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Health & Nutrition blog
Workout Blues? 13 Reasons To Stay Motivated
Monday, August 8th, 2011 At 5:25 am
Let’s face it, some days you just don’t feel like exercising. You get too busy, too stressed and quite simply too tired. Here’s a list of great reasons to stay motivated to exercise. Pull out this list and read it when you’re having one of those days.
1. To Prevent Disease
Exercise has been proven to reduce the risk of just about every single health problem known to man, from stroke to heart disease to cancer and osteoporosis. Exercise is also a great defense against type 2 diabetes, which is one of the most widely growing diseases of our time.
2. To Look Great
Exercise firms your body, improves posture and even makes your skin glow. Looking your best is a wonderful result of regular exercise.
3. To Lose Weight and Keep It Off
Exercise burns fat and prevents future fat storage. If you want to have a thinner, healthier body, exercise is the answer.
4. To Have More Energy
Anyone who exercises regularly will tell you that they are more energetic, less easily irritated and are more peaceful.
5. To Sleep Better
Exercise boosts energy levels, but also wears you out. It makes you feel more vibrant during the day and sleep better at night.
6. To Age Slower
Exercise is one of the most effective ways to fight aging. When you age your body loses muscle and bone, while the loss of both are drastically reduced with regular exercise. Exercise also helps reduce inflammation.
7. To Relieve Back Pain
In most cases, the best thing that you can do for back pain is to move and strengthen those muscles. Consult your physician or physical therapist for guidance.
8. To Ease Depression
Exercise has been proven to reduce depression – sometimes even as effectively as medication. Just chalk this up as yet another amazing benefit to exercise.
9. To Reduce Aches and Pains
By strengthening muscles around your damaged joints you’re able to use exercise to reduce joint pain and overall aches. Always consult your physician before starting an exercise program, especially if you have chronic joint pain.
10. To Stay Mentally Sharp
Exercise has been shown to improve memory and other cognitive functions, and seems to have a protective effect against dementia. A Harvard University researcher called exercise “Miracle-Gro for the brain.”
11. To Enjoy Your Lifestyle
Whatever it is that you love in life – your kids, travel, sports, fashion – it is all more enjoyable when experienced in a fit and healthy body. Exercise so that you are able to enjoy all the great things in life.
12. To Reduce Sick Days
People who exercise regularly are 50% less likely to call in sick to work. A regular exercise program reduces colds and upper respiratory infections.
13. To Boost Confidence
Being fit, feeling healthy and having energy are all building blocks to having great confidence. There is no better confidence booster than sticking with a regular exercise program.
Dr. William Booker 
Life Improving Habits. By Dr. William Booker
Sunday, February 6th, 2011 At 7:00 pm
What are your habits?
Do you eat the same thing for lunch, go through the same exercise routine, and fall into bed at the same time each night?
Or maybe you’ve made a habit out of eating whatever looks good, avoiding the gym, and staying up as late as possible.
John Dryden famously said, “We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”
Confucius said, “Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.”
And Aristotle noticed that, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
It’s pretty clear that the habits you adopt will shape who you are. When it comes to your body, the two habits that define your physique are your eating and exercise habits. In fact, everyone that you know who is in great shape has dialed in these two important habits. If you aren’t happy with your body, then simply adjust your eating and exercise habits. Here’s how to adopt a habit of healthy living:
1) Decide on the ONE habit that you would like to develop. It’s tempting to pick up 3 or 4 healthy habits, but choosing just one new habit is realistic and doable.
Here are some healthy habit ideas:
- Do not eat after 7pm each night.
- Bring your lunch to work instead of eating fast food.
- Exercise 4 times a week after work for 45 minutes each time.
- Only eat fruits and veggies as your afternoon snack.
- Get up early and exercise for an hour each morning.
- Work with a personal trainer 3 times a week.
2) Write your new habit down on paper. Also include your 3 main motivators for developing this new habit, the obstacles you’ll face, and your strategies for overcoming these obstacles.
3) Commit fully to your new habit, in a public way. This could mean posting it on facebook, or simply announcing it at the dinner table. Put yourself in a position where you’ll be embarrassed to give up on your new habit.
4) Keep track of your progress. You could keep a detailed journal or simply make a check mark on each calendar day that you successfully exercise your new habit.
5) Keep yourself publically accountable. This means either status updates on facebook or verbal status updates at the dinner table. Your friends and family are in a position to offer you support, so don’t shy away from those close to you.
6) When you fail, figure out what went wrong so that you can plan around it in the future.
7) Reward yourself for your success.
Once your new habit becomes second nature, usually in about 30 days, feel free to add a second habit by going through the same 7 steps.
Sip Yourself Thin
Friday, January 14th, 2011 At 4:33 pm
David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding sure think so. They did write the book on it: Drink This Not That. They’ve even gone so far as to claim that you could lose up to 32 pounds in a year just by changing what you drink.
What most people don’t know is that it’s a lot easier to drink extra calories than to eat it. So you really need to pay attention to what you’re sipping on.
Here is a sample of what their book has to offer.
Breakfast
While a cup of hot coffee or a glass of lowfat milk are both great ways to start your day, beware of the smoothie trap. More often than not smoothies are closer to milkshakes than protein shakes.
A study done at Virginia Polytechnic Institute showed that people who drink 17oz of water before sitting down for a meal ended up eating 9 percent fewer calories. Those calories can really add up over time.
When the afternoon rolls around most of us are ready for a pick-me-up. Too often caffeinated drinks are loaded with waist-expanding calories.
There’s no good reason to follow up a great workout with a sugar-filled beverage, even if it makes claims for quick recovery and muscle growth. After exercise your body is in need of protein, carbohydrates and potassium, so choose a beverage filled with these three.
There are known benefits to drinking alcohol in moderation (one or two drinks per day) such as raised HDL (good) cholesterol, boost in bloodflow, and improved sugar metabolism. A recent study in the journal BMC Public Health reported that people who have a daily drink were 54 percent less likely to be obese. However, it’s called a beer belly for good reason, since many alcoholic beverages are loaded with calories.
Recent studies are reporting that most of us drink 21 percent of our daily calories. That adds up to an average of 460 calories each day. It’s easy to see how these calories quickly add up into unwanted pounds. Pay extra attention to what you drink throughout each day. Make it a habit to pass on the calorie-packed drinks and to focus on drinking lots of water. Remember that small changes to your lifestyle over time will make the difference.
5 Easy Habits To Help You Live a Long Life!
Monday, June 7th, 2010 At 7:19 am
With the arrival of summer, sometimes it’s hard for us to keep in mind that the health of our bodies should be a number one priority. School is out, and the kids are home, so it’s easy for much needed ‘free time’ to become a thing of the past. Our increased need for convenience often overshadows our need to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families. When you are on your way to your child’s soccer practice and you didn’t have time for breakfast, it’s easy to just pull into the drive thru. When you work in a demanding office that requires late evenings, it’s a quick pick-me-up to grab that caffeinated soda to help with long hours. But here at Capitol Rehab, I want you to “Live a Long Life!” I am committed to helping you be ‘the healthiest you’ that you can be! Did you know that your body was designed to be 100?? Yes! But your body must be properly maintained in order to keep competing in the ‘100 year’ race! Remember, it is never too late to make new and better choices. Replace your old bad habits, with new and rejuvenating good habits! Check out these 5 easy habits to help increase your chances for a longer life and a healthier you!
1) Eat five small meals a day – Eating smaller portions regularly during the day helps to deliver a steady stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day; it even reduces your risk of heart disease.
2) Take the stairs – Daily exercise is a must! Look for opportunities throughout your work day to add in some physical activity. So just before hopping on the elevator to go up one floor…take the stairs! You’ll be glad you did.
3) LOL – That’s right, laugh out loud! Or better yet, just laugh! Laughter and joy boost the function of your immune system. Without a doubt, joyful people live longer and healthier lives.
4) 8 is great – Water does a body good! So drink 8 glasses EVERYDAY!
5) Relax and release – Meditation is an excellent way to manage the everyday stress in our lives. Take time out to breathe properly and release tension. A healthy body MUST be paired with a healthy and relaxed mind!
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/8307/top-5-habits-to-increase-longevity/
