April 18, 2024

Need an attitude adjustment?

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Need an attitude adjustment? GO WORKOUT!

If you’re looking for a way to improve your mood, change your perspective or simply adjust your attitude, look no further than your workout. Exercise forces deep breathing due to the effort required. The result of deep breathing is stress reduction and a brain chemical mood boost. Exercise also brings emotions forward that need to be processed. Further, exercise clears your mind, allowing creative solutions to challenges to come to the forefront of our thinking. So, next time you find yourself grumpy, in a negative space or with a poor perspective, GO WORKOUT and enjoy the exhale!

 

FUN workout= Consistent Workout= Results!

Get Fit Quick Tip:

FUN is important!

And don’t forget to have FUN with your workout! YES, FUN! A fun workout means you’ll be consistent. Consistent workouts lead to results. Here’s how to add in the FUN:

1. Make it social. Invite friends and family!

2. Set up an obstacle course. Meet at your local playground and make up an obstacle course as you go along.

3. Forget structure! Move, jump, run, hop- get your heart rate up for 20 minutes.

4. Play a game. Kickball works well. So does softball, volleyball or soccer.

5. Revisit childhood. Remember freeze tag? Remember hide and seek? Remember musical chairs? GO!

6. Add props. Jump rope, hula hoop, beach ball all make for a great workout addition!

 

Get Visual with Your Fitness by Melissa Kahn

With the new year well under way, it’s normal to struggle to keep up with your resolutions right about now. It’s hard to establish new habits in just a few weeks’ time, so don’t be discouraged. Sometimes, a little help is all you need to keep going. If you find yourself lagging on your goals, consider creating a Vision Board for motivation. Writing it down is a great first step, but actively visualizing your goals every day might be just the boost you need. Here’s how:

1) Fill your Vision Board with vibrant visual expressions: You might want to keep your board small (letter size paper) or go poster size, depending on the size and number of the images you’ve chosen. Cut out photos and phrases that represent your heart’s desire, and feel free to include physical, professional, spiritual, financial, and relationship goals. The more dynamic and exciting to you, the more inspired you’ll feel every day!

2) Keep your Vision Board in a central place: Whether that’s in your office space or framed on top of your nightstand, it’s best to display your Board where you will see it daily. The thoughts you see repeatedly are the ones that will slowly creep into your subconscious mind, and will help you regain focus on the goals that you are intent on reaching. For additional inspiration, add dates for your goals to drive you faster and harder!

3) Actively visualize yourself reaching your goals: Starting a Vision Board is a great time to put your mediation skills to good use. Take 10 minutes out of your day every day to imagine the specific feelings you want to experience when you reach your goals. Picture your success in your mind, including every detail: what you’ll be eating, drinking, the perfume and clothes you’ll wear, and even the sounds you might hear when you know you’ve “made” it. Scientific research shows that the more deeply you connect to your goals on an emotional level, the more likely they are to come to life.

Once you have clear goals, set to visual tangible results, success is much more likely. Don’t let new habits scare you off this year: Get back in the game and make a visual and emotional commitment to living your best life.


Melissa Kahn is a Jenny Craig ambassador and the proud founder of Run, Heifer, Run! —a fun-loving community of fitness enthusiasts dedicated to common sense solutions for weight loss and healthy living. Melissa competes in triathlons now, having lost over 100 pounds, or the equivalent of 45 kilos of fear. She has maintained her healthy weight for more than five years.

Build Momentum To Healthy

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Build momentum to healthy and fit!

Building momentum to healthy and fit takes daily action. Healthy choices are cumulative, and every little bit counts! Here’s how to get started:

1. Commit to your goal every single day. Adopt a mantra to repeat your desired result, along with WHY the goal is important to reach NOW.

2. Take one action every day. One action could be drinking your water, choosing a healthy meal, buying nutritious groceries, reading a fitness journal or blog, taking a stretch break at work, trying a new workout class, inspiring a friend to choose healthy, researching a new exercise, and so on.

3. Small and steady progress usually works best for lasting results. Don’t over do it! You didn’t become out of shape overnight, and you won’t get back in shape overnight. Keep action steps small, but sustainable. You don’t have to eliminate all sugar in one day, but are you able to reduce sugar by one serving to start? Healthy choices are cumulative, and so is fitness.

4. Don’t give up! Setbacks happen. Taking one daily action step means you’re never off track completely. Keep going!

Motivation…Guaranteed.

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Participate in a Race!

Competition doesn’t always have to be intense, anxiety-inducing and stressful. Racing can, in fact, be motivating, inspiring and fun! Not only does racing yield physical benefits, but many non-physical benefits as well. Here are 3 non-physical benefits of racing and why you shouldn’t automatically rule it out in your athletic journey:

Racing allows time alone with your thoughts. That’s right, if you’re always running here and there, racing allows a set period of time to RELAX, take in the view and gather your thoughts. Or simply blank your mind and don’t think about anything at all!

Racing can be FUN. Remember your care-free days of dashing around the playground at school, or racing through the park with friends? Unless you’re competing for sponsors or qualifications, racing can be pure, easy, adult-allowed FUN.

Racing feeds your spirit. Yes, competition is a great workout. However, racing will also feed your spirit as you witness the friendship among athletes who have just met, the encouragement one athlete offers to another, the support and genuine care volunteers give to competitors. Allow these actions to move you and feed your motivation.

Unstructured Exercise Counts!

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Abandon your structure!

Not all exercise has to be structured to count. Making fitness fun is a great motivational tool to keep exercise consistency up. Start thinking out of the box for ways to be creative with your fitness. Here’s a few to get you started:

Be spontaneous. Meeting cancelled last minute? Go for a walk. An extra hour on your hands? Bike to a friends house. At a concert? Get up and dance!

Add the play. Did you play a sport or game as a kid? Play as an adult!

Incorporate props. Try a stability ball, stability disk, foam roller, medicine ball or pilates disk. Experiment with different exercises to keep fitness interest high.

Mix in adventure. Try your local climbing gym. Jump in your community pool. Check out the local hiking trails. Take a kayaking or paddling lesson.

 

Have FUN with your Fitness!

Does your fitness need a little FUN? Fun fitness means you’re more likely to log consistent workouts. Consistent workouts means results! So if you’re wandering through your workout on auto-pilot with little enthusiasm, it’s time to change up your approach. Motivation is waiting for you every Monday!

Pick up exercise tips, gear ideas and motivation solutions while chatting with others every Monday at 5pm(Pacific)/8pm(Eastern) with #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat on Twitter!

Here’s how to join:

Log into your twitter account. Enter #HealthyWayMag to see the chat feed. You’ll see questions for discussion posed as Q1 for Question 1, Q2 for Question 2 and so on. Participate by offering your Answer to Question 1 by noting A1 and so on. Tag your responses with #HealthyWayMag to interact with others. Chat with others and have fun!

 

Monday March 7, 2016 #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat is sponsored by Flip2BFit:

Fitness is more fun with friends and family joining in! Adding physical activity into your day and family time is as easy as a roll of the dice or flip of a card with Flip2BFit! Playing board games, you’ll be teaching your kids about cardio, yoga and strength exercises…all while having fun and setting up healthy behaviors for a lifetime. Check out their YouTube channel to learn more about their award winning products, FITNESS-IN-A-BOX Board Game and BAKARI-Fitness Memory Card Game. Be sure to follow them on Twitter @Flip2BFit to receive all updates. Their games may also be purchased on Amazon and ToysRUs. Makes a great gift for teachers, sports clubs and parent/child organizations!

Walking for Fitness

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Walk!

Walking is effective cardiovascular exercise. Walking for fitness requires no additional equipment, and can be done right from your front door.

Ramp up your walking for fitness workout by adding in a few exercises at regular intervals:

Heel Raises: Stand keeping your torso straight. Lift and lower your heels.

Toe Raises: Stand keeping your torso straight. Lift and lower your toes.

Squats: Stand with your feet hip width apart. Bending from your knees and hips, sit back and lower your body toward the ground about six inches. Stand back up to return to your starting position.

 

*Always consult your physician before beginning exercise.

Developing Healthy Habits

Lead By Example. Kids learn habits from their parents. If they see you exercise regularly, and eat nutritious food, your kids will pick up that behavior and make it part of their daily routine. Research shows that kids who eat breakfast do better in school and have more energy during the day, compared to kids who skip breakfast. If you eat breakfast, your kids will too, so make a big deal out of the first meal of the day!

Make Exercise Fun. Children benefit most from unstructured physical activity. Make it a family event, and enjoy the time you spend together. Go outside and play tag, or a game of catch. Race up a hill, or chase around butterflies. Even indoor games like playing dress up or making the bed can be made into physical activities. Use your imagination and be creative.

Teach Habits Early. It is never too early to instill healthy eating habits. Talk with your children regularly about where your food comes from and the benefits of vitamins and minerals. Take your kids grocery shopping and make a game out of spotting the healthy snacks like apples and nuts. Let your children take ownership of their food by having them help you prepare dinner for the whole family. The earlier you invest in your children’s understanding of food and how it helps them become big and strong, the more they will want to learn.

By Derek Peruo, CSCS, CPT

646-820-8246

bodybydrock.com