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You may never know it but you just accidentally exercised. How did you do that? You just shoveled the snow or taken the stairs instead of the elevator, stood up while you were waiting instead of sitting down, etc. You get the idea.
Implementing more accidental exercise into your daily routine can make drastic changes in your fitness results. The accidental exercises listed above will help you burn a tremendous amount of additional calories throughout the course of a day. In this day and age technology is a major burden on our ability to burn additional calories through accidental exercise. If you were to think back when we didn’t have garage door openers, TV remote controls, microwave ovens and leaf blowers, we had do perform all of these activities manually. These accidental exercise activities that were a part of everyone’s daily lives helped us burn hundreds of extra calories each day.
Not only is accidental exercising a great way to help reduce body fat but in many cases it will improve areas such as muscle strength (including heart strength), lung strength, joint mobility, blood flow, injury prevention, brain function and self esteem.
So add those “accidental” exercises to your routine and you just super charged your program and improved your result. Don’t wait.
Over the last few weeks you may have wondered how the cold weather effects your exercise routine. Understanding the affects of cold weather and wind chill can keep you safe during these cold winter temperatures. Severe exposure to low temperatures and high winds can lead to frostbite, freezing and hypothermia. Constriction of the blood vessels increases the insulating capacity of the skin, but it also results in a marked reduction in the temperature of the extremities. Protective vasoconstriction often leads to severe discomfort in the fingers and toes. To relieve the pain, it is necessary to warm the affected area or raise the core temperature to allow return of blood to the extremities.
Never exercise outside when wind chill temperatures are less than 20 below. Temperatures this cold can easily cause frostbite. The danger to earlobes, nose, fingers and toes is great and at lower temperatures respiratory tract damage is possible.
When your body begins to lose heat faster than it can be produced, you are at exposure to hypothermia. Prolonged exertion in these conditions leads to progressive muscular fatigue. The majority of hypothermia cases occur in air temperature above 30 degrees. Avoid the problem by staying dry.
The key is to alter your exercise program based on the weather. Keep yourself warm and stay inside when temperatures reach -20 with the wind chill.
James Lynch, author of “Language of the Heart,” states that talking is one of the most common and basic of all human activities. Yet, it’s also the one we most often take for granted and the one for which our skills are least developed. We talk without thinking and rarely think about how communication affects our bodies and our health.
The effect on our bodies is greatest on our cardiovascular system; our blood pressure and heart rate increase during conversation. This translates into real health issues if you are a hard-driving, competitive individual who tends to talk fast, speak in a loud or high-pitched voice, interrupt other people or punctuate what you say with hand or arm gestures. Also, as people listen more, their blood pressure drops. Experiments have been conducted in which peoples’ blood pressure was measured when they were reading, listening and staring at a blank wall, and listening while watching fish swim in an aquarium. The lowest blood pressure readings were for those watching the fish swim. The researchers concluded that paying calm attention to something outside yourself brings your blood pressure down and enhances overall health and well-being. The way we interact with others, the way we see ourselves as part of or apart from other people and our society appears to influence our general resistance to disease.
What’s the point? The point is to remain healthy, happy and energized you need to develop meaningful relationships where communication is practiced and enjoyed. Tense relationships where communication is limited and a struggle causes stress and causes negative health impacts.
One of the most widely publicized and proven truths is that people who have a keen sense of their values and goals live happier, healthier lives. Results from research by the Canadian Institute of Stress shows that clarifying values and goals ranks first among all other techniques that are usually emphasized in stress management, such as relaxation and exercise. It was found that over 24 percent of the improvement in a person’s quality of life is related to clarification of his/her values and goals.
Prioritizing your values is important, and these will change as you enter various stages of life. For example, a young mother values spending quality time with her young children to help them develop and grow into well adjusted, productive adults. As they become independent, thereby freeing her of much time, she may begin valuing time with close friends. She may also value herself more than ever by exercising and enjoying personal growth.
For many people, identifying goals has always been a part of their lives. Yet, despite the fact that there are volumes of books, tapes and videos on the market to help people understand their direction in life, less than 5 percent of all individuals have written goals.
Like values, goals need to be adjusted as we enter different stages of life. But once a goal has been accomplished, what becomes a new or replacement goal? How do your new goals interface with those of your spouse? You’ll find that it’s always important to have immediate, short-term and long-range goals. As our population enjoys longer years, it is even more important for you to plan for your advanced years by continuing to maintain good health.
So Get Focused!
Is it true to lose weight you always have to eat less? Do you have to deprive yourself by eating tiny portions and giving up your favorite foods? You’ll be pleased to hear that the answer is no.
How do you do it? One trick is to learn which foods will fill you up without a lot of calories.
In one study individuals were offered various types of foods to see which ones fill them up the most. Long-term trials were conducted to find out whether different types of dietary advice can actually help people lose weight and maintain that loss. In addition, Information from large surveys was also analyzed on what Americans eat.
Each of these different approaches led to the same conclusion: If most of your food choices pack lots of calories into each bite — we call these foods “calorie-dense” — you will overeat and get too many calories. Calorie-dense foods — for example, chips, cookies, pretzels and crackers — tend to be low in moisture and some also may be high in fat.
So how can you eat more and weigh less?
Choose soups and vegetables
Surprisingly, the component of foods that has the biggest impact on how much food you eat is water. Water adds weight and volume to foods without adding calories — it lowers the calorie density of foods. Water-rich foods include vegetables, fruits and soups. Studies have proven that eating a diet low in calorie density helps people eat fewer calories while still eating a satisfying amount of food.
Several studies looked at the best ways to include low-calorie-dense foods in a meal. One study found that eating a 100-calorie bowl of broth-based soup or a green salad at the start of a meal takes the edge off your hunger. Even with the extra course of soup or salad, you are likely to eat fewer total calories during the meal.
So eat up and start losing!!
Different diet plans will tell you different things. Some say carbs are good, others say carbs are bad. The interesting thing is that both may be true, at least in the most simplest sense.
One thing is always true – Carbohydrates provide your major source of energy.
They are available in simple and complex forms. Simple sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose (refined sugar composed of molecules of glucose and fructose), contain energy but few nutrients. Complex carbohydrates found in potatoes, corn, beans, rice and whole-grain products (e.g., bread and pasta) come with important nutrients and fiber. Unfortunately, the average American gets over half of his or her dietary carbohydrate from concentrated or refined sugars, packed with so called empty calories that have little to no nutritive value. Fresh fruits contain simple sugars, but they also provide important nutrients.
Without going into a long review of how the body metabolizes carbs, let’s just say that they are very important for muscular contractions, are stored in small quantities and we should consume a sizeable (approx. 60-65%) percentage of the day’s calories form complex carbohydrates and fruit.
The fact remains that you can consume a high percentage of carbs in your diet and still loose body fat faster then by starving yourself and only eating proteins and fat. Keep to the complex carbs that provide both energy and important nutrients. Keep up your exercise program and you’ll have the body and energy you’ve always wanted.
Protein isn’t a major source of energy at rest or during exercise, seldom accounting for more than 5 to 10% of energy needs. However, when you train hard while dieting to lose weight, the body senses starvation and begins to use tissue protein for energy. To avoid the loss of muscle tissue and to achieve the benefits of training, ensure adequate protein and energy (carbs) intake. Even with adequete protein, rapid weight loss while training risks the loss of muscles you are trying so hard to improve. Excess intake of protein, which is often accompanied with fat (eggs, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products), leads to the storage of energy in the form of fat.
You’re best bet is to follow a performance diet of 60-65% of calories coming from carbs, 20-25% from fat and 15% from protein. Following this diet will give you the protein you need, especially since a high-carbohydrate intake spares or conserves tissue protein.
One food source rich in flavonoids is chocolate!! Flavonoids provide important protective benefits their “antioxidant” power. Antioxidants are believed to help the body’s cells resist damage caused by free radicals, formed by normal bodily processes such as breathing or environmental contaminants like cigarette smoke. When the body lacks adequate levels of antioxidants, free radical damage ensues, leading to increases in LDL-cholesterol oxidation and plaque formation on arterial walls.
Before you grab a chocolate candy bar or slice of chocolate cake, let’s look at what forms of chocolate would be ideal over others:
When cocoa is processed into your favorite chocolate products, it goes through several steps to reduce its naturally pungent taste. Flavonoids (polyphenols) provide this pungent taste. The more chocolate is processed (such as fermentation, alkalizing, roasting), the more flavonoids are lost. Most commercial chocolates fit this category.
Dark chocolate appears to retain the highest level of flavonoids. So your best bet is to choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate.
You may be surprised to find out that chocolate isn’t as bad as once perceived. The fat in chocolate, from cocoa butter, is comprised of equal amounts of oleic acid (a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil), stearic and palmitic acids. Stearic and palmitic acids are forms of saturated fat. Saturated fats are linked to increases in LDL-cholesterol and risk for heart disease.
Research indicates that stearic acid appears to have a neutral effect on cholesterol, neither raising nor lowering it. Palmitic acid on the other hand, does affect cholesterol levels but only comprises one-third of the fat calories in chocolate.
This great news does not give us a license to consume as much dark chocolate as we’d like. First, be cautious as to the type of dark chocolate you choose: chewy caramel-marshmallow-nut-covered dark chocolate is by no means a heart-healthy food option. What wreaks havoc on most chocolate products are the fat and calories that accompany other ingredients.
Second, there is currently no established serving size of chocolate to reap these cardiovascular benefits. However, what we do know is you no longer need to feel guilty if you enjoy a small piece of dark chocolate once in awhile.
So, enjoy that chocolate and have a very happy Valentines Day!
One way to control your calories and maintain a healthy diet is to control the amount of fat in your diet. The most important is to restrict your level of saturated fats to less than 10 percent of your total diet. Excessive fat consumption interferes with calcium absorption, contributing to osteoporosis. It also promotes Type 2 diabetes. The major sources of saturated fats are found in meats. Also, dairy products are a major source of fat; two-percent milk still contains the majority of its calories from fat. Skim milk provides the same nutrients as whole and two-percent milk, but without the fat.
Watch out for the tropical oils – palm and coconut – which are believed to be more atherogenic, or likely to clog arteries, as are a variety of otherwise healthful oils when they are hydrogenated (e.g., soybean oil).
Balance and moderation as in everything are the key to controlling your diet and fat intake.
Work continuously to balance between the things you have to do and the things you want to do. If you have been caught in a frantic pace, you have probably been neglecting yourself. A balanced lifestyle is one characterized by a balance of work and play, one in which obligations get done but there is still time and energy for rewarding activities. When your lifestyle is not balanced, you are more likely to feel deprived. This can lead to periodic self-indulgences, which are counterproductive to maintaining change.
When your lifestyle is out of balance, many individuals attempt to cope with stress by engaging in one or more “negative” addictions, like excessive eating, smoking and abuse of alcohol. Engaging in these behaviors is an attempt to restore balance. If you have learned and practiced how to cope effectively with stress, you will find that you will be less inclined to engage in any of these negative behaviors.
Finally, don’t be afraid to admit that you need help. Although motivation, to be successful, must come from within, there are certain times in our lives when we simply need the encouragement and support of others. To be successful in maintaining your changed lifestyle, you will need to be accountable for your thoughts, feelings and actions.
Use the “I lost it at the club” program to make life changing decisions and habits that will keep you on the road to success long after the program is over. You deserve it.
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