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tips4me.com - personal fitness | PERSONAL FITNESS |  | | 5 NEW YEAR HEALTH RESOLUTIONS YOU MUST MAKE By Aanchal P Achipalya |  | It's that time of the year again, when we must vow to do the best in every sphere of life. However, many times our fitness and health resolutions are short-lived, especially those that require us to put the cookies down and head to the gym. Listed below are few which will make you incline towards health.
1. Get Organized: One of the barriers that hinders people from realizing their health resolutions is the lack of routine change, that provides the infrastructure for success. For instance, if a person sets the goal to consume more fruits and vegetables but doesn't change the shopping routine or eat out less, they may be setting themselves up for failure.
2. Get aid from a professional: Another barrier towards health concern is the hesitation to seek professional help such as an exercise trainer, a professional dietitian or a physician who can make referrals for professional assistance. It might be beneficial to seek professional help, especially in the beginning for correct guidance.
3. Follow time lines: If you eat correctly on time, your routine will run as per schedule and you won’t need to binge on foods in between meal times.
4. Stamp out smoking and drinking: If you have resolved to make this the year of good health, you need to curb your smoking and drinking habits. Over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you've tried to quit before and failed, don't let it get you down. Soon you will start enjoying the rest of your smoke-free and alcohol free life!
5. Don't try to scare yourself straight: Research shows that in the long term, the pleasure of victory is a better incentive than the agony of defeat. "Punishment is a poor motivator. It sets people up for failure." Instead, reward yourself for sticking to your limits and focus on the benefits of changing. For instance, if your goal is achieved i.e. to drink 3litres water daily or successfully resist a tempting dessert, so treat yourself to something you want - say a new book or DVD, each time.
Remember, success tends to beget greater success.
| | FESTIVE TIME WORKOUTS By Aanchal P Achipalya | |
Keeping fit during the festive season becomes difficult as workout gets swapped with shopping, social commitments, lavish dining and home decoration sprees. There is still hope though for those who wish to slip in some exercise into their packed schedules. Here is how.
Workout at home
Home workout can constitute of warm up, floor exercises and strengthening legs and biceps and triceps, and wall pushups. The warm up can be done by spot jogging, climbing the stairs and knee ups. This can be taken forward with floor workouts like core and back strengthening exercises and also free hand exercises like squats and lunges for legs and bicep workouts (if a person does not have weights then using a litre of filled water bottle in each hand and following the curl sequence will work). Similarly a tricep dip can be done with the help of stool or a firm support. Do remember to do cool down exercises.
Blend exercise with relaxation
You may not have time to go for a gym session or an aerobics class, but you can always find time to pop in a DVD or a CD and indulge in step aerobics, belly dancing or kickboxing, right there, in the comfort of your own home. This could even work to refresh or revive you after all those hours spent in shopping or travelling.
Try a change in your workout time
Agreed that your evenings are packed, but how about kick starting your day with such an exercise that leaves you energized and very refreshed? Swimming is the best bet for such an exercise which involves all important body muscles. You could also try an active racket sport such as badminton, tennis or squash.
How about a shorter workout?
If a morning workout is not possible for you, try cutting your workouts to a shorter duration and make it intense. Dedicated exercising for 20- 30 minutes can give you effective results. While at it, do not concentrate on one particular muscle; rather opt for a circuit workout which emphasizes on the entire muscle group. This way the continuity of your exercising schedule will not be broken and your body will not fall into the no-exercise mode.
These steps will not only ensure that once the festive time passes by, you get back into that workout mode with ease, they will also keep your guilt of not exercising in check.
| | Your guide to a healthy Diwali | | | With all those delicious snacks and savouries on offer, keeping fit during Diwali is almost next to impossible. Add to that, time spent in shopping, decorating the house, entertaining guests and visiting friends and relatives and you are hardly left with any time to exercise. And yet, we insist you can stay in shape. Here is how:
1. Have realistic expectations
Do not expect to lose weight during the month of Diwali. Consider yourself successful if you merely manage to maintain your current weight. Don't feel guilty even if you put on a pound or two but try to restrict weight gain to just that. Do not over binge and do not be lazy. Even if you can't continue with your gym regime, as long as you are active around the house, you will be fine.
2. Don't get careless about weight watching
Yes, it's fine to let your guard down once in a while but to get careless for a good one week or a whole month of celebrations will leave you with too many kilos to shed.
3. Treat yourself only when eating out
To be able to enjoy all those delicious mithais and fattening snacks served at parties without feeling too guilty; consume low calorie meals at home. This will even out the total damage. Eating high calorie meals even at home during the festive season will not only play havoc with your weight but will also affect your overall health.
4. Modify your exercise regime
At this time of the year, you need to work extra hard to burn off those extra calories and to manage those rising stress levels. Instead of skipping your workouts altogether, try and modify your fitness routine by cutting down on the frequency and duration of your workouts. If you are used to working out for an hour thrice a week, workout for half an hour but six times a week. The point is to continue exercising, even if in small installments, rather then omitting it completely.
5. Do not deprive yourself. Eat smart!
Food plays a big role during celebrations and parties. It would be miserable to have a salad plate in your hands while others raid those tables laid with goodies. So, go ahead and enjoy! However, limit yourself to only those goodies that you really like. Do not use festivals as a reason to over indulge.
| | | THE PERFECT SUMMER WORKOUT | |
Summer’s finally here and it always seems like the best time to start that new celebrity work out. However, it’s also one of the worst times to experiment with exercise. Keep the following do’s and don’ts in mind to ensure you have a safe summer.
| It’s definitely recommended that you hit the gym and stay indoors during the summer, rather than your regular park work out. If you’re too used to the outdoors, step out at dawn or dusk. The next best option is a quick water work out at the pool. It’s a great way to cool off as well as get those muscles up and pumping. | | Drink plenty of fluids (more than 8 glasses per day) and stay hydrated. Drink water fifteen minutes to half an hour before you begin your exercise routine and keep sipping water every fifteen minutes while exercising. Avoid alcoholic or caffeinated beverages before, during and after exercise. Since they're diuretics, they take fluid out of your body when you need it most. | | Although the heat may decrease your appetite, try to stick to your normal eating regime. Don’t have big meals before you exercise but don’t work out on an empty stomach either. A light snack should do you some good. | | Keep the clothing loose. Choose materials such as cotton that breathe and allow for movement without leaving chafes. If you’re physical activity causes a lot of perspiration opt for new material such as Dri-Fits that are designed especially for this cause. | | Stick to your normal exercise routine irrespective of the season. In fact, chances are that the summer heat can tend to wear you out much quickly, hence try and take it easy. Summer’s also the time for various heat related illnesses to be lurking around, you surely don’t want one to get you. | | One of the most important tips that everyone forgets to implement is to steer way from extreme changes in temperature. Hopping from an exercise routine into an ice cold shower can be more detrimental than refreshing. Always allow your body to cool down on its own before you engage in something like that. | | | | | | HOW MANY CALORIES DO I NEED AND ABOUT CARBS? | |
Are you finding it difficult to remember your calorie requirements? Use this simple formula to estimate your calorie requirements:
1. Change your weight in pounds to kilograms: Divide your weight by 2.2
2. Your basal metabolic rate is approximately 1 calorie per kilogram per hour. Multiply your weight in kilograms by the 24hours in a day. This is the number of calories you burn just being alive each day.
3. Now factor in activity: Multiply your calories needed per day (from #2 above) by the following percentages, depending on your activity level:
* Light activity: 50% to 70%
* Moderate: 65% to 80%
* Heavy: 90% to 120%
If you sit at a desk for your job, and workout 30 minutes per day, this would be light activity. If your job involves more motion and you are active in addition to your workout (you take stairs, walk to work, do a lot of housework, etc.), this would be moderate. Heavy activity would be for construction workers, athletes, etc.
4. Multiply the percentages in #3 and you'll get a general range of calories needed for your daily activity. Add this to the number of calories needed to be alive each day.
Example:
Say you weigh 150 pounds. Divide by 2.2 to get 68 kilograms.
68 times 24 hours = 1632 calories needed a day for basic function.
Let's say you're activity is light:
1632 times 50% = 816
1632 times 70% = 1142
Add this to basic calories a day to get a range of 2448 to 2774 calories needed a day. Now compare this to what you are really eating. To lose those extra pounds, you'll need to burn more calories than you are eating, either by exercising more, or eating less.
The Pre-Workout Power Potion Recipe
To provide your body with the fuel it needs to power through your workout, you need nutrients that will support the complex demands you're about to place on it. That means a plentiful source of carbohydrates and protein that will not only provide a ready source of energy, but also supply
the right amount and type of protein to allow your muscle cells to begin the ‘repair and build’ process, forcing them to grow bigger and stronger in the shortest time possible.
This Pre-Workout Power Potion Recipe will give you everything you need to turbo-charge your workouts while providing a ready source of amino acids to avoid muscle loss and begin the growth process.
Follow the directions below and consume this mixture about 1-2 hours before your workout.
Ingredient 1: 1.5 cups Skim Milk.
Milk is probably one of the most overlooked supplements there is! It's loaded with both fast-digesting (whey) and slow-digesting (casein) proteins for a steady supply of amino acids...and it's been proven in research to be a powerful growth hormone releaser!
Ingredient 2: ½ Frozen ‘Slightly Green’ Banana
Ripe bananas have more sugar content than bananas that are still slightly green and will result in more of a quick ‘sugar rush’ instead of supplying long term energy to power through your workout. Grab a bunch of ‘slightly green’ bananas at your local supermarket, peel them all, and place them in a plastic bag in your freezer to break up and add to your protein blender drinks as desired.
Ingredient 3: 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
’Natural’ peanut butter (NOT the commercial hydrogenated garbage!) is loaded with mono-unsaturated fats. Perfect for helping you raise your body's testosterone levels for increased muscle mass and rapid fat burning. Look for a product that ONLY lists ‘Peanuts’ and ‘Salt’ on the list of ingredients.
Ingredient 4: ½ Cup Raw Oat Bran or Uncooked Oatmeal
Raw oat bran, like oatmeal, is a complex carbohydrate that is ideal for supplying tons of sustained energy for your workouts and the rest of the day. Its finer texture makes is a better option for blender drinks, but if you only have access to oatmeal, make sure you put the
dry oatmeal alone in the blender first and give it a few seconds on ‘high’ to break it up a bit more.
Ingredient 5: ½ Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein
In addition to the casein protein from the milk, whey protein will provide you with additional, ready-to-deliver amino acids that will provide your muscles with a "jump start" on the recovery process. Vanilla flavored powder seems to go best with this drink but chocolate flavored is another great option!
Directions: Ok. This is pretty self-explanatory, but here goes.
Add the first 4 ingredients in the order listed and blend on ‘High’ for about 15 seconds. While it's still blending, open the top and add the protein powder. Blend for another 5 seconds. Stop. Drink. Wipe the ‘smoothie mustache’ off your face...and enjoy your workout!
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