fitness Archives - Page 3 of 3

May 8, 2019July 6, 2020

What is the 8 in Balance8Life?

I love being healthy. I want you to be healthy, too! But I understand that you might not know exactly how to get there, what it looks like, what it means, and what to do about it. So, again, I want to help you.

There are a lot of ideas and theories on how to go about being healthy, but this is what works for me, and this is what BALANCE8LIFE is all about. It’s about balancing these 8 wonderful things to obtain (and maintain) good health.

1 GOOD NUTRITION

This in itself can be so complicated with today’s diets. I mean, what the heck is an airatarian? “Those who only consume air and water in an effort to stop the slaughter of innocent plants and animals.” Yup, it’s really a thing. (I wouldn’t suggest it).

Balance is key in nutrition. It’s not about dieting, counting calories or making drastic, quick changes. Dieting is a means to an end that usually comes quick, with nothing to fall back on to continue a healthy lifestyle, and before you know it, you’re right back to where you were before: unhealthy. So let’s do something better. Let’s change our lifestyle.

A balance of fruits (yes, fruit is good for you), veggies, nuts, seeds, legumes (beans), whole grains, (yes, gluten and carbs are good, too) and if you must eat meat, white, lean meats, but believe it or not, meat is not necessary for good health. Quite the contrary, but… we’ll talk about that another time.

Annnnd…..That is where you start. ( I’ll help you with what good nutrition really looks like in other blog posts as we go).

2 EXERCISE

Exercise is not all about the gym. The gym is only a fraction of it. Exercise is simply doing something active for an extended period of time. You can do yard work, go swimming, ride a bike, climb a mountain, kayak, pole dance, etc., etc. So for those of you who hate the gym, or the people at the gym, there are always other options. Walking is simple, it’s a great place to start, it’s good for all ages, easy on the joints, good for people who’ve had injuries, and walking burns the same exact amount of calories per mile as running. Keep it real folks. Thirty minutes of sustained, increased, heart rate, 4-5 days a week will make a bigger difference than you think. Try it!

3 WATER

Drink your Water, my friends! Juice, tea, coffee, Gatorade, flavored water, alcoholic beverages, etc., etc., all of these drinks don’t count. Pure water is essential to our health. Our bodies are approximately 65% water. If we don’t drink it, our bodies suffer in ways you probably don’t even know. While you’re in your car, out to eat, relaxing at home… water! Drink it.

“Lack of adequate water intake is a burden to our body. As a result, the body reacts by keeping extra sodium in the blood to keep up the water level as much as possible. If this continues for too long, the body’s fluid and electrolytes (e.g. sodium, potassium, calcium, etc.) can become very imbalanced, with resulting severe health problems.” Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine

4 SUNSHINE

Hello, beautiful! I’m a beach bum (when I’m not in my apartment 5 hours from the beach). Sunlight, (in moderation), increases circulation, and cardiac output is increased. Sunlight also increases the number and efficiency of blood vessels in the skin, it decreases blood pressure, and just 10 minutes in your day provides 100% of your daily dose of vitamin D needs, plus several other awesome things… bring it!

Check out The Bright Side of Sunshine here!

5 MODERATION

How many of you have gained weight after your babies and decided to make a New Years resolution, and went running 3 miles after not doing any physical activity for years, threw up afterward and did it again the next day, then was so sore and frustrated you quit? How about changing your diet? Have you ever cut out all carbs and gluten and drank only water for a day or two then quit because it was too hard? What about only eating rice with zero salt and eating that three times a day? This isn’t moderate. When we make all-or-none changes fast and-furious-like, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Our minds and bodies can’t handle that much that quick, and without moderation in all things, we become imbalanced and end up very unhappy.

Moderation is needed in all things: family time, alone time, work, diet, exercise, electronics and TV, the list goes on. Little baby steps and balance is key to a successful lifestyle change for the better. Drastic overload in any area of life can end fast and hard with the end result being disappointment, injury, bad health, depression, or other negativities that can be avoided with moderation.

6 FRESH AIR

It seems like common sense, but air is the most essential element of life. We can live only minutes without air.

We also need fresh air for perspective. It helps to clear the mind and calm down our thoughts, and our ‘tudes.

Buddha had a lot of super awesome things to say about air, as well. One of my fave quotes is: “If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt water mixed with air.”

Check out my blog post, Amazing Free Mood Enhancement to see what getting a little fresh air did for my day.

7 REST

Without it, how on earth can we function? Well, let’s take a look. We function with extra caffeine, which can ruin our sleep, so we take melatonin, on a mild scale and prescription sleep aids if that doesn’t work. And when you awake, you still feel tired, so you drink coffee. It is a vicious cycle.

But the good news is, it CAN be broken!

I’m not just talking about sleep, though. Rest in general; that peace of mind, the nerves and muscles relaxing, a day (or two, or more) off of work, all of this equals rest. Our bodies need rest in order to be healthy.

Just as high intensity exercise increases inflammation in the body and weakens the immune system, so does a highly intense lifestyle of stress weaken our brainpower and our ability to perform at our best. We cannot run marathons without rest, and neither should we run the marathon of non-stop hectic life without a break.

Everybody needs good quality rest, it’s time to get The Rest in Your Story!

8 MEDITATION

I realize that not every one of my readers is going to be in the same boat when it comes to meditation. I do challenge you though, to seriously think about why you may not like it (if you don’t) and try it out. Take your mind away from your self and meditate on the goodness that is around you.

Since nine-tenths of all illness start in the mind, it is important that we clear it of negativity. A cheerful attitude is good medicine; a broken spirit (guilt, evil thoughts, regret, revenge, etc.) saps our strength.

The body produces endorphins when we are happy. These help restore our physical health. The body also produces negative hormones when our thoughts are focused on our self and negative thoughts. Choose health by choosing carefully what you allow your mind to dwell on.

As we go on this journey to bettering our health I’ll be showing you how it’s done, so don’t worry if it seems too hard now. It really isn’t.

“Balance is not something you find; it’s something you create.”

April 16, 2019October 14, 2020

Is Exercise Really Essential?

At 28 years old, I had incredibly high cholesterol, was having serious, constant, back pain, insomnia, couldn’t do a quick sprint to catch the ball my son had thrown, ride a bike, or any activity that exerted any sort of energy past cleaning house, without discomfort and instant exhaustion.

. . . But I ate right and I wasn’t overweight.

I didn’t think I needed to exercise beyond an occasional walk with the kids.

It didn’t really dawn on me until I was thirty years old, that exercise is not only not overrated, but it is essential to being and feeling whole, healthy and happy.

When I was thirty-years-old, I went to the beach with a friend of mine and we did what we’d been doing the past fifteen years of our lives: a fun, goofy, photo shoot.

We have albums of moment in our lives from the age of fifteen on, of fun hikes, beach trips, weekend excursions to the park, museums, etc.

This time, when we returned from the beach and uploaded the photos to my computer, I was truly horrified.

I had no idea how badly I had let myself go. I wasn’t overweight, as I have already stated, and in clothes, nobody would guess that I was so unhealthy. I was a vegan and I did everything right. I thought.

But I had hit that mark. The “older” mark, and I’d had 5 children. My unhealthy state of being hit me hard. I had finally reached a point in my life where I had to actually do things to keep my body looking good.

Mind blown.

Exercise isn’t just about looking good. It’s about feeling great, too, but on an even deeper, more important level, exercise is about being truly healthy.

It doesn’t matter what you look like or how you feel, if you don’t include exercise in your daily routine, you aren’t going to be balanced in your journey to a healthy lifestyle.

When my friend returned to the great state of Washington, we talked about how we looked in the photos, and he and I made a commitment to each other to keep each other motivated and accountable, even though I was alllll the way down in Georgia.

We decided to exercise and get in shape.

I didn’t know where to begin.

I had no knowledge of the world of fitness. I was a stay-at-home mom that lived out in the woods, alone, and had no idea what exercise meant beyond going for a walk.

As you come with me on this journey to a healthier, more balanced lifestyle, I will show you what I did to lower my cholesterol, lose inches where it mattered, and gain them (also where it mattered) and reach my goals to a happier, healthier me.

Now, let’s get started on this journey! In order for exercise to be a part of your health journey, you need to:

SET GOALS

I can help you with How to Set Goals That Last here!

OUTLINE THOSE GOALS

In my article, 6 Steps on to Setting Goals That Last , I show you exactly how to go about doing this, and it’s just 6 steps, nothing overly complicated!

START HERE

If you’re at home and don’t have much, or any, equipment, read my article Working Out At Home, to see what I did when I had no money, no equipment, no gym, no time and didn’t know anything about fitness!

KEEP IT UP

It isn’t always easy to know exactly how to go about keeping up a new habit. Read my article about consistency and how to do just that!

Later on, once you’ve got this started, go to my blog for more on diet, what is and isn’t good, diet myths, fitness techniques, and tons more!

I would love to hear about your journey and goals! You can comment below, or, if you want to follow me on social media, come on over! I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.

April 16, 2019November 4, 2020

How Much Water Should I Drink?

I am sure you’ve asked the question, “how much water should I drink?” And I assume you’ve probably received the same basic answer, you should drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day.

But, a grown man of 250 pounds needs more than a woman that is 100 pounds. Never mind the weight, men need more than women, and adults need more water than children.

Your activity level, weight goals, gender, age, and the climate you live in, all effect how much water your body needs to stay hydrated.

There are so many variables to figuring out the answer to the question, “how much water should I drink?”!

Some doctors say six to eight 8oz. cups of water a day is enough, others say up to twelve 8oz cups of water a day.

It is also advised that men drink about 13 cups of water a day, and 1-2 1/2 more if you’re working hard and sweating a lot.

Women are advised to drink about 9 cups a day and also add 1-2 1/2 cups if you’re exercising, or doing something that makes you sweat more than usual.

CELLULAR DEHYDRATION

My chiropractor has a body fat percentage scale that uses bioelectrical impedance. In my pursuit of reaching my ultimate body fat goals, I would jump on it periodically to measure my body fat. It seemed that no matter how much I exercised, I was consistently at a much higher body fat percentage than I thought I should be.

Just to give you some perspective, I am a 5’ tall, 100lb female who eats a (mostly) vegan diet and exercises at least 5-6 days a week.

I thought my body fat percentage would be around 12-18%, because that’s what I feel like I look like I should be. But I was so frustrated. My body fat percentage was sitting at 24%.

I asked my chiropractor why my body fat percentage always read so high. I assumed his machine was broken.

He explained to me that the bioelectrical scale gauges the amount of lean mass, water, and fat in your body by sending a current from the metal plates under your feet through your body.

He said that at the cellular level, I was probably dehydrated, which will throw the accuracy of my body fat numbers off.

I quickly countered with, “but I drink eight, 8oz cups of water a day! That isn’t possible!” (This is 64 ounces of total water).

He chuckled and told me that ideally, I should be drinking a minimum of 12, 8oz cups of water a day, (96 ounces).

Of course, he said this also depends on the amount of exercise I am doing, as well as other factors that play in, (as I mentioned above).

He said that if I am drinking water regularly, it’s probably cellular dehydration that is throwing me off.

Sigh.

So I went and bought myself a 32oz Nalgene water bottle. (My new best friend, I’ll have you know).

I was determined to get my ninety-six ounces of water in a day by drinking 3 of those bottles of water a day.

This is not easy, but it is possible. I am here to testify that it can be done.

What most people think is enough water, really isn’t enough.

When I am training clients, my number one piece of advice is always, drink your water. I usually get a reply like, “I’m doing so good! I drank two 16oz bottles of water yesterday!”

My proverbial flower petals just wilted and I smile weakly, but encouragingly nonetheless, and say, “good job! Lets make that 3 tomorrow!”

Many simple health problems can be reversed with an adequate, daily intake of water.

When you drink 8-12 cups of water a day, your risk of kidney stones and UTI’s go down significantly. So do troublesome things such as, digestive problems and weight gain. When you stay hydrated, you’re also less likely to feel tired and low in energy.

More water throughout your day also helps with bad breath, poor sleep, dry splotchy skin, lackluster hair, sore muscles, muscle cramps, and prolonged sickness, (i.e. flu and cold).

All of those pesky things can be less troublesome simply by drinking plenty of water. Preferably 92oz a day (I suggest this for man or woman. It’s a safe starting place).

If you’re not sure, always ask your doctor what he/she advises for your daily water recommendations.

Eight to 12 8oz cups of water a day won’t hurt you. This is a great starting point. I find that I feel better when I get twelve (12) 8oz cups per day.

In the blogs to come, I show you how to drink 96oz of water in a day.

I also talk about how to make water taste good. I personally love how refreshing water tastes. However, I have met some people who cannot stand the taste of plain water. So for those of you who hate the taste, this is for you.

How much water do you drink in a day? How do you make it happen? You can comment below, and, if you want to follow me on social media, come on over! I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.

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