Never forget this Important Habit!

Working out on a regular basis is more than a way to lose or maintain weight. It’s a way of life.

Regular Exercise

Working out on a regular basis helps with many things. I will briefly discuss some of the many health benefits of working out on a regular basis:

•Drops  Insulin levels -High Insulin levels are dangerous since it is the root cause of Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, etc. Cardiovascular Exercise is a natural way to lower your Insulin levels.

•Treats Type 2 Diabetes - A couple of the possible side-effects of Diabetes is Heart Disease and Kidney Disease. Both are very serious conditions, and exercising on a regular basis (including a healthy diet) can greatly reduce the chances of having Diabetes.

•Lowers Blood Pressure – If you have High Blood Pressure, you are at risk for Heart Attacks, Strokes and even Kidney failure. High Blood Pressure can be caused by poor eating habits, lack of exercise, and abundant amounts of stress. To help lower your Blood Pressure, it is important to eat healthy (every day, not temporary!) and Exercise on a regular basis. I have personally found that when I am stressed, I need to have a good work out or else it will negatively effect my health.

•Lowers Cholesterol – High Cholesterol is dangerous because it is something that is seen after many years of poor eating and the effects can be quite serious. High Cholesterol causes a plaque buildup in your arteries which can lead to Heart Disease, Heart Attack, and Stroke. It was once believed that only those who were overweight suffered from High Cholesterol levels, but you can be “skinny” and still have high cholesterol. Like I have said many times before…the whole point of eating healthy and exercising is to be Healthy, not necessarily “Skinny”, because “Skinny” doesn’t always mean “Healthy”. Focus on what’s important here!

•Prevents Obesity – Being overweight and obese causes some serious health concerns. Many people suffer from Impaired Immune Systems, Liver Disease, Arthritis, Heart Disease, Back or Shoulder Pain, Stroke, Sleep Apnea, High Cholesterol, Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, and the list goes on. These are all very serious issues that are all very preventable. Eat well and Exercise on a Regular basis!

•Treats Depression – You would be amazed how much exercising can help prevent and treat Depression! When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which are a natural feel-good hormone. Ever heard of a “Runner’s High”? Go out for a run (or walk!) and notice how much better you feel! Bottom line: If you want to be Happy, go Exercise!

“I don’t necessarily believe that you need to take expensive medications to solve many health issues.  The root of the problems are usually because your body is lacking proper nutrition and exercise. Your body needs regular exercise, and most people don’t make the time to exercise as often as their body needs it. ”

~Twinkie

Where to Start?

You may not be able to run, but what about walking? If you can’t walk,  what about clapping your hands or moving your feet? You have got to start somewhere.  Stay consistent, and you will notice the results!

The best way to maximize your exercise regime is to have healthy, well-balanced meals. Your body doesn’t want or need processed sugars, fattening or fried foods- no matter how much you are craving them!

Now it’s time to go out and exercise!

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Tags: Anti-Depressant, arthritis, cancer, cholesterol, Depression, exercise, Fitness, Healthy, heart attack, high blood pressure, kidney disease, liver disease, Medication, natural, obesity, running, Skinny, Stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, walking, Weight Loss

Walk, Jog, or Run?

Is walking better for you, or is jogging? What about running?

Walk

Walking is a lot easier on your body than jogging or running, and if you have been out of the gym for awhile, walking is an excellent place to start. Walking is also a great cardiovascular exercise, and should not be looked at as an inferior workout to either jogging or running. Try to keep a steady brisk walk, and this is a great way for you to burn calories and lose weight.

Focus on walking correctly, get good comfortable shoes, breathe correctly, and work your way up to speed walking. If you have ever had a knee injury, you might want to stick to walking until you have fully recovered from your injury. Never feel like you have to go faster than what your body is ready for, or capable of.

With any other workout that you do, walking is also a great cool down.

Jog

If you like a short and intense workout, jogging might just be for you. Jogging takes less time for the same calorie burn and cardiovascular benefits compared to walking. Be sure that you have great shoes, and that you are jogging correctly. Jogging can be really hard on the knees and shins if you jog “wrong”, jog for a prolonged amount of time, or even if you didn’t properly stretch before or after your workout. Something important to also keep in mind, is to breathe correctly. It is important that you breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. If you need help practicing this, try walking until you can get the hang of things.

Run

Most people who say then went “running” actually went “jogging” instead.  Running is faster than jogging, and if you are on pace to finish a mile in less than 9 minutes, you are “running”. Just like walking and jogging, running is a great cardiovascular exercise, but takes much faster to burn the same amount of calories as it does for walking or jogging. Just know that this is an intense workout, and not for those just trying to get back to the gym. This is something you should work up to, but you don’t have to reach this point.

Which one is for me?

Do what is best for your body. Because I have had a knee injury in the past, I am not pushing myself to run, and I even limit the amount of jogging that I do. Am I depriving myself of anything? No. Whether you walk, jog, or run,  you are having a cardiovascular workout, burning calories, and getting a great exercise in. As long as you are properly warmed up and prepared, whether you walk for an hour, jog for 15 minutes, or run for 3 minutes, your body will thank you.

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Tags: breathe, burn calories, burn fat, cardio, cardio workout, cardiovascular, cool down, exercise, Fitness, Healthy, heart, injury, jog, jogging, knee, Lose Weight, quality shoes, run, running, running shoes, shin, Skinny, walk, walking

Why you should give Yoga a try

There is a lot of hype about Yoga, and the health benefits of doing Yoga on a regular basis. I have been a bit reluctant to try it out for several reasons. First of all, I like to do cardio works outs that make me sweat (funny how I used to not like that part of exercising), and something where I feel like I am burning a ton of calories and making some progress in my weight loss or maintenance. I tend to do exercises like running, swimming, and the elliptical machine. After those work outs, my body just knows that it worked out. This again shows me that I am making some progress, and I feel good about what I have done. So now back to Yoga. When I think of Yoga, I have to admit, I thought it was just a little boring and maybe a little too easy?

I went to my first Yoga class a couple of months ago. Let’s just say all of my previous thoughts about Yoga were pretty much dissolved. I realized I wasn’t nearly as strong as I thought, and by the end of the class, not only did I sweat because of the amazing workout, but I was calling myself a “pansy” for not being able to do some of the “simple” and “boring” moves that I thought Yoga was all about. By the next day, the way my whole body felt, I knew this was something my body needed and wanted more of.

Not to my surprise, I wanted to do some more research on the benefits of Yoga.

Flexibility

I thought this was a bit of an obvious find, but still wanted to mention it. Not a lot of exercises will help with flexibility like Yoga does, and I believe that by gaining some more flexibility with Yoga, it will help out with your other exercises that you are doing. Worried you aren’t flexible enough? No need to worry. Do the poses the best you can, without causing yourself pain. You will soon find poses you couldn’t do, with time and practice, eventually you can do them. Everyone is at a different level, and you don’t need to feel like you have to be a pro your first time around.

Strength

If you want and all over toned body, Yoga is for you. Remember how I said I felt like a “pansy” after Yoga? There is a good reason for that. You have to use your muscles for the poses, and if you aren’t strong enough just yet, you can be by doing yoga on a regular basis. If you can’t do the pose yet, don’t worry. Keep practicing on a regular basis, and you will find you can start doing poses you couldn’t do a month ago. You can see your progress right before your eyes! If it makes you feel any better, there were strong guys in the class who were still struggling with some of the poses, which leads me to my next benefit of  Yoga.

Balance

Yoga will help you with your balance, which is one of the reasons some guys who were very strong still had some struggles- they were learning how to balance their bodies, and use their muscles in ways they never had to before. You will notice the more you practice these poses using your balancing techniques, you will start to get a little better and better with each practice.

Reduces Stress

Even though your first Yoga experience may be more difficult that you could have imagined, it might just surprisingly be quite relaxing all at the same time. If you are in a class setting, usually the Yoga instructor will put on some soft and relaxing music, and may even dim the lights (depending on type of Yoga). With Yoga you get to focus on breathing, flexing, relaxing, holding positions, all at the same time. If you ever have a tough day at the office, Yoga might be a good way to relieve the stress, which is obviously something good for your body-inside and out.

“Where can I do Yoga?”

-If you have a gym membership, that might just be a great place to start. A lot of gyms will have Yoga classes, as well as others like Spinning, Aerobics, and Dance. Find out what classes your gym offers, and if you are new to Yoga, feel free to talk to the Instructor before or after class and let them know if you have any questions, or if you need help with some of the poses.

-You might want to try a Yoga Training DVD, which is great because if you want something convenient, you can do this in the comfort of your own home. It can be like having your own personal trainer at whatever time of day you want to do Yoga.

-The Internet not only has plenty of reading material on Yoga, but it also includes Yoga videos. Try doing a search on Yoga in your Search Engine, or even go to a site like YouTube for Yoga instructional videos. Just realize the instructor may not be licensed, but still may know what they are talking about. Take it for what it is.

If you haven’t already given Yoga a chance, I urge you to now. If you are already reaping the many benefits of Yoga, feel free to comment about your experiences with Yoga.

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Tags: benefits of yoga, burn more, calories, cardio, dance, elliptical, every day life, exercise, flexibility, gym, gym membership, gymnastics, Healthy, motivational, personal trainer, progress, running, Skinny, spinning class, stay active, strength, sweating, swimming, toned body, training dvd, Weight Loss, working out, Yoga, yoga poses

The Frisbee Workout!

For those who might not like to go to the gym or “workout”, here is an idea for you: Frisbee. That’s right, play Frisbee with your kids, with your dog, or with a friend. And if you can, play Frisbee when it is really windy outside – It makes it more challenging.

I recently played Frisbee (the first time in years), and with the wind blowing at the lack of aim and catching coordination, I was left running after the Frisbee again…and again. I ended up running around a lot, but I didn’t mind because I was having fun and wasn’t thinking about myself working out, but just playing this game and trying to improve at it.

As adults working all day every day in this little office/desk/cubicle, it can be hard to get up and do something. Try to find something you enjoy that helps you stay active, gets you moving, and hopefully laughing all at the same time. By the end of it, you will have had fun, and burned some calories all at the same time. Good for your mood and your body all at the same time.

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Tags: burn calories, frisbee, fun, laughing, Lose Weight, moving, playing games, running, stay active, work out, workout