There are so many different reports and studies out there; it can be confusing. The best foods to eat come down to a diet that is plant-based, rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It’s also good to keep a watch on the calories to avoid excessive intake. Exercise always comes into play as a complement to a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Here are eight tips for eating the right foods:
Choose good carbs, or carbohydrates, which provide the body with the fuel it needs for physical activity - whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and greens.
Choose protein-rich foods and watch what comes with that protein (as with red meat and saturated fat). Good vegetable protein sources are beans, nuts, and whole grains. Good animal protein comes from fish and poultry.
Eat healthy fats, minimize the saturated fats, and avoid the trans fat. Plant oils, nuts, and fish are the best sources.
Get plenty of fiber from whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Most adult women should get over 20 grams per day and men should get over 30 grams of fiber per day.
Eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, which comes out to about 4 1/2 cups total.
Keep up your intake of calcium, and not just from milk. Good, non-dairy sources include baked beans, soy milk, collard and bok choy.
Drink alcohol in moderation. It can boost cardiovascular health, but can also increase the risk of colon and breast cancer.
Take a daily multivitamin.
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If you live near a running track, you can add some variety to your workouts by using it.
I live just over a mile from a high school track and 4 miles from the U of O track. Both offer great opportunities for workouts apart from the usual distance runs. When I’m looking for a track workout, I’ll usually run to it, do some intervals, then run back home for a complete workout.
What’s nice about the nearby high school track is that it’s usually not very crowded - only a few other runners or walkers at any given time.
Here are a few pointers for running on the track:
If you’re using lane 1 for your workout, move over to the next lane when faster runners come up on you, especially during a cooldown portion of your speedwork.
During recovery after the faster runs, keep moving instead of stopping altogether. It’s better for the heart to gradually elevate and slow the heart rate.
Typically you’ll run counterclockwise on the track, but you can mix it up and go the other way. Watch carefully for others if you do!
Wear spikes occasionally if you have them - this is the place to use them. Expect a little soreness after using them if you’re not used to it.
Challenge yourself to run a fast lap, recover, then beat that time on the next fast lap. Just completing these faster runs improves your overall conditioning and fitness level, adding endurance to your longer runs.
Ah summer, the time of year when strawberries are plentiful! Just today I used them in my cereal, as well as adding them to a smoothie that I took with me to work.
Strawberries get their bright red color from antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins. These help the body to reduce inflammation and counteract the effects of muscle damage from exercise.
A cup of strawberries cut into halves has only 49 calories and more vitamin C than an orange.
Since strawberries are highly perishable, they are best within a couple days of getting them from the store. If I get a large supply of these, I’ll cut out the stems and freeze them. Then I can take them out whenever I need for my next smoothie. Salute to the strawberry!
Do you enjoy strawberries? Let me know by leaving a comment.
One of the differences between thin people and overweight people is the amount of sleep they get.
This was shown to be the case in a recent study at Eastern Virginia Medical School, which found that thin people sleep an average of 2 hours more per week than overweight people.
The reasoning behind this is that lack of sleep results in hormonal changes causing weight gain. Those not getting enough sleep had lower levels of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone and higher levels of ghrelin, an appetite-boosting hormone.
So, the difference here is only 2 hours a week, which works out to only 17 more minutes per night, or the equivalent of taking a quick nap every day.
On that note, I’m cutting away early tonight to catch up on my sleep!
Spring is here and summer is right around the corner! With that and today’s good weather, I dug my mountain bike out of hiding and took it to work.
It’s only a 2 mile trip to work, but a nice way to start off the day. Just about the time I’m warmed up, I’m done.
After putting in a full day and riding back home on the bike, it was time for a trip to the local fitness club. Instead of driving there, I got back on the bike for the trip which was another 2 miles in a different direction. My goal was to complete a short indoor workout with enough daylight left to get back without a light.
After getting to the club, I put in about 10 minutes on the weight machines for that upper body workout. After that, I jumped on the Precor 100i elliptical trainer. With this machine, you can nearly reach a full running stride, so it’s a good substitute for running. What really gets my quads burning is when I go into a stairstepper mode. Keeping the body level and letting the legs do the work takes its toll after only 20 seconds, then I’ll switch back to a full stride on this versatile machine.
After 10 minutes on the elliptical, I hit the treadmill for 10 minutes. I set the belt for an 8-minute pace, then practiced taking longer strides to slow down my cadence. Ordinarily at this pace, my cadence would have been a bit faster, so this was a good way to mix it up. Once this was complete and after a quick shower, it was back on the bike for the 2-mile trip home. There was just enough daylight to get by without a light. It was a great cross training workout today!
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To a greater or lesser extent, a lot of people experience some form of joint discomfort. It’s not a bad idea to look at the nutritional needs of cartilage and ligaments as you get older.
Cartilage is a protein that acts as a padding between the bones of the joints. As we age, the water content of cartilage increases while the protein decreases. It’s important to supply the joints with essential nutrients to keep them functioning properly.
Similar to many other health issues, there’s a strong connection between nutrition and joint health. Certain foods and nutrients can improve joint function, such as:
Antioxidants - These nutrients fight free radicals. Some of the foods they are found in are berries, broccoli, tomatoes, red grapes, garlic, spinach, tea, carrots, soy, and whole grains.
Fatty Acids - certain ones, such as omega-3s promote joint health and flexibility. Some great food sources include salmon, sardines, herring, as well as assorted vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Sun Chlorella - this superfood contains essential fatty acids as well as other nutrients and phytonutrients like protein, fiber, amino acids, B vitamins, lutein, and folic acid. It also contains calcium and vitamin D for bone and joint health.
Most people think that in order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. But that’s not how it works.
Most weight loss occurs when the range between calories taken in and calories burned is between 300 to 500. In other words, if you’re consuming 2,000 calories per day and burning 1,800, you’ll still lose weight, as long as you’re somewhere within this range.
When you try to starve yourself, or take in fewer calories than you’re used to, the body reacts and goes into storage mode. It stores all the fat it can and continues to if you keep starving yourself.
When you keep your body’s metabolism high by giving it enough fuel, it burns more calories. Get some free information on metabolism by signing up for my mailing list on the right sidebar of this blog!
Tonight I went for a run just after it got dark out. My original intention was to hit the road while it was still light out. But, I waited a bit too long.
At least, I got the workout in on what I call the shortest day of the year. Since we spring forward tonight, and for the most part, set the clocks before we go to bed, it’s a short day by an hour.
Tomorrow, if I run at this same time of night, it’ll be light out still. Ahh, signs of spring in the air as we approach better weather and longer days! Before long, I can stop wearing gloves, a hat, and a long sleeve top!
Well, I just got past a knee injury and am back running pain-free again for the most part. That is, until last weekend.
I developed a pain in my right heel which makes it hard to stand on it at times. So, this is where the cross training comes in.
If this was summer time with good weather, I’d rely more on biking on the roads instead of running until the heel gets better. Luckily, I belong to a fitness club and am able to use their equipment for the sake of variety.
Ordinarily, I’d go for about a 4 or 5 mile run. Before going outside, I’d strap on the Garmin Forerunner 305. But with my heel the way it is, I did some cross training instead.
I spent the first 10 minutes on a lifecycle. The guy next to me was on a bike with a wheel that generated a slight breeze, so it was nice to get that during the 10-minute workout. After that, I headed over to the stairclimber for another 10 minutes. Then next to that, I got onto the elliptical trainer for another 10. By the time I was done, it was a great workout and didn’t even seem like 30 minutes.
None of this workout put any undue pressure on the heel, so it didn’t make it any worse for wear. I’ve done some occasional cycling on the stationary bike, as well as using the elliptical, but it’s been a while since I’ve been on the stairclimber. That’s the one I should add to the routine more often. This is good use of the calves and quads.
Even if you’re not dealing with an injury, cross training provides a diversion from the routine and targets some muscles differently than running. And this can only enhance your overall running fitness. To your good health!
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