Activities For Stress Relief = Walking Tops The List
Walking may be simple, but is it really effective?
They say that exercise is one of the best activities for stress relief that you can do. And of all the exercises you can do, walking tops the list.
Taking a nice walk after dinner with your spouse, or a friend, or even your kids, is a great way to relax and have some fun, too.
Make sure you have some good walking shoes with good support and wear some non-restricting clothing like sweat pants and a t-shirt. Throw a light jacket over everything if the weather is a little cool. You can always take it off if you get too warm.
Start slowly, if you are not accustomed to walking or exercising, just make the first walk around the block in your neighborhood. Do this for a week or two until your body gets used to it then branch out and go two or three blocks.
Keep doing this every day or mix things up a bit and go to a local park or forest preserve and walk the trails.
Maybe you live in an area that has a bike path or walking trail that the city or county keeps up for those who want to use it. Sometimes they can go for miles and let you see some of the area where you live.
Just being out in nature has a calming effect on the body so walking through a nature preserve is one of the best activities for stress relief you can do for yourself.
Relieving the tension in your life is as important as eating and drinking. If you let it all build up it can have some detrimental effects on your body and overall health.
Headaches, heartburn, depression, anger, and increased anxiety are all symptoms of increased tension. If all of these go unchecked for an extended period of time it can lead to more serious things like high blood pressure.
High blood pressure can lead to any number of even more serious conditions like stroke and heart attack. It can have a domino effect where one thing leads to another and another.
Any form of exercise will help reduce the amount of tension you feel especially after the first few times you do it and the soreness or stiffness all goes away. After a work out you will feel energized and able to take on the world again with confidence.
I chose to tell you about walking because research has shown walking to be the best and it is easy to do. All you have to do is get up and start doing it. You do not have to join a gym to do your walking but you can if you want to.
You can basically walk anywhere. If you live in a place that has winter and it is too cold to walk outside for some of the year, a lot of people choose to walk at a local mall when the weather is bad.
Do yourself a favor, take care of yourself, get up and do one of the best activities for stress relief there is, take a walk.
If you would like to learn more about how to minimise stress and get your body looking and feeling great, we have 2 spots open for new clients looking to make some serious changes. email Chad at info@onebodywellness.com.au for more info
How to Maintain a Healthy Weight While on Holidays
While I count the days until my first holiday in over 4 years, I’m planning on not gaining any weight. Yes, I plan on eating delicious food and drinking while soaking in the incredible history, landscapes and traditions and sunshine of Bali, Indonesia. Here’s how to lose weight and keep your fat-burning metabolism revved up while on vacation.
Step #1 – Eat more protein: Lamb, chicken, steak, calamari, salmon, eggs, turkey, pork, and even some dairy products have played a main role in my diet. Research shows that animal protein boosts your metabolism and helps you lose weight. So don’t skimp on protein, ever, especially on holiday. It also keeps you full, longer. I’ll be honest, I love food, and I know that not everyone will do this on holiday, but it is NOT that hard if you prepare, if you eat a high-protein diet, and you learn to enjoy real food treats (the locals know how to do it, with their traditional eats that you can get in the market…delicious!).
Step #2 – Stay Active & Have Fun: Get up on your feet. Walk the area. Take in the sights and smells and sounds of where you are visiting. Kick off your day with a short workout. Even on the busiest of holidays you always have time for a 4-Minute Success Session, even if it’s “just” 8 rounds of Punisher Squats done in place in your hotel room. No excuses! You can do it. Even your kiddos will have fun joining in for a few minutes, and then you can head off to Disney parks, the beach, Grandma’s, or tours of the city you are visiting knowing that your fat-burning metabolism will be running as fast as possible even as you “take the rest of the day off”.
Step #3 – Ignore What I Said in Step #1…some of the time… And have a reward meal day…once per week. Save up your treats and indulgences for one day. (But keep your protein intake up 7 days a week.) Enjoy your favorite holiday treats. Take the kids for ice cream, or a banana split as we used to enjoy with me back in the early 80’s when we’d spend Sunday evenings sitting around the fire in the backyard with a big bowl. Make memories through special occasions. But remember, not every meal has to be a cheat with treats. Besides, too much junk makes you tired. Stick to Step #1 most of the time, and then get your camera ready and cherish the moments of these extra-special meal occasions. These 3 simple steps, taking very little effort, will help you lose weight for life, while working and while on vacation.
To Carb or Not To Carb That is the Question
Have you ever heard that you should avoid carbohydrates if you’re trying to lose fat?
Well, that’s a bunch of nonsense. 🙂
Sure, there’s a time and a place to go low-carb, but there’s nothing “bad” about carbs so long as their the unprocessed, fibrous variety.
That said, there is one little rule that you should always strive to employ when consuming your favorite carb, and that’s this: avoid combining fat with carbs. In other words, limit your fat intake whenever you’re eating carbs.
Why? When you consume fat, fatty acids are released into the blood stream. When you consume carbohydrates, the storage hormone insulin is released in to the blood stream. Fatty acids + insulin = fat storage.
On top of that, insulin also causes certain fatty acid “transporters” to activate within the body’s fat cells, making fat storage even easier. Essentially, the “deadly combination” that it’s always best to avoid is having high levels of fatty acids and high levels of the storage hormone insulin (caused by carbohydrate consumption, particularly higher glycemic carbohydrates) in the blood stream simultaneously. How can you avoid this? Avoid eating fat with carbs, and vice versa.
Here’s a good rule of thumb:
If you are eating fat, limit your carbohydrate intake to less than 10 grams in that meal.
If you are eating carbs, limit your fat intake to less than 10 grams in that meal.
Simply by avoiding carbs and fat in the same meal (without even having to change the amount of food and/or calories you’re eating), you’ll create a more optimized fat-burning hormonal environment in your body and you’ll begin seeing faster results.
The Paleo Diet: Saviour or killer?
At first glance the Paleo Diet seems to make sense…
The idea behind it is pretty simple. Because our bodies weren’t
designed to handle the more recent changes in our diet it makes
sense to go back a million years or so and eat like our Palaeolithic
ancestors.
The recent changes, being things like refined sugars, starchy carbs,
grains, legumes, dairy products, processed food…and junk food.
The logic behind it: Our ancestors didn’t get diseases such as
diabetes and heart disease and if you eat like them today, neither
will you.
But is the premise flawed?
Bestselling author and food expert Michael Pollan in an interview
with the Huffington Post recently said…
“The fact is we’ve changed since then (the Palaeolithic era.) We
have evolved. We didn’t, for example, produce enzymes to digest
grain back then. We didn’t produce enzymes to digest lactose – the
sugar and milk. So we have evolved. We are not the same body
that was eating in the cave.”
Plus many experts say the science is still out on what portion of
their diet was animal-based and what portion was plant-based.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Paleo Diet to see if it
makes sense.
First off…
What can you eat on the Paleo Diet?
Animal based proteins such as meat (preferably grassfed)
eggs and fish. Fruits and Non-starchy Vegetables
(lettuce, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cabbage,
Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach.) Nuts (almonds,
walnuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios) and seeds (such as
pumpkin and sunflower seeds.) Plant-based oils (olive
oil, walnut oil, grapeseed, coconut.) Herbs and spices.
What do you avoid eating on the Paleo Diet?
Dairy (no milk, yogurt, ice cream or cheese.) Grains.
Legumes or beans (no peanuts or peanut butter, no
black or baked beans or anything with soy in it.),
Starches. Alcohol. Processed foods. No sugars or sugar substitutes.
No high fat meat such as salami, bologna, pepperoni, hot dogs,
ground meat, or ribs.
What other diets are similar to the Paleo Diet?
The Paleo Diet is big on protein, low on carbs. Other diets with a
similar focus are the Atkins Diet, the South Beach diet, Sugar
Busters, and the Dukan diet.
Pros to the Paleo Diet
– If you strictly adhere to it you will be eating a diet
without preservatives, chemicals or additives.
– You will potentially lose weight, for the most part, due to
your avoidance of processed foods, fast foods and sugar.
– It eliminates white refined carbohydrates from your diet
which tend to increase your blood sugar level and have
little nutritional value.
– It encourages you to eat plenty of vegetables and reduce
your sugar intake.
– You will eat less salt. High levels of salt contribute to
high blood pressure and risk of heart disease and stroke.
– It expunges processed foods from your diet.
– It encourages the consumption of meat that has been
humanely raised and pasture fed.
– There’s no calorie counting
Cons of the Paleo Diet
– No grains. Grains are an important source of fiber and
nutrients have been associated with significantly lower
risk of heart disease and diabetes.
– No legumes. Among other benefits, research has shown
that legumes help lower your risk of heart disease and
stabilize blood sugar for people with diabetes.
– A large reliance on meat. Meat has been linked to the
increased risk of disease.
– Very restrictive. Which means it might be hard for some
to stick to it long term.
– It can be pricey and time-consuming.
How much meat do you eat on a Paleo Diet?
A sample one week Paleo Menu from the Authority Nutrition
website included a total of 15 meals that involved eating some type
of meat.
For a normal sized male, the Paleo diet generally contains between
150 and 200 grams of protein a day. This amount is about three to
four times more than recommended by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC.)
What’s wrong with eating that volume of meat?
For starters, animal based products which include meat,
fish and dairy, are rich in saturated fat, cholesterol and
arachidonic acid. These three elements are associated
with cancer and heart disease.
In his book The End of Dieting, Dr. Joel Fuhrman points
out that animal protein stimulates the rise of cancer
promoting hormones within the body – especially insulinlike
growth factor (IGF-1).
And while IGF-1 is important to the body during infancy
and childhood, later in life it accelerates the aging process
and promotes the growth, proliferation and spread of
cancer cells.
Fuhrman writes that “elevated IGF-1 levels and linked to
an increase risk of several types of cancers including
colon, breast and prostate cancer” citing a May 2009 study
by the National Cancer Institute.
Plant foods such as seeds, greens and beans don’t raise
your IGF-1 levels.
In Conclusion…
Some of the ideas are good.
Most every diet agrees that eating more vegetables is the
right thing to do.
And fruits are a healthy component to most every diet.
But lack of bean and grain consumption is a concern. As is
loss of diary (to some anyway.)
And the extreme focus on meat could cause you dire health
concerns down the road.
Taking all this into consideration, it’s not a big surprise
that in its 2014 rankings of “Best Diets Overall,” U.S.
News, listed the Paleo Diet (tied with The Dukan Diet) in
last (#31) place.
16 Foods That Contain This Fat Fighting Ingredient
Hey there,
Today you’re going to learn about a fatloss revelation that I’m going to share with you today. Did you know that “secret ingredient” foods are by far the best fat burning foods you can possibly eat? you may ask, what are you talking about? Well, here’s a list of some of the foods you can include in your home-cooked dinners each week, each of them containing the magic “secret ingredient”:
• Filet Mignon
• Spinach
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Cranberries
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Wheatberries
• Walnuts
• Pumpkin Seeds
You could even include all of them in a single family meal. I’m not kidding when I say dinners of this size can be a regular part of your regular fat-burning diet. And I’m not lying when I said that ALL of the above foods are made up of secret ingredients.
Do you know what secret ingredient all of these foods have in common?
Simple: ALL of these foods have only ONE ingredient – the food they are.
Broccoli is made up of broccoli – that’s it.
The ingredient list for raw walnuts? Raw walnuts.
Hey, what’s in those cherry tomatoes? Go on… you know you know the answer! You guessed it…Cherry tomatoes!
The absolute best fat-burning foods are one-ingredient foods — whole foods that contain only one ingredient.
They’re natural. They’re not processed. They contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and more…in their natural form.
Many folks ask me to analyze their diets and I find that they’re full of highly processed, crapola foods. If it comes in a box, throw it out. Instead, try this for just one week:
Eat only natural, unprocessed one-ingredient foods: meats, fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts, legumes, and seeds.
See how much better you feel. See how much better you LOOK.
Want to know a bunch of other foods that burn fat? Our trainers give all our clients simple little tips that you can use click here to get started (along with the results):
Enjoy!
Making the Change Towards Improvement – How to Set Goals Correctly
Have you ever set yourself a goal of improving your health for the better? Perhaps it was to lose a certain amount of body fat, fit into a specific swimsuit size, get back into a sport or hobby that you loved when you were younger, or even get your waist to a healthy
circumference. You certainly are not be alone, we all set ourselves goals; however most of us, for whatever reason, don’t tend to use the SMART principle:-
SMART
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Based
For example, a non SMART goal would be to say ‘I want to get more toned.’ Not only is this not specific enough, you haven’t set yourself a deadline at all and your level of ‘tone’ is unable to be measured.
If your goal was to lose 10kgs of fat and gain one kg of muscle in 3 weeks, it would be specific, measurable and time based, however it would not be considered realistic or achievable. A SMART goal on the other hand would be to say ‘I want to lose 10kgs of fat and gain one kg of muscle in 3 months, by 1st October with a runaway bay personal trainer‘. This goal is specific, it can be measured, it’s an achievable and realistic amount of fat and muscle to lose and gain respectively and it also has a timeframe set to it which gives you a deadline to complete the task by.
If you do not meet these requirements when setting your goal, when you try and reach your goal, unfortunately it will be like going on a road trip without a map. Whatever your choice of destination you need to be aware of the proper route that will get you there as quickly as possible. You will also need to be aware of what equipment you should take to ensure you arrive on time and in the condition you want to be in.
The same principles apply for the Health Goals that you set for yourself. If you set a fat loss or body shape goal that covers all requirements of the SMART principle you will dramatically increase your chances of success by mapping out the changes you need to make to your lifestyle so that you get there. Whilst in a way your final destination is the actual amount you are aiming gain or lose, the route planned should be your focus and if you do this you will be able reach your final destination.
So what lifestyle changes do you need to make to drop that extra 10kgs? Will that planned change have to become a part of your daily routine? Will this change be only during the short journey to your initial goal or will you make it part of your long term lifestyle habits for the rest of your life? Remember, what is achievable and able to be maintained by one person, may not be attainable for you -so never compare yourself to anybody else. Everybody has different
factors and situations in their lives that effect how they’re able to implement these lifestyle changes. Remember that old saying, ‘Be Yourself, Only Better’!
People will say to themselves they will ‘Get up at 5am and go for a run, even in winter’ or ‘I find a way to squeeze in time for morning tea every day,’ or ‘I will limit myself to two drinks at the pub every Friday.’ All of these are very achievable in the short term but as the weeks go by these good intentions will be difficult to maintain even with the most compelling goal or a Bruce Lee-like discipline.
Here’s a question for you. How would you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time of course!
So if you are truly looking to make long lasting changes and create a new long term healthy lifestyle, which everyone is of course, you should make changes in small amounts at a time that can be maintained. Set yourself the goal of taking the stairs instead of the elevator for the next two days, or having take-away just once on the weekend rather than twice. Instead of missing out on catching up with your friends, why not offer to be the designated driver so you will not be tempted to drink.
It’s these small goals that will make a difference and shoot you towards your goals. It’s just like Al Pacino says in ‘Any Given Sunday,’ ‘’’Life is a battle of inches. You become successful one inch at a time. The winners in life are the ones who scratch, claw and fight for that inch.’’ Before you know it you will be achieving your goals one at a time and actually enjoying the experience of the journey. Once you reachyour destinaton and achieve a goal, instead of turning around and going back the way you came, why not set yourself a new path to travel? The only thing you need to remember; make it SMART.
To acheive your weight, health and fitness goals call 0422 914 632 or visit Personal Training Runaway Bay and start on your new path today