The Power of a 30-Day Challenge 4 Tips for Working Out When You’re Embarrassed of Your Body
5 Tips for Working Out When You Have No Motivation
How to Deal with Food Cravings on a Healthy Diet
How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need to Stay Healthy?
2Inspirenutrition.com July 2020 FREE
INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE The Power of a 30-Day Challenge - pg. 3 4 Tips for Working Out When You’re Embarrassed of Your Body - pg. 13 5 Tips for Working Out When You Have No Motivation - pg. 14 How to Deal with Food Cravings on a Healthy Diet - pg.16 How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need to Stay Healthy? - pg. 18
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The Power of a 30-Day Challenge
How long does it take to make a positive change in your life? How long does it take to improve your health and wellbeing? The answer is that it really only takes moments to change your health for the better. It only takes as long as you need to make the decision to take the first step toward better health. 3
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One of the things that makes change so difficult isn’t the desire or decision to get healthy, it’s the planning and overwhelm that often comes next.
daily exercise habit and plan that you can continue after the 30 days. It also provides you with an abundance of tips, advice, and measurements.
Once you make the decision to improve your fitness, then what? What are the next steps? When do you know you’ve achieved success and how do you measure it?
All you have to do is take it one day at a time. You can do it! Today is the day you start making positive changes to your health and fitness. How to Use This Challenge
has you doing push-ups and you’re unable to do a full pushup, then you’ll need to identify the hardest movement you can perform to get the benefit from the movement. You might do pushups from your knees instead of from your toes. In general, there is minimal equipment required for the challenge.
Additionally, there are This is the power of a 30three days where you’ll day challenge. test your fitness. You’ll test You have 30 days of yourself on the first day, exercise, mobility, fitness the 15th day and the 30th tests, and tips and advice A 30-day challenge gives day. This test isn’t designed ahead of you. It’s strongly you a day-by-day plan. to make you feel bad recommended that you You follow the plan, take about your fitness. Quite sit down every Sunday the steps that are put in the opposite. At the end at the beginning of the place, and at the end of of the month you’ll see the week and look to the week the month you will be progress you’ve made and ahead of you. There are able to measure your the mid-challenge test will workouts planned for you, results. Most experts tell help you stay motivated – but you also have some us that it takes 14-21 days you’ll be amazed at how decisions to make. to create a habit. This 30much can change can day challenge sets you up, occur in just a few weeks. For example, if a workout if you choose, to create a A quick word on warming up and cooling down. With the exception of mobility days, please warm up your muscles before you work out, and cool them down when you’re done. Sprinting with cold legs is painful and you won’t get your best results. It’s also good to know that as you age, you need more time to warm up.
Forty-somethings need more warm up time than twenty-somethings. Warming up for a cardio day may be something as simple as walking or jogging slowly for a few minutes. Warming up for strength days should be related to the movement. For example, if you’re doing a squat/lunge workout then perform a few slow and gentle squats and lunges. Walk briskly or jog slowly for a few minutes. Get your heart rate up and your muscles warm before asking more from them. Before we start with the first day, decide when you’re going to exercise. Are you going to do it first thing in the morning or mid-day? Do you have more time and energy at the end of the day? Take a look at your personality and your reality. When are you most likely to follow through and exercise?
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Remember that it takes a few weeks to create a habit. So the first week or so may be really tough. Give yourself a fighting chance at success by scheduling your exercise when you’re most likely to follow through. Good? Okay, let’s go!
Day One: Baseline Test
were able to do in three minutes, and how you For this first day you need performed the movement. only to set aside about #2 Squats – Again, this is a a half an hour. However, three-minute test. Perform you’re going to be setting as many full-depth squats your baseline for a number (your hips are at parallel of movements that are or just below parallel good indicators of your with your knees) in three fitness. You’re going to minutes. Take as much perform three movement rest as needed. Remember tests. to put your feet shoulder
#1 Pushups – The first test is to do as many pushups as you can in three minutes. You can rest as much as you need. And if you are unable to perform a strict push-up from your toes (and most people cannot, so don’t beat yourself up if that’s the case) then do your pushups from your knees. Or start on your toes and drop to your knees when those start to fail. Record how many pushups you
width apart and make sure your knees track over your toes when you squat so they don’t cave inward. If they fall in toward the middle, it can cause knee irritation. #3 1 Mile Walk/Jog/Run – Find a track or map a mile in your neighborhood. You can use a tool like Mapmyrun.com to get the distance from your front door and do a nice out and back run. Grab
your phone or watch and time your run. Keep in mind that you’re setting a baseline here, not trying for a personal record. Do your best, but don’t push too hard – especially if you haven’t exercised in a while. If you need to walk, then walk. Just time your mile and write it down. You’ll retest all three of these movements on the 15th and 30th day. Have fun! Day #2 Glutes and Legs Today you’re going to work on your leg muscles. You may be a little sore from the running and squats. That’s okay. You’ll be able to rest those muscles tomorrow. Today… • 30 lunges (15 each side) • 30 squats Repeat 3 times.
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or lowering your legs. The lower they are to the ground, the more difficult the movement. You can also bend your knees to make it a little easier. Repeat these two movements 5 times each. Day #4 Cardio Day Do 30 minutes of cardio; your choice. So you can run/walk/jog for thirty minutes. Or go for a hike. You can swim, ride a bike, jump on an elliptical or stair stepper machine or even jump rope. You can vary the intensity as well. Just keep moving for 30 minutes.
Tip: Let’s talk about muscle soreness. DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It happens when you use a muscle more or differently than it’s used to. Day #3 Core You may be feeling DOMS Plank – Hold a plank for everywhere by now. It 30 seconds with straight usually begins 24-48 hours arms. If this is too easy, after exercise, but the drop to your forearms. timing can vary. The best thing that you can do for Hollow-Rock – Lie on your DOMS is to eat nutritiously, back on the floor or a yoga hydrate, and get some mat. Reach your arms over blood circulating through your head, tighten your your body. core muscles, and press your lower back onto the Don’t sit on the couch, ground. Raise your legs off take an ibuprofen and the ground. Hold for 30 passively wait for it to seconds. You can adjust go away. You can still the difficulty by raising exercise with DOMS, and
doing so actually helps reduce the discomfort. The key is to not overdo it. Don’t try for a personal record when you’re dealing with significant muscle soreness. Exercise moderately. DOMS is actually the accumulation of small muscle tears or microdamage that happen when you work a muscle. So overdoing it can lead to injury. Get your blood circulating. Cardio day is a great way to accomplish that. Day #5 Mobility Day You’ve worked pretty hard
for the past 5 days. Today is a day to work through those muscle aches and pains. It’s a mobility day. Spend 20-30 minutes working on your muscles. If you have a foam roller, use it. Roll out your glutes, quad and thigh muscles, roll along the outside of your leg as well. No foam roller? No problem.
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which is against the wall. You’ll feel a big hip and quad stretch. However, if you cannot reach this ideal, that’s okay. Start from what feels like a good stretch for you and hold that stretch for a minute to a minute and a half. Switch legs and repeat on the other side. To get a good picture of what this is supposed to look like, search for “Death stretch” online.
toward one another. Make sure the movement stays smooth and that both arms move together. Do a few side bends and enjoy the rest of your day! Day #6 Work those Arms! Pushups – 50 Pushups – rest as needed. From toes if possible, from knees or a combination of both.
Side Plank – Sit on your Drop to the bottom of left side with your legs your squat and hold it for Tomorrow you’re going to slightly bent and your feet a minute or two. Relax into be doing some shoulder stacked. Place your left the bottom of it and rock work so let’s work a bit on hand on the ground and from side to side a bit to your shoulder mobility push your hand into the open your hips. today. ground and straighten your legs as you lift your Stand with your feet Arm circles – Start with big hips off the ground. If you under your hips and bend arm circles going forward. have trouble balancing, forward at the waist. Perform 10 circles forward, stagger your feet so the Touch the floor. If you shrink your circle to a top leg is in front. Keeping can’t touch the floor, then medium size circle and your body tight and your dangle and get as much perform 10 more and then arm straight, hold for 30 of a hamstring stretch as do 10 small, tight, circles. seconds. Switch sides. possible. Repeat with backwards Repeat 10 times on each arm circles. side. Quad stretch. You’ll need a pad for your knee with this Pass throughs – Grab a Triceps Dip – Position stretch. Place the pillow or broom or a mop or even your hands behind you on pad against a wall. Bend a piece of rope. Hold the the stable surface, such your leg so that your shin rope on both ends with as a bench. They should is facing the wall and your your arms as wide as be shoulder-width apart. knee is on the pillow. they’ll reach. Keeping the Bend your legs and place Your other leg will be rope or stick tight, take your feet about hip-width positioned in front of you your arms up over your apart on the floor. Slowly and bent to support you. head and behind you. bend at your elbows and Bring them around and lower your upper body The ultimate goal is to be back to the front. Repeat down toward the floor able to have your backside this 30 times, gradually until your arms are at pressed against your foot moving your hands in about a 90-degree angle.
you? Did you know Keep your back close it’s possible to be too to the bench. Once you hydrated? It can impact reach the bottom of the your performance and movement, slowly press your health. However, your hands and push most people don’t drink yourself straight back up enough. Make sure that to the starting position. you drink when you’re Repeat 20 times. thirsty and stick to water. Electrolytes and carb Day #7 Cardio Day replacement drinks aren’t Spend at least 30 minutes necessary unless you’re running, hiking, swimming working out for an hour or whatever sounds fun. or more. They’re just extra Move your body and calories. get your heart rate up. You should be breathing heavily, but not so much that you can’t talk. Assess Your Week: You’ve now put seven days into your challenge. What’s working for you? What’s going well? What isn’t working for you and why? What changes can you make to make next week a success? Take a look at your schedule for the upcoming week. Look ahead to the next seven days of the challenge and make sure to schedule time in your day to get it done. Good job!
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Day #9 Core Plank – Hold a plan for 30 seconds with straight arms. If this is too easy, drop to your forearms
Hollow-Rock – Lie on your Day #8 Glutes and Legs back on the floor or a yoga • 30 lunges (15 each side) mat. Reach your arms • 30 squats over your head, tighten Repeat 3 times your core muscles, press your lower back onto the Tip: How hydrated are ground. Raise your legs off
of the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. You can adjust the difficulty by raising or lowering your legs. The lower they are to the ground, the more difficult the movement. You can also bend your knees to make it a little easier. Repeat these two movements 10 times. Day #10 Cardio Spend 45 minutes doing some type of cardio. Yes, you’re adding time to your workout. Pace yourself! Day #11 Mobility Day Repeat Day #5 mobility exercises Day #12 – Arms • Pushups – 50 Pushups (Working to gain strength, maintain form, and if possible move toward doing a few from your toes. If you’re not there yet, no worries! This is a difficult movement.) • Side Plank – Hold for 30-60 seconds. Repeat 10 times on each side. • Triceps Dip – Repeat 20 times. Tip: Let’s talk about calories. Often, when people start exercising or they’re exercising more consistently, they find that they’re hungrier. They start
eating more food and consuming more calories. Unfortunately, this is why it can be difficult to lose weight even when you’re exercising. If you’re trying to lose weight and get in shape it’s important to track what you eat. If you eat whole foods, rather than processed foods, and you steer clear of starchy carbohydrates you’re on the right track. Additionally, track calories and make sure that post workout you’re not consuming more than you just burned. Exercise because it’s good for you, not because it gives you a reason to justify eating an extra piece of cake.
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• 50 squats Repeat 2 times. Assess Your Week: You’re now one day away from the half-way point! Assess. What’s working for you? What’s going well? What isn’t working for you and why? What changes can you make to make next week a success? Take a look at your schedule for the upcoming week. Look ahead to the next seven days of the challenge and make sure to schedule time in your day to get it done.
finishing this challenge. Two more weeks. You can do it. Think about what motivates you. Are you motivated by tracking your workouts and your results? Are you competitive? Do you enjoy working out alone or with others? Do you like music when you work out? Do you prefer to exercise outside, in your home, or in a gym?
Find what keeps you motivated. You may have started noticing changes in your body too. Possibly some external physical changes, but maybe some internal ones as well. You might have more energy, Tomorrow is a big day. It is more stamina, more your mid-point re-test. Get mental clarity or maybe a good night’s sleep and you’re sleeping better. If you want cake, eat cake have fun tomorrow! Pay attention to these but make it an occasional positive changes and hold treat and not a daily Day #15 Retest onto them as you move habit. Moderation and • Run/walk your mile through the next two awareness are the keys • 3-minute pushup test weeks. here. Pay attention to the • 3-minute squat test. Yes, nutrition you put into your your legs will be sore body, avoid sugar and from yesterday. Try to Day #17 Core starchy carbs, and enjoy! meet or exceed what • Plank – Work on you did the first day. holding a plank for a full Day #13 Cardio Push yourself a bit here. minute. Spend 30 minutes on • Hollow-Rock –Work on cardio. Try intervals today. holding for a full minute Try 3 minutes of intense Day #16 Mobility Day Repeat these two effort followed by 3 Repeat Day #5 mobility movements 10 times. minutes of moderate exercises effort. Repeat 5 times. Tip: Staying motivated is Day #18 Legs Day #14 Glutes and Legs tough. You’re now over the Warm up with 30 squats. • 50 lunges (25 each side) hump and on your way to Then…
Perform 30 Jumping Squats – At the bottom of your squat jump up to full extension. Your feet should leave the ground. Land back in the bottom of your squat. You may need to perform these in sets of 3-5. And don’t be surprised if you’re down to singles after the first 15 or so. Lunges – Perform 50 lunges on each side, for a total of 100. Whew!!! Shake out those legs and enjoy your day! Day #19 Arms • Pushups – 50 Pushups (Working to gain strength, maintain form, and if possible move toward doing a few from your toes. If you’re not there yet, no worries! This is a difficult movement.) • Side Plank – Hold for 30-60 seconds. Repeat 10 times on each side. • Triceps Dip – Repeat 30 times.
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Day #20 Cardio 45 minutes of moderate intensity cardio. Tip: Avoiding Injury – Many people are worried about getting injured when they exercise. It happens. However, you can take steps to prevent
injury. For example, proper form is always a good idea. Squatting with proper form, for example, prevents knee injuries and too much soreness. When you’re performing any movement, make sure your form supports you to stay healthy and free from injury. Another way to prevent injury is to make sure that you pay attention to your body. There’s a fine line between pushing yourself and pushing yourself too hard. Find that balance for yourself. Too many times people get up “off the couch,” decide they’re going to train for a marathon and go out running too long and too hard.
Know where you’re starting from and what your body is capable of right now. This is one of the reasons we started the challenge with a baseline test and suggested that you didn’t “race” it. Injuries stink, so do what you can to stay healthy. Day #21 Mobility Repeat Day #5 Mobility movements Assess Your Week: You’re now a little more than a week away from completion! Assess. What’s working for you? What’s going well? What isn’t working for you and why? What changes can you make to make next week a success? Take a look at your
schedule for the upcoming week. Look ahead to the next seven days of the challenge and make sure to schedule time in your day to get it done.
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strength and mobility as well as calf strength.
Tip: Set goals for your workouts. If you set an intention or a goal for each workout, it can help you focus on your effort and Day #22 Core achieve a better outcome. • Plank – Work on For example, today was a holding a plank for a full day of leg work and a lot minute. of squats. Your goal might • Hollow-Rock –Work be to make sure every on holding for a full squat was perfect or that minute. when your legs need a rest Repeat these two you might push yourself movements 10 times. a bit and do one more squat. Day #23 Cardio Intervals today. Aim for Or if it usually takes you six 3 minutes of intensity minutes to get through followed by 2 minutes 60, you’ll push yourself of rest. Repeat 6 times, and try to get it done in for a total of 30 minutes. five. Setting goals for your Please don’t forget to workout can help you warm up and cool down. push yourself so you get Warm up with 5 minutes a better workout. It also of low intensity, building helps you learn what your to moderate intensity body is capable of. cardio. Cool down with low intensity cardio – for Day #25 Arms example, walk for three • Pushups – 50 Pushups minutes. (Working to gain strength, maintain Day #24 Legs form, and if possible • 60 lunges (30 each move toward doing a side). few from your toes. If • 60 squats. you’re not there yet, no • 30 calf raises – Standing worries! This is a difficult with your feet on the movement.) floor and a chair nearby • Side Plank – Hold for for balance, raise to 30-60 seconds. Repeat your toes and slowly 10 times on each side. lower back down. This • Triceps Dip – Repeat 30 helps improve ankle times.
• Pull-ups/Chin-ups – If you have access to a pull-up bar or playground monkey bars, give a pull-up a try. If you can’t do a pull-up, try switching your grip so your palms are facing you and perform a chin-up. They’re usually a little bit easier. If pullups aren’t happening for you, no worries. Do 10-20 jumping pull-ups. Jump up, grab the bar and pull. You use your momentum to help you get your chin over the bar. If you lower slowly and controlled, you’ll build strength. Day #26 Cardio 60 minutes of moderate intensity cardio. Keep this moderate. You should be able to maintain the same pace throughout the entire 60 minutes. If that means that you’re walking briskly for an hour, then that’s great. The goal is to keep your heart rate elevated, but not at maximum effort. You should be able to hold a conversation while you exercise. Day #27 Mobility You’ve worked pretty hard for the past 5 days. Today is a day to work through those muscle aches and pains. It’s a mobility day.
Spend 20-30 minutes working on your muscles. If you have a foam roller, use it. Roll out your glutes, quad and thigh muscles, roll along the outside of your leg as well.
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more days until you’re done! Congratulations on making it this far. Start thinking about what you can do, and what you want to do, when this challenge is over. Consider what you liked and didn’t Day #28 Core like about the challenge. • Plank – Work on Also think about how you holding a plank for a full might reward yourself for minute. completing the challenge. • Hollow-Rock –Work Maybe you buy yourself on holding for a full a new exercise outfit minute. or a new pair of fitness • Superman – Lie down shoes. Or maybe you join on the floor on your a gym, buy a fitness DVD stomach. Tighten your or some new home gym core muscles and lift equipment. your arms and legs off of the ground. Lift them You now know that you as high as possible have it in you to exercise while keeping them every day and that rest straight. Hold for a full days are still days when minute. you spend some time on your fitness and mobility. Repeat each of these 10 That’s a pretty significant times. realization. You’re capable of so much! • V-Sit – Lie on the ground and slowly raise Day #29 Legs your body and your • 60 lunges (30 each legs at the same time side). until you form a V. This • 60 squats. movement should be • 30 calf raises. controlled. Tip: Creating your fitness You’ll get to a point where routine. As you’ve you cannot lift your legs seen from this 30-day anymore because your challenge, strength, abs are screaming. Slowly cardio, and mobility are lower from that point. the three pillars of fitness Repeat 5 times. and overall health. As you move beyond this Assess Your Week: Two challenge, think about
how you can continue to fit all three into your daily lifestyle. Some programs like martial arts or CrossFit embrace all three in their daily workouts. You can also create your own fitness program. Find what works for you. Day #30 Repeat The Baseline Test Really push yourself for this. Try to get as many pushups in your three minutes as possible. The same for your squats. And run/walk/jog that one mile as fast as you can. Get a personal best! Conclusion: Continuing Your Fitness After the Challenge Take one to three days off and rest. You’ve earned it. But don’t rest for too long. You’ve accomplished so much and learned a ton about yourself. If you want, repeat this 30-day challenge. You can push yourself by adding weight or modifying the days as you see fit. Attend a boot camp, join a gym, or find a home fitness program that you enjoy. You’ve created a daily exercise habit, leverage that habit into a lifetime of good health and better fitness.
4 Tips for Working Out When You’re Embarrassed of Your Body If overweight and out of shape, walking into a gym the first time can be a terribly humiliating and embarrassing experience… to the point where some people only do it once and never go back. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By using these tips, you can have an enjoyable experience and start getting into (or back into) shape.
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port you.
them – to exercise and get healthy. Believe it or not, Seek help from a trainer most of them will comIf new to the modern-day mend you for taking the gym, don’t be afraid to ask first step on your journey to a healthier life. Many for help from one of the personal trainers. Not only will reflect back to a time can s/he show you how to when they were where use the machines (proper- you are at now. ly and safely), but can also Ditch the paranoia create a tailored workout that will help you accom- Put on a new workout plish your health goals. outfit, strap on your crossWear comfortable clothes fit trainer shoes, put on Picking the right gym your headphones to listen Get a couple of basic to your favorite music and Not all gyms are the same. workout outfits made go to work. Most of the Some are less judgmental from one of the new other people in the gym than others. Sometimes moisture-wicking materi- are doing the same thing just by switching to a difals. Avoid wearing baggy and could care less about ferent gym, you can feel clothes that hide your what you are doing there more comfortable. If you figure. It sends you and or why. Just be yourself. don’t like your gym, try a everyone else in the gym few others. Look for one the wrong message and Know that you are there where the people are mentally does not support for the same purpose as more your own age and your goals. Instead “look everyone else. Use the fit are there to exercise and the part”; dress appropripeople working out as innot ogle you and make ately, but in clothes meant spiration and examples of snide comments. They will to workout. That way you where you want to be in a commend you for trying will fit in better and people few months. As the poputo get healthy by exerciswill know you are there lar sports apparel maker ing and be there to supfor the same purpose ad Nike® says “Just do it”!
5 Tips for Working Out When You Have No Motivation that you will do something for a specific amount of time. Like exercise 30 minutes a day, five days per week for 3 months. As part of the commitment, there must be an anti-reward if you fail to follow through, such as a $10 penalty fee if you miss a workout during the stated period of the agreement. Or the penalty can be non-monetary, such as having to suffer Reward the embarrassment of adThis is one hack that many mitting to your friends that you missed a workout. people use to give them the motivation they need Visualization to accomplish something when they really don’t feel When waffling on whether you are going to get like doing it - a tangible reward. However, be care- up and exercise or not, visualize how good you ful that the reward does not undermine the reason feel after working out. Or how good the warm sun you doing it in the first place. For example, a new feels while outside on your walk, or the pleasure of workout outfit in one of the birds singing, or …. the brightly colored patThis works! It is also called terned moisture-wicking mental contrasting and fabrics is a much better reward that supports your is used as a way to overeffort of working out, than come a mental obstacle one associated with food. that is holding you back from doing something. Penalty Exercise with a friend This is the nemesis of a reward. It is usually a written This is one of the most powerful motivators! None agreement with yourself, of us like to disappoint or a pledge with friends, What motivates humans to repeatedly do something that we might not even like to do? Like working out? That is a question many health professionals have been trying to answer for years. Yet, they don’t have a solid theory, however, there are some things (hacks if you will) that seem to work as motivation for most people.
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another person. Exercising with a friend keeps both of you in check. On a day when you don’t feel like exercising, you will just so you don’t disappoint your workout friend. And if the truth be known, that person may not have wanted to exercise either, but did so because s/he did not want to disappoint you! It is a win/win for both of you. Journaling This is similar to visualization except it is written down on paper. The highs and lows you feel before, during and after working out provides a written record of what motivates you (and what does not). The endorphin rush felt after exercising, the rewards, penalties and feelings – both good and bad – are all stimuli as to why you should power through a workout - even if you do not feel like it at the time. The “thing” that motivates each of us can differ, but usually one or more of these tips works in most cases. Find the one(s) that work for you and push forward!
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How to Deal with Food Cravings on a Healthy Diet
From ice cream to chocolate to juicy burgers, our bodies have certain food cravings that can strike at any given time. Under normal circumstances, the best way to get rid of a craving is to simply give in. After all, the harder you resist a food craving, the more intense it becomes. If you are on a diet, however, giving in to food cravings is not a good idea as doing so can wreak havoc on whatever fitness results you’ve achieved so far. So, what’s a dieter to do when that powerful desire to indulge in a craving hits? Well, by putting the following tricks into action, you should be able to deal with food cravings without breaking your diet. 16
Actively Prevent Cravings As the old adage goes, “prevention is better than cure.” If you can prevent food cravings from even manifesting, then you’ll not have to struggle to beat them.
Keeping Those Foods You Crave Out Of The House Resisting a craving becomes more difficult when that food you are yearning is within close reach. What’s more, the simple knowledge that the food is safely stored away in the fridge or kitchen cabinets can be enough to While there is no surefire way to prevent cravings, you trigger a craving. So, make it a point to avoid keeping can minimize chances of a a stockpile of those foods craving occurring by: you normally crave in your home. Although this Eating Regularly Hunger is one of the biggest sounds simple, it can be quite effective at preventing causes of cravings. So, cravings. one of the best ways to prevent cravings is to avoid Increase Your Protein and getting hungry. Regular Fiber Intake small healthy meals and snacks taken every 3-4 hours Unlike foods high in sugar and refined starch which should do the trick. It will keep your stomach full and digest quickly and cause a sugar crash effect that prevent you from adding extra kilos as a result of over- leaves you with a food craving (especially for sweet feeding the body. treats), protein and fiber rich foods slow down digestion Identifying Your Triggers and keep you feeling full for We all have food cravings longer. Therefore, by simply and these cravings are upping the protein and usually triggered by fiber portions in your meals, something. It could be a strong emotion such as grief you will remain in a satiated state throughout the day or joy, certain feelings such as loneliness or boredom, a and thereby decrease your chances of developing happy memory associated with food, or even a deeply cravings. ingrained habit. Go for a Healthier Knowing what your triggers Alternative are can help you keep your One good way to satisfy a craving without going mind from going to that place that will cause you to against your diet is to make start craving a certain food. a healthy re-creation of whatever you are craving. 17
For instance, try a sweet fruit if you are craving sugary treats, satisfy a cake-crave by baking a whole wheat flour cake with no icing, go for the healthier alternative of dark chocolate when feeling an overwhelming desire to eat chocolate, and so on. A healthier alternative allows you to satisfy a craving without the high fat or calories that the actual food delivers. Distract Yourself Cravings are more of a psychological than physiological thing. This is why you can feel a craving even when in the natural sense you are not hungry. Distracting yourself by focusing your mind on something else will separate your mind from the food and thereby help break a craving’s hold on you. Any form of distraction will do whether it is reading a book, going for a walk, watching a favorite TV show, or squeezing in a light workout. Focusing your mind on anything other than food will kill the desire to eat. From weight gain to eating disorders, food cravings can lead to several negative effects. Luckily, with these tips you will be able to take control of your food cravings and thus prevent them from ruining your health.
How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need to Stay Healthy? Before getting into how much physical activity adults need to stay healthy, let’s first discuss what types of activities count. Basically, activities are broken down into two categories: aerobic and muscle strengthening. Aerobic
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Other Considerations Besides the type of activity, two other considerations are: • Time – how long you exercise • Intensity – how hard you push your body
Usually the more intense These are the types of the activity, the shorter exercises that get your heart amount of time it can be rate up like: performed until failure. • Walking Intensity is broken down • Swimming into moderate and vigorous. • Riding a bike Good examples between • Playing tennis two types of intensities are • Mowing the lawn walking (moderate) verses jogging (vigorous) or tennis Muscle Strengthening doubles (moderate) verses singles (vigorous). Activities that work the major muscle groups, such In America, both the as legs, arms, chest, back, Centers for Disease Control shoulders and arms count (CDC) and American under this type of physical Heart Association (AHA) activity. This includes: recommend getting at a • Lifting weights using minimum 150 minutes per dumbbells, barbells week of moderate aerobic or weight-simulating activity, or 75 minutes of machines vigorous, along with two • Using resistance bands or more days per week • Performing bodyweight of muscle-strengthening exercises without any exercises that target all additional weight the major muscle groups. • Certain types of Do one set of 12 to 15 gardening repetitions per set of each • Yoga muscle group exercise. Just make sure the muscle-
strengthening days are not back to back as muscles need at least a day inbetween to recover. For those who have not exercised in a while, see your healthcare professional first before starting any exercise program. Second, start out slowly. You’ll know when you are exercising at the proper rate when you can carry on a conversation while exercising. Gradually work up to the recommended minimum amount of activity time per week – 30 minutes per day, five days per week. Even three 10-minute sessions per day provide the same, if not more, health benefits than one 30-minute session. The CDC and AHA also note that greater health benefits can be gained by bumping the aerobic time up to 300 minutes per week along with the same amount of strength training. The bottom lines are doing any physical activity is better than nothing and it is never too late to start. Start slow. Set milestones along the way that once accomplished help gradually work you up to the recommended amount of weekly activity.
