Don't wait until the New Year! The average Holiday weight gain is anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds. Here are a few strategies for keeping up with your workout through the busy Holiday season:
1.) Workout in the morning. Get your workout in before anything can interfere.
2.) Add to your “to do” list. That way you can put a check in the box when you finish!
3.) Keep your workout a priority! Give your workout the same level of importance as your errands. Make your workout a priority, because it is!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Helpful Tips During the Holiday Season
Whether you are attending parties, shopping for presents, or going away on vacation, you’re likely to make more excuses than usual to avoid the gym and the take in some extra calories. Thanksgiving through the New Year can be a 6 week stretch highlighted by fun with family and friends, and “low lighted” by weight gain and de-conditioning. Let’s discuss a few tips to keep you from going into the New Year with lots of ground to make up.
Don’t adopt the all or nothing approach to diet and exercise
We all are bound to have a bad day or a bad weekend during the holidays. The key is not allowing a couple of bad days turn into a bad week, and then let the bad week turn into a bad month. By then, it’s New Year’s resolution time; you’re up five to ten pounds, and you feel like you’re starting all over again. Instead, combat the extra calories, by hitting the gym extra hard after a bad weekend, and you’ve lost nothing, but have had a great time celebrating the holidays.
Don’t go crazy consuming liquid calories
For the sake of safety, keeping the excess calories to a minimum, and feeling fresh the next day, limit your alcohol consumption. Avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Doing so will not only cause the beverage to have a greater effect on your system, but it can lead to a night of overeating and overdrinking. Make sure that you have something to eat if you are going to have a drink, and also try to drink a cup of water before any alcoholic beverage you consume. This will fill you up, and in doing so, limit the amount that you will drink and eat. Most importantly, remember that the legal limit for drinks consumed in an hour is approximately, 2 drinks for a 150 pound woman, and 3 drinks and for a 200 pound man. Remember the 17,000 lives that were lost in our country last year as a result of DUI related accidents, and use caution during the holiday season and year round, and.
Take the focus off of food
Not every holiday related event has to revolve around food. The holiday season can be a great time to reconnect with friends and family. Instead of lunch or dinner out, line up a football or basketball game, or go out shopping with friends and go for a walk. If your holiday event is going to revolve around food, try going out for a 15 or 20 minute walk after your lunch or dinner. This is a proven way to metabolize the calories that you have just consumed.
Don’t adopt the all or nothing approach to diet and exercise
We all are bound to have a bad day or a bad weekend during the holidays. The key is not allowing a couple of bad days turn into a bad week, and then let the bad week turn into a bad month. By then, it’s New Year’s resolution time; you’re up five to ten pounds, and you feel like you’re starting all over again. Instead, combat the extra calories, by hitting the gym extra hard after a bad weekend, and you’ve lost nothing, but have had a great time celebrating the holidays.
Don’t go crazy consuming liquid calories
For the sake of safety, keeping the excess calories to a minimum, and feeling fresh the next day, limit your alcohol consumption. Avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Doing so will not only cause the beverage to have a greater effect on your system, but it can lead to a night of overeating and overdrinking. Make sure that you have something to eat if you are going to have a drink, and also try to drink a cup of water before any alcoholic beverage you consume. This will fill you up, and in doing so, limit the amount that you will drink and eat. Most importantly, remember that the legal limit for drinks consumed in an hour is approximately, 2 drinks for a 150 pound woman, and 3 drinks and for a 200 pound man. Remember the 17,000 lives that were lost in our country last year as a result of DUI related accidents, and use caution during the holiday season and year round, and.
Take the focus off of food
Not every holiday related event has to revolve around food. The holiday season can be a great time to reconnect with friends and family. Instead of lunch or dinner out, line up a football or basketball game, or go out shopping with friends and go for a walk. If your holiday event is going to revolve around food, try going out for a 15 or 20 minute walk after your lunch or dinner. This is a proven way to metabolize the calories that you have just consumed.
Friday, November 30, 2007
The Cardio Blues
With the days are becoming shorter, the weather becoming colder, and it being only a matter of time before our favorite trails become snow covered we all find it becoming harder and harder to make our cardio sessions enjoyable. Even if purchasing the proper cold gear, more often than not motivation starts to dwindle away when the brisk wind slams your face as you walk out the door to go for a run. The winter season tends to damper our cardio workout spirits, by chaining us to the forbidden treadmill for what seems like hours on end. To help get you through the weary season here are some helpful hints to help spice your cardio sessions up…when the winter tries to knock them down.
Treadmill Intervals – try changing either your speed or the incline every minute, this way you are constantly challenging yourself in new ways. This will help to break up the monotony of just running steady, flat, and straight for a long period of time.
Rotate machines – it is recommended that the average adult do 30-45 minutes of aerobic activity, however this can be broken up into no less than 10 minute bouts. This means that going on the bike for 10 minutes, the rower for 10 minutes, and then the treadmill for 10 minutes will allow you to get your recommended aerobic exercise in without having to stare at the same spot on the wall for 30 minutes.
Bring a buddy – bring a friend to the gym, and challenge each other to a cardio session. See who can cover more distance in the allotted amount of time. This way not only are you more likely to go, but also more likely to push yourself. Who likes losing?
Attempt a class – this is a way to not only a good way to get a cardio session in but also make some new gym buddies. There are plenty of options available from circuits, to spin, to your traditional step aerobic classes. It never hurts to try something new.
Looking for something else? Gather some friends for a game of basketball, volleyball, soccer, or racquetball. Not the sporty person? How about jumping rope, boxing, swimming, dancing, the list can go on and on. Basically any activity where you are moving large muscle groups for an extended period of time in a rhythmic matter by definition is aerobic activity. So get creative, and find an activity that you can enjoy and remember it is only a matter of time until the days become longer and the weather warmer.
Treadmill Intervals – try changing either your speed or the incline every minute, this way you are constantly challenging yourself in new ways. This will help to break up the monotony of just running steady, flat, and straight for a long period of time.
Rotate machines – it is recommended that the average adult do 30-45 minutes of aerobic activity, however this can be broken up into no less than 10 minute bouts. This means that going on the bike for 10 minutes, the rower for 10 minutes, and then the treadmill for 10 minutes will allow you to get your recommended aerobic exercise in without having to stare at the same spot on the wall for 30 minutes.
Bring a buddy – bring a friend to the gym, and challenge each other to a cardio session. See who can cover more distance in the allotted amount of time. This way not only are you more likely to go, but also more likely to push yourself. Who likes losing?
Attempt a class – this is a way to not only a good way to get a cardio session in but also make some new gym buddies. There are plenty of options available from circuits, to spin, to your traditional step aerobic classes. It never hurts to try something new.
Looking for something else? Gather some friends for a game of basketball, volleyball, soccer, or racquetball. Not the sporty person? How about jumping rope, boxing, swimming, dancing, the list can go on and on. Basically any activity where you are moving large muscle groups for an extended period of time in a rhythmic matter by definition is aerobic activity. So get creative, and find an activity that you can enjoy and remember it is only a matter of time until the days become longer and the weather warmer.
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