3 Tips for a Fit, Healthy Lifestyle

Survey a hundred people and most of them will tell you their goal for exercising is to lose weight. And while that is an admirable goal, it actually shouldn’t be the primary one. A goal from exercising that would serve them better overall (and one where they will lose weight in the process) should be living a healthy lifestyle!

Getting to a healthy lifestyle has three components to it: strength training, cardio and diet.

Strength Training

Strength training is not about burning calories immediately, but over the long term. Strength training builds muscle and inherently the more muscle one has, the more calories burned just at rest. Three pounds of additional muscle burns an additional 120 calories per day. But the calorie burn is only part of the results. Because of the additional muscle (we are not talking much additional mass, but more of a firming and toning) you will look leaner and with that leaner look, you will feel better about yourself.

Cardio Training

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Cardio training is where you get the most amount of calories burned. There are a number of cardio exercises that burn a respectable number of calories from a 30-minute workout. From a low of walking at 180 calories to a high of step aerobics at 400 calories, cycling, swimming, racquetball, rock climbing, skiing, running, elliptical trainer and rowing all fall somewhere in-between.

Diet

You have probably heard the old adage “You can out-exercise a bad diet.” It is true and this is why diet has to be part of a healthy lifestyle. Regardless of how much you exercise, if you eat unhealthy, you won’t lose weight.

A healthy diet should be low in unhealthy fats (e.g. processed vegetable oils), sugar and salt, yet have some healthy fat as the body needs some fat to be healthy. A good diet consists mainly of fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains, grass-fed meats and wild fish. Many vegetables are negative in nature meaning it takes more calories to process them than they have in them in the first place.

Most of us know to lose a pound of weight per week, we have to burn 3,500 more calories than we take in. That breaks down into 500 calories per day. By adding muscle through strength training, burning calories through cardio and watching what we eat, a 500-calories-per-day reduction is easy to achieve.

Living a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk for many of the unhealthy lifestyle-related diseases including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and a shortened life span. With a combination of strength and cardio training and a healthy diet, losing weight will come naturally and doesn’t have to be your single focus.

10 Healthy Benefits of Daily Exercise

Many of us start off the new year with the best of intentions, but by February, our exercise goals for the year have often fallen by the wayside. Often this is due to setting unrealistic expectations about how quickly you will get fit or lose weight. After all, if you have been out of shape for years, it is probably not a very realistic goal to expect to be fit in 30 days! Instead, the way to keep your resolutions and continue to grow healthier and more fit is to commit to small, daily actions.

You probably know that proper nutrition and regular exercise can lead to an overall healthy body, inside and out. But how, specifically, does exercise benefit the human body? There are literally hundreds of advantages to daily exercise - far too many to list here. However, the following 10 benefits of staying active on a daily basis should provide enough motivation for you to make a commitment to exercise more frequently throughout the year.

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1 – Exercise Can Help You Control Your Body Weight – If you are trying to lose weight, exercise can help. Once you reach your ideal body weight, exercise on a daily basis helps you stay there.

2 – Exercise Creates Natural Energy – The oxygen and nutrients delivered by regular exercise keep your heart and respiratory system working properly. This releases natural energy stores which allow you to go all day long without tiring.

3 – You Sleep Better When You Exercise Regularly – Daily exercise, especially in the morning, leads to deep, healthy sleep patterns. You fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer.

4 – Exercise Promotes a Healthy Sex Life - Regular physical activity leaves you energized, feeling and looking better. Exercise has been linked to a lower rate of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, and actually enhances arousal in women.

5 – Exercise Is a Great Way to Meet People - As a healthy social activity, exercise is tough to beat. You get to meet and spend time with people who value exercise just like you do, and those partnerships can offer motivation on the days when you just don't feel like working out at all.

6 – Daily Exercise Reduces Your Risk of Heart Disease – Daily physical activity promotes the presence of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol. It also decreases your level of triglycerides. This combination lowers your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

7 – You Become More Productive in Everything You Do – Your increased energy and boosted mental function that come from regular exercise can positively impact every area of your life - from your job, to your relationships, and more!

8 – You Smoke and Drink Less – People that exercise regularly attend to cut back on the amount of tobacco they smoke, sometimes quitting altogether. The same is true with drinking adult beverages, whether your favorite poison is beer, wine or alcohol.

9 – You Learn to Prioritize What Is Important – Daily exercise means making a plan, and sticking to that schedule. This constant habit of prioritizing what is important to you can benefit your business and personal relationships as well as your physical fitness.

10 – Exercising Boosts Your Mood – A simple brisk 30 minute walk can help fight stress and anxiety. "Feel good" hormones are released any time you exercise, and lead to a calm, controlled feeling of wellness.

It would be hard to find any other single habit that can increase your health and well-being as much as exercise. If you're looking for some fun ways to incorporate more exercise into your life, be sure to check back every here Thursday for a new, fast, fun workout that will help you reap all of these benefits, without spending hours at the gym!

10 Tips for Burning More Body Fat

A major component in losing weight is to burn fat. You’ll need to burn fat every day for long-term weight loss results. Remember that small steps each day can add up to big results after a period of time. If you follow these tips, you won’t be in the same place six months from now that you are in today, and a year from now, you will be able to say you actually kept your New Year's Resolution to lose weight - and keep it off!

1. Move Every Day – Exercise is the MOST important component in burning fat. You want to walk fast, skate, swim, dance, and hike. Do whatever you can to keep moving as much as possible during the day. If you have a sedentary job, consider asking your boss for a stand-up desk or a treadmill desk. Studies show that sitting more than four hours a day is deadly.

2. Eat a Healthy Breakfast – When you get up, within about an hour of rising be sure to eat a healthy breakfast such as steel cut oats and berries. Add some whole, non-homogenized milk (raw if possible) for added delicious flavor and nutrition.

3. Get Some Daily Cardio – Aside from purposeful movement every day during work, it’s important to add in purposeful cardio for at least 30 minutes a day. You want to get your heart rate up for about 30 minutes through running, fast walking, dancing or other movement - but not necessarily all at once. Some studies have found that steady-state cardio actually helps your body conserve fat, instead of burning it, so you may want to try high-intensity interval workouts such as PACE instead.

4. Add Strength Training – Any type of resistance training can help you build your strength, whether by resistance bands or weight lifting. You don’t have to build bulky muscles. You can do daily planks for your strength training if you want to. Yoga and other types of body-weight exercise are great for strength training and flexibility at the same time - plus they don't require purchasing any expensive exercise equipment!

5. Eat More Vegetables – Try filling half your plate with vegetables without a lot of added fat, salt or sugar. Vegetables of all kinds are good for you. There are no “bad” veggies. Not even potatoes are bad for you. It’s what you put on them that could be bad.

6. Eat More Fruit – Unfortunately, fruit like bananas and avocado have gotten a bad rap due to advertising by the processed food industry. But, the truth is, fruit is good for you and you should eat it in abundance. (Keep in mind that some fruits are very sweet, and could pose problems for people with blood sugar issues. However, consuming them with some fiber and healthy fats will help slow the release of sugar into your blood.)

7. Supplement Where Needed – No matter how good a diet you eat, there are times you may need to add supplements. The very best way to know is to get tested by your doctor to find out where your levels are. Ask them to look at your vitamin B12 and D levels specifically, which are ultra-important for your health.

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8. Reduce Stress – Stress can cause a build-up of body fat due to increased production of cortisol which tends to cause fat to build up around the belly. People with a high level of belly fat are more likely to have cardiovascular issues and/or diabetes. Try meditation, prayer, silent reading, yoga, and other stress-reducing activities.

9. Get Enough Sleep – Sleep is very important to aid in burning fat and overall weight loss. Most people need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. The best way to figure out how much sleep you need is to go to bed earlier and earlier each night until you can wake up consistently at the time you need to rise for work each day without an alarm.

10. Drink Plenty of Water – Hydration is very important for proper digestion of nutrients, as well as eliminating fat. Be sure to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and drink even more when you sweat, ingest caffeine or during dry weather.

Burning fat is easy when you know how. The important thing to remember is to do at least one or two things each day to work toward your goal. Avoid doing things that are contrary to your goal and you will be successful.

And be sure to check back here every week for our fast, fun, fat-burning weekly workouts!