Tag diet

A healthy lifestyle can improve practically every element of our existence. Eating lean, healthy dishes with lots of fruits and vegetables is one way to stay fit. There are other ways as well.

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Eating a healthy diet does not entail enforcing strict restrictions or depriving yourself of the types of food you enjoy.

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I don’t know about you, but December to January is a difficult time of year for this body. The Holidays, as they do every year, come and go. But I can’t say the same for the extra pounds – of food and wine; of butter, flour, and sugar. A cold snap has come over Northeast, confining my partner and me to our living room. And as that familiar winter chill sets in, I once again find myself a few pounds heavier and a little more out-of-breath on the stairs.

Winter always disrupts my routines. Motivation wanes, overtaken by the primordial urge to hibernate. It’s just too tempting to spend a few extra minutes in bed, watch another episode or two on the couch, or spoon an extra bit of sugar in my coffee.

But I have to keep moving.

Because exercise is never more beneficial for us than it is in Winter. Aside from the obvious need to drop our holiday pounds, exercise helps us fend off colds, influenza, and… other viral pathogens. It helps keep us happy and upbeat, giving structure to our days and helping to regulate the hormone cycles which govern our behavior. And aside from the holiday weight gain, I now have an impending ski trip to Breckenridge to contest with (and for which my legs are vastly underprepared.) So, here’s how I’m beating the Deep-Freeze this year:

Cardio Alternatives

I’m a distance runner and have been for roughly two years now. The 5K and 10K are familiar friends. But right now, it’s in the low ‘teens outside, and no runner’s high or endorphin rush is pulling me out there. No way.

But I can’t just not do cardio. It’s the best, most efficient way to drop pounds. So these are my indoor alternatives:

1. Jumping Jacks
2. Burpees
3. Running Stairs
4. Mountain Climbers

Your downstairs neighbors might complain. But don’t let that interfere. We’re all stuck inside. What else are you supposed to do here?

Calisthenics

Militaries and sports teams of the world have long recognized the benefits of calisthenics (or, in common-speech: bodyweight exercises) for building strength and range of motion.

Now, I like lifting weights when it’s warm out. In the summer, the gym becomes a social hub. I’ll enjoy a run, to-and-from, for a little extra cardio. But, especially when there’s snow on the ground, a 30-minute round trip walk to the gym feels unsustainable. It’s a bitter slog to show up to that windowless room, put in set after grueling set, and walk back out into the cold. I can change my habits, but I can’t change my tendencies. I hate going to the gym in Winter.

That said, I try to take advantage of this natural, seasonal aversion to the gym by using December to March to work on basic calisthenics. And no matter my baseline conditioning, I’m always surprised at how difficult they end up being — squatting 5×5 sets with 225 on the bar? No problem. Jumping around in a stupid little square? Somehow, excruciating.

Pick any four exercises below, perform 20 reps each, and cycle through 3 times. Mix and match to your liking, and avoid working the same muscle groups on consecutive days. Do it three to four times a week, and watch how quickly your body adapts.

• Push-ups – flat, or with lifted legs for a shoulder workout
• Crunches – with raised legs
• Sit-ups – with feet on the floor
• Tricep dips – using a chair for lift
• Russian Twists – with or without weight
• Scissor Kicks, Flutter Kicks
• Planks
• Squats
• Lunges
• Calf Raises

Yoga

I like yoga best. It’s relaxing, routine, and low-impact: the perfect warmup and cooldown to my day. And, of the options listed in this article, it’s the only one that has instant benefits. After a morning flow, I walk away from my mat with a tangible boost in alertness and enthusiasm. And after a good bedtime session, I can count on falling asleep and staying asleep that night.

Not to mention: it doesn’t really feel like exercise (until the balancing poses, that is), and it acts as a diagnostic test for the body. A thorough yoga session should reveal exactly what hurts, where it hurts, and help us take compensatory action in our other exercises to protect those injured and sore areas. It’s crucial to perform this kind of self-maintenance, especially in the early stages of a new workout routine when we are especially susceptible to injury.

So, this Winter…

Skip the frozen toes! Say goodbye to foggy sunglasses, the line at the squat rack, and those nasty locker room showers. There are plenty of alternatives. And while they require more discipline from us, we are rewarded with more time in our lives and a habitual association between our home and our health. All you have to do is get off the couch, get on the floor, and move around! Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

New Year’s is coming. For centuries, the most popular resolutions have been to exercise more and diet. There are many kinds of Diet and Exercise blogs online to follow or use as an example to create your own.

There are many themes like Nerd Fitness, Workout Mommy, Fit Bottomed Girls, and more you can get ideas from. How do you create a blog about exercise and fitness? If you choose to do your own fitness and diet blog, you can create it almost anywhere. You can create your own website, use social media sites like Instagram, and more to help yourself and others become fit. Turn the blog into your own fitness program to share with others.

For example, in blog one, a registered dietician and a mother from Columbus, Ohio, has a good blog called the The Lean Green Bean. She shares her low calorie recipes that are sure to help a person lose weight. This Ohio dietician has recipes that make eating spaghetti and tacos healthy. Being a mom, this dietician has ideas for healthy after school snacks.

Our next blog is from a wife, mother, and personal trainer who calls herself Gina. Gina created the Fitnessita. Fitnessita combines Diet and Exercise tips. Gina has salad recipes that have fruits and vegetables minus the gluten. The dietician buys some of her food at Whole Foods, and she grows other foods for her diet. Gina has pictures and descriptions of simple exercises to burn fat and even exercise with your children. Blogs can contain exercise videos. Gina’s blog includes her certification for her dietician job. Exercise and Diet blogs are as unique as the people who write them. It doesn’t matter why you are dieting, just blog and share it with others.

Comeback Momma is an exercise and diet blog created by Jenn Mitchell, who wants to lose the baby fat leftover from her recent pregnancy. She lost 50 pregnancy pounds but was in a accident that caused her to suffer depression. Jenn Mitchell wants every woman to be able to get fit, not just the actresses and models who work out and represent diet and fitness companies in televsion, print, and radio ads. Mitchell is a former personal trainer who wants to share exercise, food, family, and fitness while taking off the excess 20 pounds.

Jenn Mitchell has a blog area called Health. Using post notes, Mitchell suggests a list about how to plan a goal for the new year. Mitchell has information about health issues that concern women, such as endometrosis and its symptoms. Mrs. Mitchell includes affirmations for self-love and has wintertime skin care tips. Jenn Mitchell has a blog for fitness.

Jenn Mitchell shares easy exercise tips for toning muscles and losing excess fat. Some exercises involve stretching the muscles in the arms, legs, and torso. Some of the exercises require the use of equipment like exercise bands and vibration platform. Mrs. Mitchell has a blog section reserved for food.

Typical diet food won’t keep you on diet for long. Jenn Mitchell includes diet recipes that include chocolate, muffins, cookies, and other fun treats that will help you lose fat. Food should be healthy and fun to eat. One cannot forget about family.

Jenn Mitchell’s final blog section is devoted to family. Create activities that keep your mind off food, and focus on what benefits the family. Mitchell has a Christmas theme for the holiday. Mitchell has an Ugly Christmas Sweater event. The former personal trainer has 30 funny Christmas wishes, and finally she has natural and sustainable gift ideas.

Did you know that food can improve your mood? Numerous studies indicate the close relationship between food and feel-good chemicals we use in our brain, like serotonin. If you are feeling down or not like yourself, maybe heading to the kitchen for a bite to eat can give you a jolt of happiness once again.

Reduce Stress With Chocolate and Spicy Food

Some foods provide better mood-boosting results than others. Chocolate and spicy foods are two on the list of best foods to consume to improve your mood. Whoever knew that chocolate, a food that tastes so good, that is beloved by so many, could actually benefit our health? It’s true and it may very well be time that you indulged a little more often.

Chocolate releases dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, which create the same effects as an anti-depressant medication. Dark chocolate is the best option, although milk chocolate still helps. Shortly after eating chocolate, you may notice that you are happier and feel better than you did just a few minutes ago. yes, chocolate boosts our mood that quickly. It is good to keep a piece (or two) of chocolate on hand for such occasions.

Spicy foods contain capsaicin that releases feel-good endorphins in the brain. Plus, spicy foods can help block pain receptors so you no longer feel the same intense aches and pains. Take your pick of spicy foods to fill this need. Most people enjoy eating peppers, which contain high levels of the capsaicin that boosts the mood.

You can also do a cleanse to rid toxins and impurities from the body if you do not feel like yourself. They say that you are what you eat and this certainly weighs true for most people. When you feel sad, lack energy, or otherwise do not feel like yourself, it is time to evaluate the foods that you eat. Cleansing is a great first step in this process. When you cleanse, you remove all the toxins, all the bad things, from your body. In turn, you get a fresh start to do your body good.

What Affects Stress Levels?

Many things impact our stress levels, our mood, and our overall happiness. This includes finances, children, work, and other things, like the current COVID-19 pandemic. These things can really cause us a lot of panic and worry, but there are simple strategies that can help. Eating is one of them.

If you are feeling down and out, many simple strategies may give you a boost of happiness. It is in your best interest to put together as many of these strategies as possible to ensure that you feel your very best at all times. However, eating when you are feeling sad or down maybe one of the most beneficial ways to improve your mood. Head to the kitchen for a bite of chocolate or a hint of spice and ward off those feelings of emptiness much sooner.