become more flexible while adding more fat than muscle. When girls run, they are more upright than boys who run in a more flexed position on average. This positioning places most girls to greater susceptibility to injuries when they change direction.
Prevention
How can sport injuries be prevented? Wearing protective equipment appropriate to the sport, following safe playing conditions, and the regular enforcement of these rules, as well as learning techniques to prevent injuries are all methods that can significantly reduce the likelihood of having sport injuries.
Every child should have a general health exam prior to enrolling in a sport. Children should always be grouped in teams according to skill level, appropriate weight, and physical maturity. Many injuries come from smaller children competing against larger children in sports where weight is an issue. Make sure that children stay hydrated and have adequate rest especially during hot and humid weather.
Resources:
National SAFE KIDS Campaign (NSKC). Sports Injury Fact Sheet. Washington (DC): NSKC, 2004.
Glass, Kat. McClatchy Newspapers: Cheerleading tops sports-injury list for girls. August 12, 2008.
With busy schedules and juggling various roles, you might start to feel lethargic, irritable, and sapped of energy. Transitions such as changing jobs, relocating, and relationship stress can wreak havoc on your body over time. Fatigue built up over time can rob you of much-needed deeper sleep as stress keeps your mind active into the wee hours of the night. The constant cycle of multitasking or fitting in too many activities in one day and then failing to get enough sleep, rest, or nutrition, will leave you cranky while reducing both your productivity and pleasure.
While breaking this cycle when you have constant demands on you may seem impossible, small and simple steps you take every day can add energy back into your day, while restoring calmness and balance. Exercising, eating well, sleeping enough, and stressing less will do wonders for both your mental and physical wellbeing. Before you know it, you will have more energy than you could remember, and a smile to boot!
Stay Hydrated
Get your daily dose of water. Drink water daily and if you find it hard to down a bottle of water, just keep one by your desk and take it with you when you go somewhere so you can sip it on the go. Drinking enough water keeps nutrients flowing through your body more easily. You can tell how much water you are drinking by the color of your urine. If it is light yellow or colorless, you are drinking enough water. However, if it is darker in color, you are not hydrated enough.
Starting out your day, you might crave that cup of coffee or tea or other caffeinated beverage. Having a little caffeine is one to kick your nervous system into gear but having too much results in dehydration, increased anxiety levels, and prevents you from having a good night’s sleep. Also avoid loading your drink with sugar and too much dairy, which packs on the pounds. Switch to decaffeinated drinks for the afternoon and fruit juices. Check the label and make sure that any drink you buy has mainly natural ingredients (names you recognize) and is free of high fructose corn syrup.
Eat The Good Stuff
Throughout your day whether you are firing away at a proposal, managing, working outdoor, taking care of patients, or being a parent, you need fuel to keep you going. Eating regular meals will make your body happy and do wonders for your energy level and emotional balance. Go for five or six small meals throughout the day instead of heavy meals that leave you tired and sleepy. Eating smaller meals more often helps maintain your blood sugar level. By going for a good balance in carbohydrates, protein, an fat through three regular meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with two small snacks, you will notice significant improvement in your energy level. You will also no longer be depleted of energy.
Be sure to stay within your caloric limits. The Mayo Clinic has a handy calculator which is helpful too if you are trying to lose or gain weight. With regards to snacks, you just need something small such as an apple with several almonds. Apples, oranges, and pears instantly give you a boost of energy, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, without adding to your weight. Vitamin B also is a great energy booster, helping your body turn food into fuel, while revving up your immune system with powerful antioxidants. You can take a vitamin B supplement and also get it naturally from bananas, nuts, fish, lean beef, whole grains, some seeds, and poultry.
Get Your Z’s
Sleeping seven to eight hours a day is the minimum requirement for a healthy functioning adult. Failing to do so and trying to make up for your lost sleep during the week on the weekend does not benefit you. You might find yourself having difficulty sleeping well and are more lethargic. If you are finding it difficult to fall asleep, try taking a hot bath or shower before you sleep. If you can and are inclined, you can try power naps of twenty to thirty minutes in the afternoon. Some people who are self-employed, in school, or have flexible schedules, may like to sleep for longer in the afternoon for several hours like a Spanish siesta. This might give them the energy they need. Just be sure however to keep your afternoon naps or siestas to a certain limit in order to keep you functioning well the rest of your day and getting enough sleep at night.
Exercise
Moving from stretching to walking, running, biking, and other cardiovascular activities has powerful effects on your energy level, releasing positive hormones called endorphins, while shedding pounds, building strength, and helping you gain focus. Regular exercise also helps with many other health issues and also improves sleep. Your skin also will improve in quality from the regular blood flow and good circulation. Strength-building exercises such as Pilates and working out with weights in the gym add definition to your body, giving you more strength to perform daily tasks, while also balancing out your heart-pumping cardiovascular activities. Finding it hard to have the time? Start out with just a ten-minute walk in the morning to get you moving. Working out in the morning is the best time for the body ideally.
By having good thoughts about your workouts and your goals, you will notice a significant improvement in your energy level and enthusiasm for exercise. Bring some music, a friend and invest in new clothes or shoes so you feel comfortable and happy working out. Try out exercises that you know you will enjoy (dancing, rock climbing, biking, skiing.) Feel good about what you are doing and you are more likely to keep doing it.
Reduce Stress
Finally, consciously try to reduce the stress in your life. While there are many factors that are outside of your control, there are many that you do have control over and taking charge of your life with just small steps can make significant improvement in your life. Make sure you have time to rest your mind too.
Just take a break to sit on a bench, chair, or the couch and do nothing for ten minutes. Tune out the noise in your environment. Better yet, go for a short walk so that you get exercise and are able to reconnect with yourself. By quieting your mind, you will able to access your own potential, remove any entangling or disturbing thoughts, and replace them with positive energy.
Changing your mental patterns is the most effective method of gaining control over your interactions and reactions to people and your environment. This can take some time but through conscious effort, you can change both your reality and your energy. Every day is a new one so by just affirming the positive things occurring in your life and appreciating what you do have, you can shift your focus from negativity and depression into positive and uplifting thoughts that both boost your self-confidence and your energy level
