Corporate Wellness

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This weekend OEG Fitness had a kickball event for one of our corporations that we do wellness for. There was a great turnout! There was catering, games, DJ and other entertainment. Of course there was kickball.

There were captains chosen and they picked their team. They chose a team name and color of their t-shirts. There was a buzz in the office for a couple weeks leading up to the event. Moral was up tremendously along with pride. This leads to the benefits of corporate wellness. Many employees from different departments were now communicating and planning when normally they would not talk at all. There was cross communication between all level employees, including the VP. Sometimes an employee can go months or years and have no contact with higher level management. Corporate wellness breaks those boundaries. Team bonding and building becomes a natural interaction as opposed to a forced one. Employees become innovative and come up with ideas that normally they would feel would not be heard or appreciated. This creates growth, pride, ownership, retention and exposure. A healthy and happy employee will be more efficient not just with clear and useful information, but will have energy all day. A healthy work employee does not miss work and is looking forward to contributing. A company that offers corporate wellness has employees that are looking forward to go to work because they feel they are cared for. They look forward to what is next.

What is next? Well in our corporate wellness program we offer many services. Nutrition talks, in office massage therapist, corporate personal trainers that can service groups or individuals with a variety of modalities that energize the employee. We plan events, such as kickball. We become involved with preparation into existing corporate fitness events such as 5k runs. Having events that simply go to a hotel hall or a restaurant etc simply does not hit these points the same way. They do not have lasting effects like wellness. Wellness is intoxicating. Those that rebel, which there is always those, naturally start becoming curious and start engaging by maybe doing something as simple as bringing a salad for lunch and not the usual sandwich. Services are also personalized. Goals of weight loss, education on nutritional choices, tone up, prepare for an event, heal an existing limitation, mental support. Much is covered by the corporate wellness umbrella.

If interested in more information on what we offer with corporate wellness, contact us.

 

 

 

How To Best Prepare Your Healthy Plate Of Food

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So now that most of America knows what to eat, let’s discuss how we should put it all together. Here is a great way to go about it.

The next time you sit down to eat, take a good long look at your plate before you dig in. The food you’re eating and the way you prepared it might be totally healthy, but there could be another, almost invisible factor causing you to eat more than you originally intended to. And if you’re interested in losing or maintaining your weight, letting this little mistake slip under the radar could be getting in the way of your goals.

Your portion sizes might be too big, and the way you plate your food could be the reason why. Your healthy-eating game plan seems airtight: You diligently set your brown rice down, top it with a lean protein like chicken, and finish things off with veggies. But here’s the rub: Arranging your food in this format may cause you to accidentally pack on too much of some foods and too little of others. According to Maxine Yeung, M.S., R.D., owner of The Wellness Whisk, when you plate your carbohydrate and protein first, “by the time you get to the veggies, there’s little room left on the plate.” In a well-rounded meal, she says, veggies should be the main focus. So you don’t want to plop them on the plate like an afterthought.

“Changing the way you view your meal to make the vegetable section your primary focus is so important because they contain all the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water your body needs,” Yeung explains. So what’s the best way to plate your food? Veggies first, then protein, then grains—if it sounds upside down, that’s because it is. This method, developed by Yeung, is called plating backwards, and it’s an extremely simple solution to the common too-big-portion problem.

Making it a mealtime habit is easy. When you plate, Yeung says you’ll want to aim for your portions to be 50 percent non-starchy vegetables, 25 percent lean protein, and 25 percent carbohydrates. If you plate the classic way (carbs, protein, vegetables) you’re more likely to end up with 50 percent carbs and 25 percent vegetables. To strike the right balance, she says, “Start by filling about half your plate with vegetables, then add protein and carbohydrates in about equal portions.” And if you’re still unsure about your portion sizes, she suggests using MyPlate’s visuals as a guideline.

While Yeung primarily likes to use this method at home, she says you can also apply it to mealtime at buffet-style situations, and even while choosing an item from a restaurant menu. Using this trick forces you to look at your meal in a different way. So when you’re flipping through dinner options, whether it be on Seamless or at your favorite Mexican spot, you’ll be more inclined to spot the dishes with larger vegetable portions.

Knowledge is power! We have adjusted our eating habits to a healthier menu. How much of the food groups is best for our goal according to our activity level. Understanding these quantities will enhance our overall health and also our fitness goals.

The Latest “Diet” Most Are Using Successfully … Intermittent Fasting

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Intermittent Fasting. The newest yet one of the oldest forms of nutritional upload, or maybe I should say nutritional timing. In the beginning of time it was more about the availability of food. Mankind did not have the luxury of the abundance we have today. You had to track it, fight it, clean it and bring it back to the village. This could take days. In another place and time mankind chose to not eat do to religious beliefs. Throughout history we have done “intermittent fasting” not even knowing it.

Today there is great advancement in science. The study of nutrition now has also looked into timing, not just calorie restriction, to lose weight.

Personally I have had great success with intermittent fasting. I choose the 16:8 or Lean Gains method. Basically you eat during a window of time without caloric restriction then you simply don’t. There are certain rules that apply. You can have water, black coffee. It is important to educate yourself with the process and consult your physician before you jump into any program. We are going to concentrate on the actual “fasting” aspect. Not the do’s and don’ts.

I would like to share some information that dietitian Trinh Le wrote recently for you guys.

WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?

Intermittent fasting is more about when you eat rather than what you eat. A typical plan puts you on a scheduled fasting phase followed by a non-fasting phase. The former is where you may skip meals or eat significantly fewer calories to generate the energy deficit needed for weight loss. This allows more food flexibility and higher calorie goals in the latter phase.

A typical, calorie-restriction weight loss plan encourages a small daily restriction of 250–1,000 calories depending on how much weight you have to lose and how fast you want to lose it. While this may seem like a lot, it’s small compared to the thousands of calories slashed during the fasting phase of an intermittent fasting plan.

HOW TO PRACTICE INTERMITTENT FASTING SAFELY

Intermittent fasting can be a safe choice for weight loss, but it all depends on how you approach it and how your body responds. Fasting is not for everyone and you shouldn’t try intermittent fasting if you are pregnant, diabetic or healing from a traumatic event such as surgery. Critics of intermittent fasting also point out that all this emphasis on restriction can backfire and encourage bingeing and other disordered eating behaviors. Our physical and mental health histories are all different, so if you have trouble deciding whether intermittent fasting is for you, consult a healthcare professional. Generally speaking, though, there’s little evidence to say intermittent fasting isn’t safe for healthy adults who have a bit of weight to lose.

The human body is designed to deal with fasting. It did not evolve to have food every hour of the day. Fasting triggers hormonal changes that are beneficial for your body. When you fast, insulin levels drop, allowing your cells to release stored fat and use it more effectively. Fasting also stimulates a housekeeping process called “autophagy.” With no food around to process, your cells can use that spare time to remove damaged or misfolded proteins. It doesn’t matter if you choose intermittent fasting or daily calorie restriction, fasting for a few hours enables your body to fulfill this important task.

It’s important to note that fasting is not the same as starvation. Going for days without eating or eating a very low-calorie diet indefinitely is not safe.

3 TYPES OF INTERMITTENT FASTING
1
ALTERNATE-DAY FASTING

Also known as “eat stop eat,”  this plan involves fasting on 3–4 non-consecutive days per week. A 24-hour fasting phase is followed by a non-fasting day where you can eat as much as you’d like.

2
MODIFIED FASTING

A 5:2 fasting plan means fasting on two non-consecutive days per week where you eat between 20–25% of your daily calorie needs. On non-fasting days you can eat normally.

3
TIME-RESTRICTED EATING

With the Lean Gains and the Warrior Diet, you fast anywhere from 8–20 hours per day. You can eat freely during your non-fasting hours. Scheduling fasting hours overnight can make this plan easier.

There’s no one-size-fits-all diet for weight loss. Intermittent fasting can be helpful, but first consider whether it fits into the lifestyle you want to lead. If you try fasting and it’s not for you, cutting calories the old-fashioned way can still help you lose weight. Listen to your body, and pick the plan that works for you. Regardless, don’t forget calorie quality matters, too. As you’re losing pounds, nourish your body with nutrient-dense foods including fruits, veggies, grains, lean proteins and healthy fats.

Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. It’s our passion and pleasure to help (those willing) to achieve their fitness goals.

 

 

Myths About Walking… Must Read

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I cannot emphasize enough the idea that high intensity training does nit have to be debilitating. Here is a nice write up to help you understand that walking, another form of moving, is highly beneficial for any fitness level if done properly.

 

When it comes to exercise, walking doesn’t always get the respect it deserves — and it’s time that changed. Before buying into the idea that walking isn’t a worthwhile workout, learn the truth behind these three common walking myths.

There is a great feeling of accomplishment when your fitness tracker buzzes to signal you hit 10,000 steps. But Carol Ewing Garber, PhD, professor of movement sciences at Columbia University, believes it might be an arbitrary target.

Yes, there are studies that show walking 10,000 steps per day is associated with lower blood pressure and improved glucose tolerance but the idea of walking the equivalent of five miles per day could feel overwhelming to new exercisers.

“[Walking 10,000 steps] will result in health benefits,” Garber says. “But it should be noted that … there is benefit even with small amounts of walking and the benefits increase with the more steps you walk each day.”

Garber suggests aiming for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week instead of setting a step count goal.

If you want to count steps, consider this: Walking an additional 2,000 steps per day — even if your current step count is minimal — helps lower body mass index and boost insulin sensitivity, according to research published in the journal BMJ.

Leslie Sansone, fitness expert and creator of Walk at Home Workouts is adamant: “Walking works for weight loss!”

A slow stroll around the block isn’t going to move the needle on the scale (although it does burn more calories than binge watching legal dramas). To lose weight with a walking workout, Sansone suggests high-intensity interval training or HIIT.

Picking up the pace — without breaking into a run — at regular intervals during your walk has a major impact on weight loss.

In one small study, researchers at the University of Virginia found that overweight women who logged three 30-minute, high-intensity walks and two moderately-paced walks per week for 12 weeks lost six times more belly fat than women who went for a slow stroll five days per week. A second study found that varying speed burned up to 20 percent more calories than maintaining the same pace.

READ MORE > THE 4 WEEK HIIT PLAN FOR BEGINNERS

Incorporating HIIT into your walking workout is simple, according to Sansone. After a 5-minute warmup walk at a slow pace, walk at a brisk pace for 30 seconds and then a regular pace for 4 minutes. Repeat the interval four times. End with a 5-minute cooldown walk.

“Walkers have so many choices to get fit and stay fit for life,” Sansone says.

Walking can be a “gateway exercise” that helps new exercisers improve their cardiovascular fitness and stamina to transition to running but not all walkers want to run — and that’s OK.

“Walking is a good exercise for everyone,” Garber says.

A study published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology found rates of hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes were lower for regular walkers than runners.

While a walk around the block is a good start, maximizing the benefits of a walking workout requires logging sufficient time in your sneakers. Garber suggests focusing on distance, duration or calorie expenditure (all viewable on your fitness tracker) noting that it’s the amount of exercise that counts — for both walkers and runners.

“If you start fitness walking today, you will instantly feel better and know you’re doing something good for your body, mind and soul,” Sansone says.

By Jodi Helmer. This is a respected writer that does great pieces for many publications I follow.

So there you go. Hope this gives you some ideas on how to incorporate something like walking into your daily exercise routine.

 

CORPORATE FITNESS

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We are staying ahead in the fitness mentality and we all have the desire but few make the effort and the time. OEG FITNESS is bringing the workout and wellness programs into your work place. Lifestyle coaching, massage therapy, private personal training, group fitness, small group circuit and specific goals sessions, yoga, meditation and breathing classes. These are all or part of the programs being provided.

Energy revived, second breath to finish the day, feeling strong, company cares about me, brilliant concept. These are all comments we have heard from the participants, along with many more.

Licensed and insured makes OEG FITNESS an easy program to bring to the work place. It is finally here, the no excuse tailored fitness program for the individual needs. This is not a one size fits all motto. No more wasting time and energy on going to big gyms and feeling lost or insecure. Let the fitness come to you!!!

email OEGFITNESS@GMAIL.COM for further inquiry.

Are 3 Workouts a Week Enough for Weight-Loss Results?

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For all my client/friends that sometimes get lost this time of the year. This article simplifies things again to basics we have discussed before.

We’re busier than ever. That makes it feel impossible to fit in even a quick trip to the gym, let alone commit to the type of daily exercise needed to stick to a trainer-approved weight-loss routine. Take your pick of gym-going saboteurs: juggling late nights at the office; a packed social calendar full of happy hours, family time and networking events; and, oh yeah, sleep. The list goes on.

Rather than beat ourselves up over not being able to be devoted to a daily gym regimen, it’s more productive to find a way to squeeze at least some kind of workout into our busy schedules.

“Aim to work out at least three days per week with at least two full-body strength training days and one day of cardio,” says Alissa Rumsey, a registered dietitian and certified strength and conditioning specialist. While you might not reach Olympic-levels of fitness this way, it is the most efficient — and more importantly, the most effective — way to reach your weight-loss goals.

When you do get to the gym, follow these four tips to make the most of your workout.

1. Start Early

When it comes to working out, the early bird burns the calories, says Noam Tamir, certified strength and conditioning specialist and founder of TS Fitness in New York. Most of the time what prevents us from fitting in three sweat sessions a week is simply the fact that life happens. You may start out with every intention of going to spin class after work, but by the time 6 p.m. rolls around, you find yourself still chained to the computer or too drained to follow through.

Make an effort to schedule at least three workouts a week for the morning. Firstly, no matter what happens with your day, you’ll already be one gym session closer to your weight-loss goals. And secondly, you might actually be getting a better workout. “Most people’s energy levels get lower as the day goes on,” says Tamir. “When you schedule workouts for the morning, you are getting your workout in when you energy storage is high, provided you have had a good night of rest.”

2. Intervals

When you are at the gym, interval exercises are your best, most efficient friend. “Intervals allow you to burn more calories in a shorter period of time, and your calorie burn is increased for up to 24 hours afterwards,” says Rumsey. In general, interval training — or even better, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) — is much more effective for losing weight than steady-state cardio. Rather than sticking to a steady pace on your prework run, challenge yourself to some 30-second sprints.

3. Start with Strength

Even if the main focus of your gym time is to crush some cardio, research has shown that starting with a quick strength training session can actually help you more efficiently tap into your fat stores when you hit the bike or the treadmill within 20 minutes of lifting. And order does matter. If you hit the treadmill first, you’ll likely be too tired to really fire up your muscles with strength training. Start fresh in the weight room before gearing up for cardio to make the most of your workout.

4. Don’t Discount Your Desk

On days where you really are too busy to make it to the gym, don’t throw in the towel entirely. Make a rule for yourself that if you snooze through your morning workout, you’ll take a break from sitting every hour to do a set of 10 squats, climb stairs two at a time or make at least one of your meetings a walking conversation.

This is very vanilla for some of you. For others I hope this reminds you of points we have discussed or maybe direct bring your focus back into alignment.

 

 

 

The Workout You Need To Do If You’re Trying To Lose Weight

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For all my cardio lovers that keep staying away from weights. This one is for you.

If you’re trying to lose weight, you probably already know that you need to burn more calories than you take in to meet your goals. Likely that thought conjures images of sweaty cardio classes and breathless outdoor training movie montages. But while it’s definitely true that cardio workouts can help you get the calorie deficit you need (in addition to sticking to a clean, healthy diet), strength training is what’s really going to give your weight-loss goals that extra boost.

Here’s the thing, while strength training may not give you the instant heart-pounding, sweat-dripping satisfaction of, say, Zumba or an indoor cycling class, in the long run, building lean muscle definitely works in favor of your weight-loss goals. The short version? Having more muscle means your body burns more calories at rest. The long version? Read on.

Strength training helps build lean muscle.
“Aerobic exercise is actually the most effective in losing weight, however, it’s not the best at burning fat and increasing lean mass (muscle),” says Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., founder of TS Fitness. When you’re losing weight strictly through cardio, it’s normal to lose muscle and fat. And if resistance training isn’t a part of your plan to counteract this, you could actually be slowing down your metabolism by losing lean muscle mass, rather than revving it up (which can lead to weight-loss plateaus).

Strength training is better at much building muscle than a cardio-only routine, explains Michaela Devries-Aboud, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at McMaster University. “When you lift weights, you overload the muscle and it works to adapt to be able to lift more weight. The way the muscle adapts is by increasing something called myofibrillar size (the contractile units of the muscle),” she explains. Resistance training stimulates this growth, which leads to an increase in muscle mass over time. “And while aerobic exercise can also [stimulate this process], this increase is not as great as it is with resistance exercise.”

More muscle = a higher BMR (base metabolic rate).
Having more lean muscle means your body will burn more calories at rest. Having more muscle increases your everyday base metabolic rate, or BMR (AKA, how many calories your body would burn just to keep itself running if you did nothing but binge on Netflix all day). “Muscle mass is a more metabolically expensive tissue,” explains Devries-Aboud. “The metabolic demand of a pound of muscle is greater than it is for a pound of fat, so just sitting around, the amount of energy needed to maintain a pound of muscle per day is greater than that of a pound of fat. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.”

“Muscle is constantly being broken down, recreated, and synthesized, and all these processes require energy. The more muscle you have, the more energy it takes for this process,” adds Tamir. So by building more muscle, you’re stoking the fires of your metabolism. By increasing your BMR and burning more calories at rest, you’re also increasing your calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss. (Head over here to get all of the formulas and information you need to figure out how many calories you should eat for weight loss.)

And don’t freak out if you don’t see huge results on the scale: “Go by how your clothes fit, because muscle is more compact than fat,” suggests Devries-Aboud. If you’re not losing as much weight as you think you should be, you’re probably building muscle as you’re losing fat, and that’s a good thing! (And no, you won’t get bulky.)

“That new muscle has a huge influence on decreasing body fat,” explains Holly Perkins, B.S., C.S.C.S. “The net result is that you are tighter and leaner, regardless of what the scale says.”

You’ll still burn calories during a strength workout.
Even though cardio gets a lot of the credit when it comes to calorie-torching workouts, you can still get a great burn during a strength-training session by adding in some heart-pumping elements. There are several things you can do maximize your burn, says Perkins: Move faster between exercises, don’t rest between sets, move quickly during each set, increase your reps, and choose heavier weights (but don’t go so heavy that you risk injury, of course). Or, “add a five-minute cardio burst in-between strength moves: Hop on the treadmill and jog or sprint for five minutes,” says Perkins.

“These methods work mostly because they increase your heart rate during the workout,” she explains. “An increase in heart rate means a greater need for fuel, and a greater need for fuel means that your body will demand more calories. Also, as a result of an intense workout, your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC, will [go up and] result in more calories being burned after the workout. Think of EPOC as a temporary boost to your metabolism.” This is known as the afterburn effect.

Here’s how to add strength training into your weight-loss plan.
At the end of the day, you still have to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight, and even though building muscle can help keep that up long-term, it’s still important to chip away at calories on a day-to-day basis. “Having a challenging cardiovascular routine helps in your caloric deficit,” says Tamir.

Moral of the story: Do both strength training and cardio, says Tamir. It’s important to include both types of training in a successful weight-loss plan. In general, Tamir recommends strength training three to four times a week for 45 to 60 minutes. “Strength training also gives you the ability to endure more during your aerobic training,” notes Tamir. “The stronger you are, the less effort it takes for you to complete aerobic exercise.”

This means you can increase your performance in cardio-based activities: “For example, having strong glutes for running helps you go faster for longer, which burns more calories. And doing exercises to strengthen your core can help you maintain form for biking, which can also help you burn more calories,” says Tamir.

So no need to ditch the dance cardio or treadmill workout—just throw some weights into your routine a few times a week, too.

So there you have it. A nice little, simply put article that makes it all make more sense. At OEG we aim to send nice write ups that do not get too technical with deep words that most won’t understand. If ever have any questions or just want some clarification, feel free to contact me through this site or on FB.

Do You Think Kale Is a Superfood?

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This article is amazing. The craze with kale is so huge that it has it’s own competition. Is this a bad thing?

If there was ever any question that America had reached peak kale—from Panda Express dishing out its Shiitake Kale Chicken Breast bowls, to McDonald’s unveiling its kale salad earlier this year—on Saturday, the first ever world kale-eating record was set in Buffalo, New York. Gideon “The Truth” Oji, a 24-year-old Nigerian based in Atlanta, managed to wolf down 25 and a half bowls of the vegetable in order to take home the newly-coveted “Kale Cup” trophy.

“Our flag is red, white and blue but maybe it needs some kale green, to represent the moral fibre and fortitude not only of the vegetable but of our country,” Crazy Legs Conti, another competitor at the Taste of Buffalo food festival, told the Guardian. “There’s never been a food that’s had a storyline like kale. It was a garnish on all-you-can eat buffets and fast food restaurants.”

The term “competitive eating” often conjures up images of gluttons like Joey Chestnut and Matt Stonie shoving buckets of water-soaked hot dogs into their gullets. But the sport has been getting a leafy green makeover in recent weeks thanks to Healthy Options, a local organization that put on the “world’s healthiest eating championship” in the hopes of promoting better nutrition.

And while competitive eating is largely about the shock value—a repulsive train wreck one can’t help but gawk at—the Kale Cup was less about mustachioed hipsters and food co-ops, and more about inhaling a nauseating amount of puke-green slop. In order to choke down the dry shreds of vegetable, competitors would combine their bowls of kale with Tang and Gatorade.

“My mouth was pretty stuffed and it was tickling the back of my throat, and I was trying to get some liquid back here to take care of that so I can just swallow it, and keep going,” Eric “Badlands” Booker, said. “A little bit of time got wasted doing that, if that hadn’t happened I probably would have won.”

Though the Taste of Buffalo food festival has perhaps lent kale some much-needed street cred—blasting Eminem’s ode to battle rap and mom’s spaghetti, “Lose Yourself,” as the prizes were awarded—the vegetable still doesn’t count as a full meal.

“I’m still hungry,” said Oji, carrying his trophy off into the sunset. “I’m going to go eat some real food.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Proven Ways to Overpower Your Cravings/ THIS IS TOUGH

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I am posting this because my #1 issue with clients is breaking bad nutritional habits. I have many times broken through by getting very early physical results and therefor motivating them to stay focused. Of course, this is not always the case so an article like this one can be beneficial. These are actually some exercises we can practice to prevent, or use in the moment, to stop us from that ever so uncontrollable crave.

1. Learn to pause. By learning how to be mindful of what we are hungry for, we can train the mind to notice but not automatically react, based on habitual patterns. In other words, we can notice we want the cookie but not eat it without thinking first.

2. Get enough sleep. Research reveals that we aren’t able to make the best choices about food when we are sleep deprived. I would also include that we are more irritable and have less ability to concentrate and focus, and our overall capacity to deal with life is diminished, when we have less sleep.

3. Learn to label your feelings. Research has shown that labeling what we experience in the moment lessens our emotional reactivity to the stressor. All of our feelings have needs, so by tuning into your feeling, you can tune into what you need.

4. Surf the urge. We have many different desires all day long, but if we acted on each one, we would be 2 year olds, not well-meaning, mature adults. If you really want something (sex, those new shoes, food, etc.), notice the desire and then ask, “Can I be with this desire for 20 minutes?” Yes, of course you can. Practice waiting, and if you still want it 20 minutes later, then go for it. What normally happens is the original desire isn’t so captivating anymore, and it passes (then we want something else).

5. Practice patience. Much of our reaching for the pleasant is due to our impatience with the unpleasant. We can learn to build our patience muscle by slowing down and accepting what is.  I personally find impatience with traffic, so I have a little Post-it in my car that says, “Practice patience.” This gentle reminder helps a lot when I do encounter traffic. We all know the saying, “Good things come to those who wait.”

These are practices of mindfulness. I have mentioned this in a few posts in the past. This practice is specially successful at helping with stress and cortisol which is what is released by the body in a highly stressful state. Depending on the person and the situation the amount of cortisol released varies. The anxiety to get bills paid can be healthy by causing you to get it done in a timely fashion. If a dog starts chasing you, you will run faster than you ever thought you could. These are both stressful situations that cortisol take affect on the body. There are a lot of technical terminologies to this and we can go on and on with this. For the sake of this post, stress is the most common reason most reach for that sugary food. It is the way some brains/bodies react to this chemical reaction. Use these 5 steps Carley wrote about, see if it helps you stay in control.

4 Habits of Healthy People

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Learning about the common habits of healthy people can be a particularly motivational experience, even for people who are already living an active lifestyle. Sometimes these extra reminders can be just the boost that we need to get back on track or even encourage us to continue on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

It’s generally pretty easy to spot someone that is living a healthy life and it’s usually pretty admirable—they seem to smile a little brighter, they always appear to be happy, and they are constantly on-the-go and productive. Learn about four of the most common habits that these people have mastered and how you can emulate these to improve and build upon your own fitness regimen.

They Are Actively Aware of Their Food Choices

Healthy people know exactly what type of food they put in their body and often make sacrifices to help keep their bodies running optimally. This means, when they go out to eat with friends, they won’t always be delving into a large serving of nachos or ordering that extra round.

They always read nutritional labels and scan for artificial sweeteners, tricky food additives, and preservatives, because they prefer avoiding over processed foods when possible.

While they are not always 100% perfect with their nutrition, healthy people often abide by general rules of thumb, such as, no alcoholic beverages during the week, no more than one soda a month, or other methods to do their best to avoid food that is unhealthy.

What this doesn’t mean, is that they are over top or obnoxious about their habits—they choose to lead by example. To start developing this healthy habit, pay close attention to the foods that you eat. Keep a food log that documents what sort of foods you eat and how often you eat them. If you noticed any questionable or unhealthy food choices, work on weaning them out of your diet.

Consistently Monitor Their Health

Aside from tracking their food and nutritional intake, healthy people also monitor their overall physical performance by regularly exercising to gauge whether or not their health has improved or worsened over time.

This means that they’ll often experiment with jogging longer distances or lifting heavier weights just to see how well their body responds to a more intense workout. If these exercises were more difficult than they had expected, it could be an indication that they should be scaling their efforts.

You should be consistent aware of how your body is supposed to feel so that you can understand when you aren’t working out enough, or even if you are working out too hard. Additionally, you should not be afraid to monitor your health by visiting a doctor for a checkup or consulting with a physical trainer when an outside examination is necessary.

Stay the Course Even When It’s Difficult

There are often going to be times when your fitness goals become unclear, you become physically exhausted, or you lose much of your motivation—hey, it happens to the best of us. But one habit that healthy people proudly focus on is a continual drive to fight onward, even when their health goals become overwhelming difficult.

Instead of painstakingly giving up, they stay consistent and add variety to their routine by incorporating new exercises which can make their healthy habits fresh again. They find other activities that make their lives more enjoyable, such as joining a gym with a friend, hiking with their dogs, or playing football with the kids.

To adopt this habit, focus on breaking any health plateaus that you experience by first realizing that it’s okay to not always be perfect. When times get tough and you start to struggle or question your motivation, this shouldn’t be considered a sign of weakness—this is a sign of growth and change, embrace the challenge.

Experiment with New Habits

Healthy people are always on the lookout for new habits, suggestions, or technology that can help them continue to grow stronger throughout their lives. They understand that their life really begins when they venture outside of their comfort zones and even avoid activity ruts by setting new goals and trying new sports.

Additionally, healthy people transition their new habit building beyond physical changes and introduce a variety of exciting new modifications to their diet—they cook new foods to surprise their metabolism and find new ways to balance their essential nutrients.

Think about how you can incorporate new habits to find the exercise and fitness routines that work best for you. Consider drinking more water, reading nutrition labels, getting annual checkups, scheduling more time for sleep, working out with a friend, trying new outdoor adventures, etc.

What are some of the healthiest habits that you have experienced? What are some of the areas that you are succeeding in and where could you use more help? Do you find developing healthy habits to be a beneficial process in your fitness routine, or more intimidating?

Summary

Healthy individuals have tips to staying on track and getting back on track when they’ve slipped. Watch what you eat. Regularly monitor against your performance goals. Consistently make time for your workouts. And keep on the lookout for new, healthy habits.

A lot of us do not know where and how to get informed. Most magazines and internet articles are being sponsored by a particular company so they will push that brand and or program. Ask a fitness professional for advise and start turning your life around. You are always welcomed to contact me with any fitness inquiries you might have through here, Face Book etc. You can tab on FaceBook link on the upper right corner and it will send you to my OEG page. You can also email me on this site in Contact Us section.

This is awesome information from Healthy Living on how to start and what knowledge to acquire.