health
We are all a little guilty of procrastination when it comes to staying healthy. People want results, but when it comes to actual application then the excuses start rolling in. Losing weight and being healthy is not just about hitting the gym or the odd healthy meal here and there, it’s about a complete lifestyle overall. This can happen by making regular healthy choices, even before you pick up a dumbbell. Here’s how:
Drink a Pint of Water as Soon as you Wake Up
We all know the importance of water, right? We evolved from water. Our body is made up of approximately 70% water. We are basically a walking, talking, big mass of mostly water (got that from an episode of Star Trek).
First thing in the morning your body is dehydrated from 7+ hours of no water. Drinking a pint of water before you do anything else will give your body the top up it needs to start the day. In Dr. Batmanghelidj famous book “The Body’s Many Cries For Water” he explains, in great detail, the importance of drinking water. He believes that often we are not hungry but thirsty as the body confuses signals for water.
We all know the importance of water, right? We evolved from water. Our body is made up of approximately 70% water. We are basically a walking, talking, big mass of mostly water (got that from an episode of Star Trek).
First thing in the morning your body is dehydrated from 7+ hours of no water. Drinking a pint of water before you do anything else will give your body the top up it needs to start the day. In Dr. Batmanghelidj famous book “The Body’s Many Cries For Water” he explains, in great detail, the importance of drinking water. He believes that often we are not hungry but thirsty as the body confuses signals for water.
Drinking 2 litres of water per day is a good starting point for most adults. Performance, concentration and sickness are all symptoms of dehydration. Your intestines will also squeeze and extract water from your feces if you are really dehydrated and nobody wants their body made up of that type of water, do they?
Start a Workout Habit of 7 Minutes a Day
It doesn’t take long to form a new habit, usually in less than 30 days. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Start by just developing an exercise habit rather than killing yourself at the gym. Using a Daily 7 Minute Workouts is a great start:
1. Choose one movement pattern for each day of the week (Monday - Friday)
2. Movement Patterns include: Squatting, Pulling, Lunging, Pushing, Bending
3. Try to perform as many of that movement pattern as you can in 7 minutes
My advice would be to run through your 7 minute workout nice and early before breakfast. Early workouts work in tune with your hormonal system and leave you not thinking about exercise for the rest of the day. Start your 7 minute exercise habit today and before long it will feel as natural as brushing your teeth!
It doesn’t take long to form a new habit, usually in less than 30 days. Don’t try to do too much too soon. Start by just developing an exercise habit rather than killing yourself at the gym. Using a Daily 7 Minute Workouts is a great start:
1. Choose one movement pattern for each day of the week (Monday - Friday)
2. Movement Patterns include: Squatting, Pulling, Lunging, Pushing, Bending
3. Try to perform as many of that movement pattern as you can in 7 minutes
My advice would be to run through your 7 minute workout nice and early before breakfast. Early workouts work in tune with your hormonal system and leave you not thinking about exercise for the rest of the day. Start your 7 minute exercise habit today and before long it will feel as natural as brushing your teeth!
Ditch the Table Salt and Start Eating Real Sea Salt
The majority of people are still overloading themselves with processed salt. Salt isn’t actually the problem, it’s the type of salt that matters. Did you know that human blood has the same salt content as sea salt? Table salt is highly processed, often using chemicals that leave it clean, white and absent of all those precious trace minerals. Most table salt resembles something you would find in a science lab rather than in nature.
The majority of people are still overloading themselves with processed salt. Salt isn’t actually the problem, it’s the type of salt that matters. Did you know that human blood has the same salt content as sea salt? Table salt is highly processed, often using chemicals that leave it clean, white and absent of all those precious trace minerals. Most table salt resembles something you would find in a science lab rather than in nature.
Start to Breathe Deeply Through Your Belly Again!
Stress causes shallow breathing through the upper chest and neck. The more shallow you breathe, the more of a stress response you get. Have you ever watched a baby breathe? They breathe deeply through their bellies right? As we get older and stress starts to creep into our lives we start to take that breathing from the belly and shift up and into the chest and neck.
Shallow breathing causes headaches, upper back and neck tension! Learn to slow down your breathing and take your breath to your belly.
Stress causes shallow breathing through the upper chest and neck. The more shallow you breathe, the more of a stress response you get. Have you ever watched a baby breathe? They breathe deeply through their bellies right? As we get older and stress starts to creep into our lives we start to take that breathing from the belly and shift up and into the chest and neck.
Shallow breathing causes headaches, upper back and neck tension! Learn to slow down your breathing and take your breath to your belly.
1. Try taking 10 deep breaths counting to 5 on the IN breath and 5 on the OUT breathe
2. Push your belly OUT as you breathe IN and pull the belly IN as you breathe OUT
3. 2 thirds of your breath should come from your belly and 1 third from your chest
Take some time each day and learn to breathe deeply. It’s a wonderful stress reliever!
Re-Assess Your Medication and Make Some Changes
Many people are far too easily convinced to take drugs based on TV ads or Doctors recommendations. The truth is, ALL drugs are poison to the body. It takes a lot of energy for the body to process drugs and most drugs have side effects. If your are suffering from a sickness or disease then start to question what may be out of balance in your life. Are you stressed out, eating dead foods, dehydrated, lacking in quality sleep? If you have been taking medication for a long time then book an appointment with your doctor to reassess your situation. Don’t just reach for the drugs every time you have a headache, backache, constipation etc. Start to question the source of the problem rather than addressing the symptoms every time.
Get to Bed by 10:30pm, it’s When, Not How Much Sleep that Counts
We evolved from nature and have always been influenced by the fall and rise of the sun. In the mornings the hormone Cortisol is stimulated, this prepares the body for action. In the evenings Cortisol levels should be reduced and Anabolic hormones are released to stimulate tissue regrowth and repair during sleep.
If you go to bed too late then you miss out a large portion of the Growth and Repair cycle, which usually runs from around 10-2am. From 2am to 6am most repair is mental rather than physical. We are creatures of the earth and need to work with our hormones rather than against them. It’s not necessarily how much sleep you get that matters but more when you sleep that counts!
Take Your Shoes off and Start Earthing
How often do you touch your bare feet on the grass or earth? Earthing is based on the principle that we have lost our connection with the earth. If you think about it, do you ever walk around in bare feet anymore? Our ancestors used to have constant connection with the earth and this is something that has been lost today.
How often do you touch your bare feet on the grass or earth? Earthing is based on the principle that we have lost our connection with the earth. If you think about it, do you ever walk around in bare feet anymore? Our ancestors used to have constant connection with the earth and this is something that has been lost today.
There is lots of research coming out now that shows positive reasons
why we should all get out there and dance on the grass or paddle in
streams. Just connecting your body to the earth will give you lots of
natural energy. So get out there today for 5 minutes and get connected
back with nature.
Avoid Wheat for the Day, You Won’t Regret It
Wheat is a major problem and probably the most influential food action you could take today. It’s not actually the wheat that is the problem but the wheat’s protein, Gluten, that is the real nasty. The sticky protein Gluten is a big irritant to most peoples’ gut.
Being Gluten intolerant doesn’t just mean having gut problems like wind and a bloated stomach. Gluten can also cause an auto immune response from Leaky Gut Syndrome resulting in: Arthritis, Headaches, Back Pains, Depression and more. Gluten is everywhere so be careful. Common foods include: Breads, Pasta, Sauces, fillers in Sausages, and Cereals. You can take a food sensitivity test to find out if you are Gluten sensitive or you can avoid Gluten for 30 days and see just how amazing you feel without it.
Wheat is a major problem and probably the most influential food action you could take today. It’s not actually the wheat that is the problem but the wheat’s protein, Gluten, that is the real nasty. The sticky protein Gluten is a big irritant to most peoples’ gut.
Being Gluten intolerant doesn’t just mean having gut problems like wind and a bloated stomach. Gluten can also cause an auto immune response from Leaky Gut Syndrome resulting in: Arthritis, Headaches, Back Pains, Depression and more. Gluten is everywhere so be careful. Common foods include: Breads, Pasta, Sauces, fillers in Sausages, and Cereals. You can take a food sensitivity test to find out if you are Gluten sensitive or you can avoid Gluten for 30 days and see just how amazing you feel without it.
Free Your Mind With 5 Minutes of Meditation
Stress is the number one killer. Meditation offers you a chance to take your mind away from the daily grind and be with yourself for a few minutes. There are many ways to meditate, here are 2 methods:
1. Sit quietly and breathe deeply through your belly. Concentrate on your breath as you breathe through your nose. Count each breath and see how high you can count.
2. Again sit or lie quietly and breathe through your belly. Concentrate your vision on an object about 10 feet in front of you. Keep your eyes relaxed and focus on that object ONLY.
If you do start to think about your worries and problems don’t give up just accept them and refocus on your meditation. Start with 5 minutes and work up to 30 minutes per day.
Stress is the number one killer. Meditation offers you a chance to take your mind away from the daily grind and be with yourself for a few minutes. There are many ways to meditate, here are 2 methods:
1. Sit quietly and breathe deeply through your belly. Concentrate on your breath as you breathe through your nose. Count each breath and see how high you can count.
2. Again sit or lie quietly and breathe through your belly. Concentrate your vision on an object about 10 feet in front of you. Keep your eyes relaxed and focus on that object ONLY.
If you do start to think about your worries and problems don’t give up just accept them and refocus on your meditation. Start with 5 minutes and work up to 30 minutes per day.
Avoid Drinking Caffeine in the Afternoon
Coffee and Tea both contain caffeine, which adds extra stress to your
body and mind. The stress that caffeine causes affects your nervous
system. With every cup of caffeine your adrenal glands release hormones
that fire up your system and prepare it for action. As the system gets
fired up glucose is released into the body to give it energy. This
energy response all dates back to our survival days when we needed
energy to fight or run from wild animals. We don’t usually need this
energy anymore so it gets stored in the liver or in the fat cells for
later.
The roller coaster that the blood sugar levels are put on due to caffeine intake and subsequent cortisol and insulin responses is very damaging to the body. Adrenal fatigue is all too common these days, as is Insulin Resistance and Diabetes. Caffeine really does get on your nerves so take a break from it as much as you can, especially in the afternoons when you should be winding down.
Choose BIG BANG Exercises and Save Time
If your goals are to improve your fitness and lose fat then you shouldn’t waste your time with small exercises. Small exercises only target small muscle groups, like the biceps or triceps. To get a quicker response from your workout you need to focus on big exercises that hit large muscle groups.
Here’s a list of top 5 Big bang exercises:
1. The Lunge - a basic movement that not only works most muscles of the body but improves your balance and movement skills
2. The Row - pulling your hands towards you is excellent for recruiting most of the muscles in your back. Perform this exercise standing up and you will use the legs and core muscles too!
3. The Squat - uses most muscles in the body but in particular the buttocks and thighs
4. The Push Up - avoid the bench press and stick to the push up. The push Up targets the chest, triceps and core muscles and you can do them anywhere.
5. The Deadlift - again uses most of your 600 muscles but heavily works the back of the body so great for posture
Put these exercises together in a circuit in the same order as above and you have a quick and highly effective workout.
1. The Lunge - a basic movement that not only works most muscles of the body but improves your balance and movement skills
2. The Row - pulling your hands towards you is excellent for recruiting most of the muscles in your back. Perform this exercise standing up and you will use the legs and core muscles too!
3. The Squat - uses most muscles in the body but in particular the buttocks and thighs
4. The Push Up - avoid the bench press and stick to the push up. The push Up targets the chest, triceps and core muscles and you can do them anywhere.
5. The Deadlift - again uses most of your 600 muscles but heavily works the back of the body so great for posture
Put these exercises together in a circuit in the same order as above and you have a quick and highly effective workout.
Plan Out Your Meals for the Week
A little planning can go a long way. There is nothing worse than opening the cupboards and finding them bare. Empty cupboards usually mean eating and drinking things that you know you shouldn’t. Take 5 minutes and write down a list of meals for the week. Once you have your meals jotted down, split each meal up into ingredients required. You then have your shopping list for the week. This is a simple technique that only has to be done once a week, but the time and aggravation it saves is well worth it. Also, once you have written down a few weekly lists you can combine them to save even more time.
A little planning can go a long way. There is nothing worse than opening the cupboards and finding them bare. Empty cupboards usually mean eating and drinking things that you know you shouldn’t. Take 5 minutes and write down a list of meals for the week. Once you have your meals jotted down, split each meal up into ingredients required. You then have your shopping list for the week. This is a simple technique that only has to be done once a week, but the time and aggravation it saves is well worth it. Also, once you have written down a few weekly lists you can combine them to save even more time.
Dream about What You Really Want
Do you know what you really want out of life? Have you ever taken the time to think about it?
Setting goals and taking control of your life is important for your overall happiness. There is something very intrinsically rewarding about achieving a goal. Generally the harder and longer a goal takes to achieve the more rewarding it will be. The subconscious mind has a clever way of finding solutions for you but you have to set it a goal first. Dream big and don’t worry about how you will get there, just let your subconscious take care of it.
Do you know what you really want out of life? Have you ever taken the time to think about it?
Setting goals and taking control of your life is important for your overall happiness. There is something very intrinsically rewarding about achieving a goal. Generally the harder and longer a goal takes to achieve the more rewarding it will be. The subconscious mind has a clever way of finding solutions for you but you have to set it a goal first. Dream big and don’t worry about how you will get there, just let your subconscious take care of it.
Spend More Time Standing
For some people, the idea of standing more often terrifies them but the truth is sitting down is not very good for our backs. When we sit down, huge amounts of pressure is transferred to the lower back, far more than when standing. It always confuses me when people say their back hurts and so they need to sit down. If you have a bad back you are better to either lie down or stand up.
For some people, the idea of standing more often terrifies them but the truth is sitting down is not very good for our backs. When we sit down, huge amounts of pressure is transferred to the lower back, far more than when standing. It always confuses me when people say their back hurts and so they need to sit down. If you have a bad back you are better to either lie down or stand up.
I’m sure you know that we live in a sitting world. We sit going to work, at work, going home from work, and finally at home in the evening. Try to spend more time on your feet. One simply technique to prevent prolonged sitting at work is to set a stopwatch on your computer. Every 50 minutes take the time to get up, move around, drink some water and look at something other than the computer screen. You will be amazed at how much more productive you will become by using this simple method.
Do Something Different
Remember the feeling you last had when you did something different? We are creatures of habit and although most habits keep us safe they don’t always challenge us. Have some fun by changing a habit and doing something you haven’t done before. It can be as simple as taking a different route to work or waking up in the middle of the night and looking at the stars. The challenge is to experience something new.
Remember the feeling you last had when you did something different? We are creatures of habit and although most habits keep us safe they don’t always challenge us. Have some fun by changing a habit and doing something you haven’t done before. It can be as simple as taking a different route to work or waking up in the middle of the night and looking at the stars. The challenge is to experience something new.
No comments:
Post a Comment