Walk Walk
And Walk Some More
Walking keeps you fit and
helps take off extra weight and keep it off. It's cheap,
it's simple and almost anybody can do it. It helps reduce
the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, lowers high
blood pressure, helps reduce weight and body fat, helps
reduce risk of certain cancers, gives you more energy, helps
you sleep better. Walking for exercise does not need to
be strenuous to produce results. Even walking 30 minutes
a day has been reported to produce measurable benefits,
even among those who are least active.
Burn Some Of That Christmas
Money
Burn some of that Christmas
money. Visit your favorite shopping mall and walk around
the shops. Spend a few hours on Saturday or Sunday scoping
out the scene, buying yourself some goodies and getting
some fun-filled exercise. If you’re really ambitious, bike
there.
Change Your
Eating Habits
Tweaking your diet can help
get rid of those last stubborn pounds. Rather than cutting
foods out, think about substituting one thing for another.
Some examples are: Using light or fat free mayo instead
of the full fat version. Checking the labels on the foods
you eat each day and finding lighter versions to cut calories.
Also adding more fiber to your diet to help you feel full
and eat less calories. Eat reasonable portion sizes.
Add More
Activity
Find ways to build more activity
in to each day; take the stairs rather than the elevator.
Park in the far corner of the parking lot rather than near
the door. Put on music and dance through chores or just
for fun.
Tone Your
Muscles
Walking tones your legs, but
you will still need some arm and abdominal exercises to
keep the rest of you in shape. Buy a theraband or some light
dumbbells for an arm routine and select a good abdominal
routine. This will keep the jiggles in check as you lose
more weight.
Start Your Spring Cleaning Early
Yes, you heard me….cleaning!
Thirty minutes of quickly touching up the house burns approximately
250 calories, walking ten minutes burns about 50 calories
and a one hour shopping spree, almost 200! Did you
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Pump Some
Iron
If you're not lifting weights,
beginning a program now can help you jump start weight loss
and burn more calories. (Call to find out about Lifestyle
Family Fitness personal training programs). If you're already
lifting and have reached a plateau, it's time to change
your routine. Every six weeks, do one or more of the following:
Change the exercises. If you're doing a barbell bicep curl,
switch to dumbbells or the cable machines. If you're doing
pushups, try them on a decline to make it more difficult.
Change your training method. Add yoga or Pilates to increase
your flexibility, stability and endurance.
Kick Up Your Cardio
Changing your cardio routine
is a great way to burn more calories. Try these ideas: Add
a new activity. Try a new machine at the gym or a new exercise
video at home. Change your intensity. If you usually walk
at 3.5 mph, kick it up to 4.0 and raise your incline to
burn more calories. Change the duration. Add ten minutes
of jumping rope or spinning to one or two workouts each
week.
Drink More Water
Water makes your metabolism
burn calories three percent faster. For the average person
experts suggest getting at least 64 ounces of water daily
or eight glasses per day. It is important keep drinking
water throughout the day, unless you have a medical condition
that doesn't allow much water intake. A good guide for daily
intake is to drink one ounce of water for every two pounds
of body weight. A 200 pound person should be drinking around
100 ounces (12.5 cups) of water in order to gain the benefits
of increased energy and metabolism. Drinking water before,
during and after exercise will keep energy levels high and
help recovery after training.
Trick Yourself Into Weight
loss Make eating purposeful,
not mindless. Whenever you put food in your mouth, peel
it, unwrap it, plate it, and sit. Engage all of the senses
in the pleasure of nourishing your body. Start eating a
big breakfast. It helps you eat fewer total calories throughout
the day. Make sure your plate is half vegetable and/or fruit
at both lunch and dinner. Use a salad plate instead of a
dinner plate. Eat the low-calorie items on your plate first,
then graduate. Start with salads, vegetables, and broth
soups, and eat meats and starches last. By the time you
get to them, you'll be full enough to be content with smaller
portions of the highcalorie choices. Instead of whole milk,
switch to one percent. If you drink one eight ounce glass
a day, you'll lose five pounds in a year. Juice has as many
calories, ounce for ounce, as soda. Set a limit of one eight
ounce glass of fruit juice a day. Eat more soup. Cut back
on or cut out caloric drinks such as soda, sweet tea, lemonade,
etc. People have lost weight by making just this one change.
If you have a 20 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola every day, switch
to Diet Coke. You should lose 25 pounds in a year.
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