Resolutions that Can Change Your New Year

Each year many of us set resolutions for the new year and don’t see much change.  If done correctly you can set Resolutions that Can Change Your New Year and have a dramatic ripple effect on your health, and happiness.

RESOLUTIONS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR NEW YEAR

Smile More Often:

It’s a well known fact that the simple act of smiling can make you happier and healthier, even if your smile is forced. According to the facial feedback hypothesis, smiling activates the release of dopamine, endorphins and serotonin, neurotransmitters that help reduce stress and elicit positive emotions. Plus, smiling can be contagious. When you smile, you are more inviting, attractive, relaxed and sincere to others. Choose to Smile Often!

Have a Health and Fitness Regimen:

Regular physical exercise and a healthy nutritional diet cannot only help with weight management, but also can reduce stress, fight disease, improve your mood, and improve your energy levels and sleep. Regular exercise and eating healthier can also help you appear be a better leader.

Schedule Personal Time:

YES… Schedule personal time. With our busy lives most of us don’t personal time, so schedule it. Evidence suggests that the most productive people are not the busiest but the best at prioritizing their free time. So schedule time for personal passions, family, and other activities that are important to you.

Only Commit to Things You Can Do:

Many people want to say maybe to things, or yes, even when they know that they will cancel when it comes up anyhow. Don’t do this! If you can’t make it to dinner with your friend next week don’t say maybe in fear of disappointing them, just say you can’t. Not overextending yourself will save you time and consternation down the road. Plus, when you can actually commit, the person knows you mean it and it will mean something to them.

Use Your Calendar:

The best way to stay on top of your goals is to be relentless about your calendar. Managing things to do, things that are important to you, your deadlines, and more will keep you organized, and ensure that you prioritize your most important tasks. Remember that your schedule and calendar should include time with family and friends, reading, personal hobbies, workouts, and all the other things that are important to you and your health.

RESOLUTIONS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR NEW YEAR

You will be amazed how these guidelines can be the Resolutions that Can Change Your New Year. When you create your personal to-do list and make it as important as your work to-do list, you begin to create balance. Those these are Resolutions that Can Change Your New Year, it is important to re-evaluate everything you are doing on a weekly and monthly basis. You may want to consider setting up reminders for re-evaluation as well. You can create change in your New Year.

5 EASY FIXES TO KEEP YOU ON TRACK WITH NUTRITION

5 EASY FIXES TO KEEP YOU ON TRACK WITH NUTRITION

The average length of time that people actually stay on a healthy nutrition plan with making 5 Easy Fixes to Keep You On Track with Nutrition is about 19 days. By day five, about two-thirds of people have already cheated.

Whatever the time frame, whether five minutes or five weeks, the point is many people have a hard time sticking to healthy nutrition plan. Why is sticking with a healthy nutrition plan so hard? More importantly, what can you do about it? You actually can do a lot. Here are 5 Easy Fixes to Keep You on Track with Nutrition to keep you choosing healthy nutrition more often than not.

1. Make Your Nutrition Plan Fit Your Lifestyle:

People often look at changing their nutrition as a point A to point B venture. The thing is, it is not this way. Changing your nutrition is about adopting a plan that fits your lifestyle. You have to develop a plan that fits the time you have to spend on meal prep, not have too many restrictions.

Rather than trying the latest “diet fad”, focus developing a nutritional lifestyle change that can truly be long term. If you don’t have time to cook or don’t enjoy it, seek out recipes that are quick and easy, and learn how to look for healthy options that you can enjoy when at restaurants, use a balanced nutrition plan that is easy like the Portion Fix Nutrition Plan by Beachbody, or seek assistance from a nutrition specialist.

2. Be Realistic with Your Expectations:

Don’t set high expectations for your weight loss when you are just starting to make nutritional changes. Remember that healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week (with no cheating or missteps in your nutrition) and getting 45 minutes of exercise daily. So be real with your expectations.

Recognize that you’re just starting to establish healthy new habits. It’s natural to slip once in a while, and that’s okay. Be realistic and know that a diet slip doesn’t have to mean diet fail and just giving up altogether. Learn from your mistakes and move forward.

3. Change Your Environment:

Your environment has the biggest effect on your eating. Think about what you keep in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards, snacks that are stashed in your desk, or the fast food places you pass on your commute every day. Temptations are all around if you are not taking charge of your environment.

5 EASY FIXES TO KEEP YOU ON TRACK WITH NUTRITION

Clear tempting, high-calorie foods out of your house. Rather than a jar of candy on your desk or a bag of cookies on your kitchen counter, put out some fresh fruit or healthy protein snack bars. Cut up some fresh veggies and put them in a highly visible spot in your refrigerator. Stock your freezer and pantry with healthy staples. Out of sight, out of mind. If the only thing you can grab when you are hungry is healthy food, then that is what you will eat.  Change your commute route so you don’t have as many fast food places to pass. This is truly changing your environment.

4. Eat Regular Meals and Snacks:

Most people think the quickest way to lose weight is to eat as little as possible. WRONG! Skipping meals and snacks leaves you hungry, tired and cranky. Deprivation also triggers sugar and caffeine cravings and people tend to overeat at the meals they do consume.

Establish a regular eating pattern to keep from getting overly hungry. The best plan is to eat every 3-4 hours. This equates to three meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), plus mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. This pattern makes it easier to control your portions and teaches you to eat just enough versus overeating.

5. Only Eat for Hunger:

Don’t eat when you are emotional, tired, or bored. Eating for these reasons makes a negative brain connection that may carry over into other areas of life.

If you get emotional or bored and feel the need to eat, take a moment to stop, acknowledge the feelings you are having, and what you are doing. If you find yourself eating when you’re not really physically hungry be sure to track this in a log. This will help you overcome this habit. Secondly, find an alternative activity when you find this happening (i.e. go for a walk, dance, read a book, etc.). Plus, exercise is one of the best mood-lifters.

If you work on these 5 Fixes to Keep You on Track with Nutrition, you will see some weight coming off just because you implemented these few things.

Healthy Holiday Eating Strategies

The holiday season is a time to celebrate with family and friends. Unfortunately, it’s also a time when any people eat too much and gain weight. Of course you can control whether you overeat or allow yourself to gain weight. Research has shown that the American on average gain 3-5 pounds during the holiday season. Without implementing a healthy lifestyle throughout the year, over the course of five years, holiday weight gain can really add up. So why not start by implementing some Healthy Holiday Eating Strategies that can help keep that 3-5 pounds off your waistline.

The holidays don’t have to mean weight gain. If you focus on these Healthy Holiday Eating Strategies you will be have a healthy balance of food, activity, and fun. By implementing these few Healthy Holiday Eating Strategies you can stay healthy through the holiday season and be better off and more likely to really hit your New Year’s Health and Wellness Goals.

Healthy Holiday-Eating Strategies

1. Be Real! Don’t try to lose weight during the holidays. Have your focus be on maintaining your current weight.
2. Plan and schedule time for exercise. Exercise will help prevent weight gain, but also is the best holiday stress reliever. If you get in 30-45 minutes of exercise a day during the holiday season, you will have less stress and keep weight gain at bay.
3. Don’t skip meals. Eating your three meals and two snacks a day is important every day, but even more so during the holiday season. This pattern can keep you from overindulging at parties. Eating light snack like raw vegetables, a piece of fruit, drinking a total nutrition shake, and drinking a large glass of water before parties can really make a difference.
4. Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed. Savor your favorite holiday treats by eating small portions of each rather than full portions of everything. Sit down, get comfortable, and enjoy.
5. Be aware of beverages. Alcohol can lessen inhibitions and induce overeating; non-alcoholic beverages can also be full of calories and sugar. Start yourself off with a large glass of water, and go to the party with the thought of only two drinks. After the large glass of water, have one drink, then two glasses of water before your second drink.
6. Bring your own healthy dish to a holiday gathering. Offering to bring a healthy entrée to the party or gathering can ensure you have something that fits your plan. With the greater emphasis on healthy nutrition in recent years, more than likely there will be other more healthful items available that you can also enjoy.
7. Practice Healthy Holiday Cooking. Preparing favorite dishes with lower unhealthy fats and excess calories helps promote healthy holiday eating. Incorporate some of these simple-cooking tips in traditional holiday recipes to make them healthier.

• Gravy — Refrigerate the gravy to harden fat. Skim the fat off. This will save a whopping 56 grams of fat per cup.
• Stuffing — Use a little less bread and add more onions, garlic, celery, and vegetables. Moisten or flavor with low fat low sodium chicken or vegetable broth.
• Green Bean Casserole — Cook fresh green beans with chucks of potatoes instead of making the traditional green bean casserole.
• Mashed Potato — Use pureed cauliflower made with low sodium vegetable broth.

Enjoy the holidays, plan a time for activity, incorporate healthy recipes into your holiday meals, and don’t restrict yourself from enjoying your favorite holiday foods. In the long run, your mind and body will thank you.

Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body

Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body

Life gets crazy sometimes, and it can wear on us. If you notice that you are feeling tired and weighed down by stress, a lack of motivation for exercise, and are making poor food choices, it is time to think about giving your mind and body a reboot. This reboot doesn’t always have to come from a nutritional detox. It can come from a physical detox too.

What do we mean by physical detox? You can detox through yoga. Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body will leave you feeling cleaner on the inside and more energetic on the outside.

Try these Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body and see and feel the benefits for yourself.

Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body

• CHAIR POSE

This is one of the Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body that most people can do with very little practice. Bring your feet either hip-width apart or together (depending on your comfort level). Bend your knees as if you are sitting on a chair. Make sure your knees are aligned with the center of your feet. Bring your hands together at the heart center and bring one elbow to the opposite knee, pressing your palms firmly together. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and open your chest wide.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Improves the health of the spine and vertebrae, and also stimulates the liver, spleen, and digestive system to improve the elimination process.

• Eagle Pose

For the Eagle Pose stand with your feet together and arms by your side. Draw your left foot upward, bending the knee as you lift it. Wrap the left foot around your right leg as you rest the back of your left thigh on the right thigh. Cross your arms at the elbows, left over right. Join the palms of your hands together keeping the fingers pointed upward. Inhale and hold the posture for the duration of the inhaled breath. Be sure to hold then release, and repeat on the other side.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Besides that, it stretches the ankles and calves, thighs, hips, shoulders, and upper back, it creates deeper circulation which may help flush out the blood and lymph system.

• Sage Twist Pose

Start by sitting on the floor with both legs straight in front of you. Bend your left leg towards your chest. Rotate your torso toward your left knee. Wrap your right arm around the left knee, positioning the knee in the crook of the right elbow. After holding the pose for 30-45 seconds, switch to the other side and repeat.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Helps stimulate digestion and remove the impurities of the body. Also stimulates the kidney and liver for more blood flow to the organs.

Yoga Poses to Detox Your Body

• Forearm Wheel

This move is a reclined position on your back. You then slowly press up, gently placing the crown of your head on the mat. Come onto your forearms one at a time both forearms on the mat. Slowly press up into a backbend, opening through your shoulders.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Chest-opening exercises are wonderful to release stagnation and congestion in the body. This also can help activate your metabolism.

• Eagle Headstand Pose

Begin this pose by kneeling on the floor. Lace your fingers together and set the forearms on the floor, elbows at shoulder width. Roll the upper arms slightly outward, but press the inner wrists firmly into the floor. Set the crown of your head on the floor. Inhale and lift your knees off the floor. Carefully walk your feet closer to your elbows, keep your heels elevated. Actively lift through the top of the thighs, forming an inverted “V.” Firm the shoulder blades against your back and lift them toward the tailbone so the front torso stays as long as possible. Exhale and lift your feet away from the floor. Take both feet up at the same time, even if it means bending your knees and hopping lightly off the floor. Place the right thigh over the left and either stay there in a half bind or wrap the foot around the calf in a full bind. Press the thighs into one another.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Headstands typically improve cardiovascular functioning by reducing strain on the heart. This can help people suffering from a depressed immune system and allergies. It can also increase digestive fire and body heat, which can increase the function of the endocrine glands, especially the pineal and pituitary glands.

• Shoulder Stand Pose

Begin by lying on the floor. Draw your legs back over the head, coming into a plow pose. Bring your hands to either side of the spine and slowly bend both of your knees and press your feet up into the air. Draw the belly toward the spine. Concentrate on your feet, and lower to plow on your way down and return to your first position.

Detox Benefits for Your Body: Inverted poses help drain accumulated lymph fluid from the legs and upper body. This pose helps the body be oxygenated and cleansed.

Some of the moves we mentioned are for beginners and some are advanced. We always recommend that you do some formal practice of these moves with a program so you obtain the greatest benefit while decreasing your chance for injury. Some great programs to look at are Tai Cheng and PiYo, as well as the yoga programs offered in P90X, P90X2, and P90X. These programs offer the opportunity to learn and enjoy yoga, while allowing you to obtain the benefits from physical detox.

If you want to add a nutrition detox during your physical Detox, it is recommended to do the Ultimate Reset. This program is a comprehensive nutritional detox that detoxes your body down to the cellular level.

Improve Your 5k Run Performance

 BY CONTRIBUTOR 

8.3 Million people in the US finished a 5k run in 2013, according to Running USA. This makes running 5k’s the most popular event in the United States.

So how do you Improve Your 5k Run Performance? For many people the answer to this question is,  “Run”.  Yes, putting in more miles is one way to help Improve Your 5k Performance, but nutrition and strength and conditioning training can create significantly greater improved performance than just running alone.

IMPROVE YOUR 5K RUN PERFORMANCE

As with fuel for a car, there is an optimal blend of energy needed for aerobic exercise, an intense exercise event, and for a 5k. Carbohydrates and fats are the optimal energy source for high intensity aerobic exercise. Typically, an athlete should have enough fat stored to get through a 5k race without having to consume more fat. Carbohydrates should be the focus for 5k and other short distance events. Proteins are not used as an energy source during shorter distance events, however, protein is essential for growth and repair of muscle and body tissues. Protein should be an essential part of the recovery meal following your 5k. An even better way to ensure a proper balance of carbs, proteins, and fat is to use a high quality Recovery Supplement.  

Consuming carbohydrates before your race can enhance performance by maintaining adequate blood glucose (sugar) levels, the main fuel for your muscles. Furthermore, glucose is also the main source of energy for your brain, and a well-nourished brain will improve your race focus. Scientific studies have shown that a proper pre-workout supplement and meal (400-500 calories) can enhance your endurance and energy.

Hydration for a 5k race shouldn’t be neglected, and most sport drinks are full of sugar which actually dehydrates the body. Be sure to be well hydrated prior to your event. Drink water and a high quality hydration drink during the event, and stay hydrated after the event. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

IMPROVE YOUR 5K RUN PERFORMANCE

The other factor to Improve Your 5k Performance is strength training and conditioning. Optimally you should train 3-4 times per week and include resistance training two times per week for 30 minutes, and agility and performance training for at least 30 minutes two times per week. This should happen at least for four weeks, eight weeks out from the event. You can also get very dialed in and set up a training schedule that is set up into periods throughout the year to optimize all your events and continue to improve upon your performance.

Research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning has shown that an increase in oxygen to the muscles in those who have done this proper training versus those who did not partake in such training.

Remember, enhanced performance for a 5k does not start and end on race day. It is vital to consider properly fueling your body on a consistent basis, and properly exercising and putting in the running miles for the best results.