Hey!! How are you all doing on this fabulous, sunny {in Portland} Tuesday?!
Can you tell the sun makes my mood sooo warm and happy??! It does!!
So, today I thought I would share a handful of tips on overall wellness and fitness. I have a wealth of knowledge I feel I should be sharing it all with you!!
1. Vary your workouts!! This is especially important if you are trying to lose weight. When you keep your workouts the same day after day, your body gets more conditioned to that particular workout, thus not working as hard to burn calories and even toning. So if you love running, for example, go ahead and run, but mix it up. Do a long run at a steady pace one day, and perhaps a high intensity hills workout the next. Or mix it up completely... go to Zumba, then run, then bike and lift, swim, aerobics, yoga, etc. There are so many ways you can keep your activities varied. If you have some limitations or would like more ideas please let me know!! I would love to help!
2. Give your muscles adequate time to recover! This is tre importante! When you are resistance training {weights} give your muscles at least 24 hours to recover before working the same muscles again. If there are certain exercises or muscle groups that you prefer to do daily, go ahead, but use your body weight only. For example, sit-ups, push-ups, and lunges, are all safe to do daily, but without additional weight.
3. Snack! Don't let yourself get too hungry throughout the day. This goes for weight loss or maintenance. When you go too long between meals, you can become ravenous, which can cause you to overeat. Also, your metabolism is likely to slow down to preserve energy. So if you're busy at school/work or taking care of your kiddos all day, make sure to pack some snacks in your handbag or desk.
Some examples of healthy snacks:
- dried fruit {no added sugar}& nuts
- apple slices & {natural} peanut or almond butter
- fresh fruit and nuts
- fresh fruit and yogurt {watch the sugar}
4. Drink water!!! I cannot stress this enough!! Being hydrated is so critical to your health! Get a large, reusable water bottle and keep that baby full! Always. If you loathe the taste of plain old water, try adding something refreshing to it for taste. I like slices of oranges and lemon in it. Cucumber slices or mint leaves are ultra refreshing as well. Keep slices in your water bottle all day, or a large pitcher in your refrigerator with slices of whatever you prefer in there. It's cheaper than Crystal Light packets and tastes great!
5. Watch sugar! I am definitely not a supporter of eradicating anything from your diet completely, however, it's important to keep your diet well-balanced. Sugar is one of those ingredients that is squeezed into a lot of foods! You would be surprised, really. They sneak it into so many different {processed} foods, and it's not healthy for your body to be ingesting all of that sugar. Check your labels and try to be mindful of what's going into your body. Some random places that don't need sugar, but you can often find it:
- spaghetti sauce
- canned soups
- canned beans
- canned vegetables
- boxed foods
- yogurt
The above are some that certainly don't need sugar, but it's often found in. I wouldn't be too obsessive about labels, but I do think it's important to know what you're putting in your body. I will likely save more details on this for another post, but honestly, it's best to reduce the amount of processed foods in general, as much as possible.
Did you learn anything new today?
Is there one of these you want to work on more?
Any questions?
Be well!
Come back tomorrow for an outfit post!!
