Post-Holiday Gain? 4 Ways to Recover - Part 2

Up your fruit and vegetable intake

Ideally, you should consume at least five fruit and vegetable servings per day now. These vitamin-rich foods boost your fiber and antioxidant intake and help you feel full. A tip: Replace that midafternoon 16-oz. cola (200 calories) with an orange (65 calories) as a nutritious snack.

Pre-arrange exercise time

You'll stick to a regimen if you schedule exercise ahead, says Brad Cardinal, Ph.D., associate professor of sport and exercise psychology at Oregon State University. Try to get in 30 minutes almost every day. Wear a low-cost pedometer (it counts footsteps) or sign up for a charity walk/run to stick to a plan.

Resist depriving yourself

Focus on what you're going to eat rather than what you're not. "It sounds indulgent," says Colleen Thompson, R.D., a nutritionist at the University of Connecticut. "But concentrate on ways to feed yourself now. It helps you to stick to healthy eating habits." For example, don't skip a nutritious, fiber-rich breakfast, like oatmeal or a half of a whole-wheat bagel with peanut butter. It can help prevent overeating later.

Concluded

Article By: Erinn Bucklan

10 Self Improvement Activities - Part 3

7th Self Improvement Activity: Challenge yourself

Nothing develops you more than challenges. Challenges force you to shift your comfort zone, experience new situations and make you grow. Without challenges life would be very boring and depressing.

Challenges are necessary for every human being who is seeking quality life. Only through trial and error you realise who you really are, which activities you like and what preferences you have.

You can easily measure the success of a person by the amount of challenges she had.

8th Self Improvement Activity: Read personal development books

There is nothing more important than searching information about self improvement. Without reading any self improvement books or articles you cannot improve yourself.

9th Self Improvement Activity: Socialize only with positive people

Positive people can inspire, empower and make you happy. It is so much worth to be at least once in a while with positive people rather than constantly spend time with negative friends or relatives.

If you spend your days with, for example, lazy people, you may notice that you are becoming lazy.

If all your friends' main qualities are negative, try to avoid all of them. This way you will not be affected in a negative way and after some time will start attracting positive people.

10th Self Improvement Activity: Exercise

Daily exercise develops determination, focus and patience. It improves your health and strengthens your body. It makes you more active, positive and invincible.

People who exercise every day are always perceived as strong-willed and disciplined.

Conclusion

These personal improvement activities are sure to put you on the track to success. I hope that you will apply the steps in this article and, as a result, will greatly improve the quality of your life.

What to Eat Before a Workout - Part 2

Carefully assess protein bars
When squeezing a workout into a busy schedule, you may like the convenience of protein or "sports" bars. Make sure you choose carefully; according to Kroll, most bars are "glorified candy bars, often providing even more calories." To find the better ones, Bell-Wilson suggests choosing a bar that has about 200 calories, up to 5 grams of protein and 25 grams of carbohydrates. "If you find a bar that you really like, but it's high in calories, just eat half of it," says Bell-Wilson. "Save the other half for after your workout."

Don't eat more than you burn
You just finish a heart-pumping, hour-long workout. You take a quick shower and then pass the gym's café on the way out. Watch out for those healthy-looking snacks. One smoothie or even a sports drink can replace all the calories you just burned, and then some. "It's important to realize that just because you worked out doesn't give you free rein in the kitchen," says Bell-Wilson. "The reward is that you went and you did it." If you exercise for an hour or less, your best bet is to grab a bottle of water and eat at your next scheduled meal. "If it lasts longer, plan to have a snack in your locker or on your way home," says Bell-Wilson.

5 pre-workout snack ideas

1. Half a chicken, turkey or lean roast beef sandwich on whole-wheat bread
2. Low-fat yogurt with a sliced banana
3. Low-fat string cheese and 6 whole-grain crackers
4. Hard-boiled eggs, yolks removed and replaced with hummus
5. Skim milk blended with frozen fruit to make a smoothie

5 post-workout replenishing meal ideas

1. One or two poached eggs on whole-wheat toast
2. Bean burrito: a whole-wheat tortilla filled with black beans, salsa and reduced-fat cheese
3. Stir-fried chicken and vegetables (try pepper, zucchini and carrot) over brown rice
4. Whole-wheat pasta tossed with chicken, broccoli and eggplant
5. Whole-grain cereal or oatmeal, with milk and fruit (such as a sliced banana)


Source : Weight Watchers



Concluded

What to Eat Before a Workout - Part 1

What to Eat Before a Workout


Just as you'd fill up your car's gas tank before a road trip, it's vitally important to make sure your body has the right fuel to sustain you during a workout.

Proper nutrition, both before and after, will also "speed up recovery, protect you from fatigue and get you ready for the next workout," says Jenna A. Bell-Wilson, PhD, RD, LD, a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics.

So, what should you eat before going for a bike ride or heading to the gym? Use these guidelines and snack ideas to keep your engine running optimally.

Balance carbs with protein
"A relatively high-carbohydrate, moderate protein, low-fat meal is best to consume before exercise," says Suzette Kroll, a registered dietitian and senior staff member of the Canyon Ranch Spa in Tucson, AZ. People often underestimate the importance of the carb part of the equation when fueling up for exercise, especially strength training, says Bell-Wilson. "They assume it's all about protein. Protein is important for muscle building and repair, but in order to lift those weights you need carbohydrates for energy," she says. Choose carbs that are easily digestible and avoid high-fat foods — or large quantities of any food — just before working out because they don't digest well during exercise.

Time it right
"Whether you're strength training or going on a run, you want to make sure you have something within four hours before the workout and then a smaller snack in the hour before," says Bell-Wilson. If you know your workout is only going to last 45 minutes, keep the snack small, she says. "If it's going to last 2 hours, then you're going to want to beef up that pre-exercise meal."

To Be Continued....

Eleven Great Ways to Reduce Stress - Part 2

3. Take hot baths regularly : After a very busy day or when we feel that we need to relax, you can take a hot bath by sitting in warm to hot water and the water level should be above the waist, using lavender oil can also enhance this relaxing experience.


4. Aromatherapy : in the office you can use aromatherapy to relax and avoid stress.
One of the best ways is to use lavender oil on a source of heat and take in the scent; this is a great way to relax during the day when you need it the most.


5. Exercise : This is one of the important things you can do which will reduce stress and bring happiness.
When we exercise, our brains release substances which bring feelings of happiness and relaxation; we need engage in some exercise regularly such as walking, dancing or swimming.

To Be Continued....

 

Hit the GYM to get out of smoking addiction !!

HIT the GYM will help female smokers to curb their nicotine cravings.

Ladies, addicted to smoking? Well, hitting the gym may be a solution. Moderate exercise can help women smokers curb their nicotine cravings, but only for the time being.

"Exercise may be a useful strategy, but it has to be done frequently enough and consistently enough because the effects that it has diminish over time" said David Williams of Brown University, who led a study for treating women smokers by exercise.

Sixty female smokers signed in for a eight-week regimen of smoking cessation treatment, reports the journal Addictive Behaviours. Half were assigned to the exercise group, in which they briskly walked on a treadmill at the study centre for 50 minutes three times a week.

The other half in the control group watched 30-minute health and wellness videos three times a week. For each group, the researchers asked them about their mood and cigarette cravings immediately before and after each session. They also asked them again when they reached their next destination after each exercise or wellness session.

The researchers found that, relative to participants in the control group, those who exercised were more likely to experience improved mood and decreased cigarette cravings, but that these effects dissipated by the time of their next exercise session.

Source : TOI

Self Help Mantras - To Reduce Stress & Simplify Your Life !

Let go of a stressful lifestyle with easy steps

Life is a like a roller coaster, which has its ups and downs. Though it can never be hassle-free, one can simplify it. Working long hours and maintaining busy lifestyles may be exciting and enriching, but can also leas to a feeling of constant stress. A well-known lifestyle & weight management expert says "For fitness, people take up complex exercises which are in vogue, when they should instead do yoga or walk. Even in terms of diet, people should make simple changes, such as eating high-fibre food, regular meals and cutting back on junk food."

Here are five mantras to reduce the stress of life :

FOCUS ON THE DETAILS

Don't let small problems escalate and dominate our lives. Give them the importance they deserve. Write a list of goals you'd like to achieve and focus on doing these really well.

CLEAR CLUTTER

Don't hoard things. Keep what you need and throw away what you never use. Clearing out the clutter means you can be more organised and find things you need quicker.

AUTOMATE WHAT YOU CAN

Making little changes to your daily routine like setting up automatic timers to watering your plants or turning off your lights, signing up for automatic bill pay options, or getting off junk mails lists can be an easy way to simplify life.

LEARN TO SAY NO

We agree to requests from others, because we like to please them. Instead, realize that you have a right to say no. While most of us have hectic schedules these days, it's important to make time for exercise, hobbies and other stress relievers, as well as time for our relationships. Don't worry about pleasing everyone. If you try to do that, you will undoubtedly fail and make yourself unhappy. Consider what is right for you, rather than what other people expect you to do.

DON'T LET TECHNOLOGY CONTROL YOU

Stop being a slave to present-day communication tolls. If you are at the beck and call of technology, you will always be busy. people lived quite well before the invention of hi-tech gadgets, mobile phones and Internet. use them, but keep them in their proper place. Don't be bombarded by technology.

Source : Timesgroup