Archives: DeCore Blog (MB)

Before I went on my run today I was trying to talk myself out of doing it. I felt tired and wanted to take a nap, but instead drank some coffee. I then started to tell myself I ran on Monday and Tuesday so maybe I should take today off. But I knew that didn’t sound convincing either so I kept looking outside and it kept looking like it was going to rain in the hopes that it would rain. Well again, another excuse to keep me from exercising. That’s just the deal- we will always try and find some excuse not to exercise.

If I look back on my run on Monday I thought about not doing it that day too. So I had drank a few more beers than I should have on Sunday afternoon and when I had the time to run it was hot and sunny. Despite these excuses I did my 3 mile run! During the run I didn’t feel good because I was a little dehydrated and my face was bright as a tomato and if anyone I knew would have driven past me I may have hitched a ride back. But I did it! So that brings me to Tuesday. On Tuesday I didn’t know if I was going to have the time to run but I decided to squeeze a 4 mile run in before a personal training session. I knew I only had a little window and if I didn’t hurry I wouldn’t be back in time. So I set out on the 4 miles… my legs were tired from the day before but it wasn’t bad. I wasn’t feeling sick to my stomach like the day before so that was a plus as well. Since I felt better I started out way to fast, and half way through I had to stop and rest. Not for long though because remember I had to hurry because of the client. Well, I made it back with plenty of time to cool down and stretch. Then I waited and waited and waited and the client didn’t show. That made me realize that I was glad I squeezed that run in and if I would have not run I would have been upset at myself for not doing it.

So as I keep rambling on about my runs just this week and what has gone through my mind in these past three days I’m sure these are some of the same feelings and issues that you may struggle with as well. On my run today, remember, I was tired and it looked like it was going to rain, I thought about these excuses. I started out very, very slow and just tried to enjoy the outside and let my mind drift to other things besides what I was doing. Running is a stress reliever for me, and it helps me to think about business or personal issues that I’m dealing with. So as all these things were flooding to my tired brain I started to feel more awake and I thought about these excuses and was tickled to think of what I was conjuring up to not exercise. As a personal trainer I shouldn’t think like this but in all reality I’m human like everyone. So if as a professional I can feel this way and know how important it is for your body to exercise, then I can only imagine why people struggle to exercise. Half way through my run I noticed I was running faster and still thinking of these excuses, and what I wanted to convey on this blog.

This is when I decided the only person that can change you is YOU! You are the one making the excuses! Despite what the excuse may be, work around it and figure out a way to make it work. It doesn’t matter what you do just, MOVE!!! Something is better than nothing! As it started to rain and I had one more mile to go but I felt invigorated. I can’t change Mother Nature whether it’s too hot, cold or rainy, however I can appropriately dress for the occasion and end the excuses. So I got a little wet, but I was wet with sweat already and it actually felt nice. I wouldn’t recommend going if it was lightning and thundering but this was just a nice spring rain.

So help yourself by starting something. Walk or ride your bike in your neighborhood, swim, get a workout buddy, join a gym or seek a fitness professional. Remember the excuses are always going to be there but you need to find what will help keep you accountable to your exercise routine. Everyone is driven differently so do what helps you the most and when the excuses arise, figure out how you can work around them.

So stop the excuses! Start something! Just move! Your body will thank you! And YOU will reap the benefits!

This is part of a mini series explaining in more details the reasons behind my personal Top 10 Health Tips that I shared last week.

Let’s begin!

1. Drink enough water

Drinking enough water is very important because it prevents dehydration, improves physical performance, aids in digestion, and purifies our bodies. Water carries nutrients to cells, flushes toxins out of organs, and provides a moist environment for lungs, nose, throat and ear tissues. Proper hydration also improves elasticity of the skin (think less visible wrinkles!). Every system in your body needs water. Drinking tea, coffee, and even soda will count as intake of “water”, but it is best to drink pure mineral or filtered water. It is easier for the body to immediately utilize pure water than to use the energy to filter sugars and other substances from fluids other than water.

How to know you’re getting enough water? The  US Reference Daily Intake (RDI) recommends  3.7  litres (or 1 gallon) per day for males older than 18, and 2.7 for females older than 18. However, the amount of water needed is dependent on the individual, their weight, diet, physical fitness and activity level. An athlete, for example, will need more water than a person of the same statue with a sedentary lifestyle. A good way to test whether you are hydrated enough is to look at the color of your pee. If it’s the color of apple juice or darker simply drink more until the urine is clear or light yellow.

Fun Fact: Water makes up about 60-75% of out bodies! 

 2. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables

What does “plenty” mean? According to the FDA we should aim for filling half of our plate with fruits and veggies. This means, half of what you consume in a day should consist of fruits and vegetables.
Fruit is amazing food, and it’s fast food too! Peeling a banana takes 5 seconds and biting into an apple takes no preparation at all. Of course other fruits and veggies may take more time to prepare but if you’re trying to increase your consumption of fresh fruit and veggies and don’t have a lot of time, try to aim for produce that’s ready to eat, even on the go. Apples, bananas, pears, peaches, carrots, radishes, even green beans (they taste great raw, or with a dip).
There’s a reason why the FDA wants us to make fruits and veggies half of what we eat in a day. Combined, this food group is the most nutritious group per calorie. In other words, there’s more nutrition per calorie of plant produce than in any other food groups (such as meats, dairy and even grains).  Because of the high content of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids, those who consume diets high in fruits and veggies have lower rates of chronic diseases and cancers. Bonus benefit: fruits and vegetables are delicious!

Fun fact: Fun fact: Most of the fiber in fruit is in the peel.

3. Exercise regularly and maintain ideal weight

Exercise is key to a healthy life, especially in this day and age of sedentary lifestyles. Each of us should aim for 30 minutes, 5 times/week of cardio (or 150 minutes/week) and strength training two times/week. Exercise helps  prevent chronic diseases as well as helps us maintain a healthy weight which also leads to decreased risk of chronic diseases and cancers. Other benefits of physical activity are reduced stress, more energy and increased “good” cholesterol levels. Most of us struggle to meet the exercise recommendations, and it’s a lifelong effort. To learn more about how to stick with an exercise routine visit this blog post, and to learn how to begin an exercise routine check out this post.

The Body Mass Index (Calculate your BMI) is a good tool for estimating ideal body weight. Keep in mind, however, that the BMI is not always a good measure of ideal weight, since it does not take into consideration muscle mass or fat tissue, which can place some individuals in the wrong category of weight. Seek your doctor’s advice if you’d like to be certain of your ideal weight.

Fun fact: Exercisers can improve their performance by as much as 15 percent if they listen to music while working out.

Until next week!

After a few years of doing research related to health and wellness I developed a set of healthy “rules” that I try to follow in my life. The scientific world offers many more ideas which suggest that if implemented, they can help us live better lives. I studied a lot of this information and experimented with it, and finally selected my own top 10 health rules.

The goal is to try to accomplish as many of these healthy habits every day. This may or may not happen each day, but forming habits can take a long time, sometimes even a lifetime. As long as one keeps trying to actively implement healthy habits and choices into their life, the goal is accomplished.

Here are my favourite tips for a healthy life:
(in random order)

1. Drink enough water
2. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
3. Exercise regularly and maintain ideal weight
4. Get enough sleep
5. Properly manage social life, spiritual needs, and mental state
6. Eat a plant based diet
7. Get regular checkups and perform self exams
8. Floss and maintain healthy teeth
9. Take supplements if necessary
10. Keep the mind active

In the next few weeks I will talk about each one of those tips and explain why they are so important to my own well being.

In the meantime I would love to hear your top health tips and healthy habits. What do you try to focus on to live a healthier life? Please leave a comment or email me at olivia@box5208.temp.domains.

Green leafy vegetables are one of the most nutritious food group on the planet. Kale, for example, is a vegetable that can protect against certain cancers due to its high antioxidant levels, it contains anti-bacterial, anti-viral and immunity boosting nutrients, protects your vision, is extremelely high in ß-carotene and vitamin A, and provides about 700% of recommended amount of vitamin K which plays a crucial role in bone health and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
Kale, as well as other greens also contain high levels  of vitamin C, iron, B vitamins, minerals such as calcium, copper, potassium and sodium. Another benefit of consuming raw vegetables, especially greens are enzymes that aid in digestion, and help to alkalize the body. The high content of fiber also helps with digestion and keeps us full longer.

There are many more reasons why greens are so healthy, and most of us know that we should eat more salads and vegetables. I wanted to tell you about another way of increasing your green leafy vegetable consumption in your diet. Green smoothies have been gaining popularity around the world because  of the incredible nutritional benefits, ease of preparation and taste. Green smoothies may sound and look weird, but they are delicious. They are great in the morning, as a snack or a light and detoxifying dinner after a tailgating weekend.   Interested in knowing more about the benefits of green smoothies? Visit HERE to learn more.

Here are a some important tips on making a delicious green smoothie:

• Switch up your greens for maximum benefits (spinach, kale, parsley, mustard greens, lettuce, etc). Use 2-5 cups of greens per person.
• Always use a ripe banana in your smoothie. This is key to the delicious taste of the smoothie. The sweetness of the banana cancels out the bitterness of the greens.
• Add 1-2 other fresh or frozen fruit into the smoothie
• Always use ripe fruit. Bananas should have spots on them and other fresh fruit should be soft and fragrant for best taste and nutritional value
• Add water (not milk or other fluid – otherwise the smoothie will not taste good). Add as much or as little as you want for desired consistency.
• Use a blender or a hand blender to liquidize the ingredients.
• If desired, add supplements (green powder, vitamins, minerals, chia seeds, hemp seeds, hemp/flax oil), but do not add whey or plant protein powders.

“Just go to the gym, get on a cardio machine and lift weights”. While this advice is better than no advice at all, I want to write about a few tips that might help those who are starting to exercise stay safe and feel more confident about their workouts.

Consistant exercise can do wonders for us: it can prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and stroke, and even Alzheimer’s disease, some cancers, and osteoporosis as some studies suggest. Additionally, more immediate benefits include improved self-esteem, confidence, body image, positive physical changes and improved digestion. Exercise is also proven to provide a positive boost in mood and people who exercise regularly have lower rates of depression. This is due to endorphins, a chemical produced during physical activity. It is similar to morphine, and it makes us happy! (Think about this: next time you’re about to reach for a piece of candy or chips to improve your mood, try taking a walk or doing a few squats in your living room to try getting rid of the temptation).

Forming an exercise habit is the most important factor in sticking to it. Before making a schedule, look at your availability objectively. Look at how much time you can

dedicate to exercise each week, realistically. It is better to start slow and add more workouts later than start with an overwhelming schedule that you can’t stick to, making you feel like you’ve failed even though you haven’t even given it a good try.
It’s ok if at this point you can only work out twice a week for thirty minutes. If you make this a part of your life and stick with it, you can always improve from there.

Eventually overtime you might learn how to make more time for exercising even if right now it seems like you don’t have more time than two days a week (remember – baby steps and consistency are key). You can make it your long term goal to try to bump up your workouts to 30 minutes, 5 times/week of cardio (or 150 minutes/week) and strength training two times/week as recommended by the Cooper Institute.

This might take some time, and it’s supposed to! Habit forming is a process, so keeping that in mind helps to see the big picture, instead of focusing on the struggles. Perfection is NOT part of habit forming, but trying your best is!

Megan (one of the awesome DeCore Trainers) wrote earlier about how to stay motivated and provided some brilliant practical tips on how to stick with exercise, which are going to be extremely helpful for those who are starting out in the gym. Read it HERE.

When it comes to the actual physical part of working out, there are some things worth keeping in mind.

First off, as a personal trainer I believe in the benefit of having an exercise coach. My mission as a trainer is to make a program that is individualized to each person, a program that’s safe, progressive, effective and fun! Trainers make sure that the workouts aren’t too easy and not too difficult for optimal results. They keep the workouts safe and diverse, and they challenge in appropriate ways to improve a person’s confidence. Also, just like having a workout buddy, trainers help with the difficult part of commitment to exercise. In a way, your trainer is your workout buddy, a buddy with lots of knowledge about health and fitness!

However, not everyone can, or wants to work out with a trainer. This is why I will provide some basic guidelines for someone who is starting exercising.

For cardio beginners, it’s all about building up intensity and time up to your goal (goals should be revisited every 8-12 weeks).
If you’re starting a walking routine, and you can walk 2 laps on the track, try adding a half a lap at each workout. If it is too difficult in the beginning, add half a lap every week instead of every workout. The same principle applies to an elliptical, running and cycling. Once walking becomes comfortable, jogging on and off could be the next step. This is called overloading, which means that in order to see improvement it is necessary to increase the intensity, timing or type of activity.

Once you get comfortable with this level of cardio, or are starting from a slightly higher level of fitness, use a “talk test” to determine intensity of your cardio. If you are able to speak normally while exercising, it means you are performing a low intensity activity. If you can talk but cannot finish a sentence without taking a breath, you are performing a moderate intensity activity, perfect for long cardio sessions.  If it is difficult to talk, it means it is a high intensity activity. By keeping these levels in mind, one can create a goal by trying to increase intensity, or duration of a given activity.
If a certain activity becomes easy to perform, let’s say 30 minutes on an elliptical, one can move on to a more difficult activity such as incline walking or stair master.
About.com has great cardio programs you can subscribe to for free. I used it in college when training for a 5k race.

If injured (ankles, knees, spine, etc), it is still possible to do cardio training by performing low impact activity which includes swimming, cycling, elliptical, walking on soft surface (treadmill, grass, track, asphalt).

Let’s talk about strength training. Strength training is a bit more complicated, since proper technique and intensity are crucial to follow in order to prevent injuries. When starting out, stick with simple exercises to get you going. That will help you prepare your body for other, more difficult exercises by strengthening the main muscles.
I would recommend using exercise machines in the beginning. They usually include directions and they often force one to obtain proper positioning in order to perform the exercise. With time (it is difficult to define a timeline since everyone is different) it would be proper to include more free weight exercises, more complicated exercises (exercises someone was not able to do when starting out), and finally exercises requiring great body awareness and strength such as squats, lunges, shoulder press or clean and press.

Those with weight lifting experience and are getting back to it should also start slowly (not from a level of fitness they used to have but what they are able to handle now) and build up their strength and confidence for 3-6 weeks first before they begin strenuous lifting. Just like in forming habits, it is better to start slowly and increase with time than do too much and in this case risk getting injured.

A few other crucial tips for strength training:

• Always warm up before and stretch after a lifting session.
• Lift and lower weights slowly for maximum benefits (do not use momentum to lift weights)
• Breathe.  Exhale as you exert (ex. breathe out as you’re lifting dumbbells upwards)
• Always keep a proper posture. Don’t know what proper posture is? Find out here.
• Rest and recover. Always take at least one day between full body training, but it is ok to lift weights two days in a row if you train different muscles each day (ex. lower body on Monday, upper body on Tuesday).
• Use proper weights. Your muscles are supposed to hurt two thirds into the exercise (ex. in 12 repetitions muscles should start burning at 8th repetition).
• Pick 8-10 exercises for each workout that you feel comfortable with and perform 2-3 sets of each exercise.
• Overload. Just like in cardio training, in order to see improvements it is necessary to increase weights and switch things up, so the body doesn’t adopt to one form of exercise making it more difficult to lose weight, gain strength, and reach goals.

“Dance first.  Think later.  It’s the natural order.”  ~Samuel Beckett

I love this quote, because dancing to me truly is about shutting down our racing minds and allowing oneself to let go, expressing whatever we want to express through our body. So, today I wanted to talk a bit about dance, Zumba to be exact. Zumba is a form of dance, and it’s a great form of exercise too!

Regular strength and cardiovascular training is necessary for optimal health and disease prevention. Cooper Institute, world renowned institution dedicated to preventive medicine, recommends strength training 2 times week and cardiovascular training 5 times a week (30 minutes/day or 150 minutes/week of moderate activity). It might be difficult to  follow these recommendations in this busy world… no, I’m not about to make an excuse for not exercising, I’m just stating a challenge that all of us face in out lives. One way to increase your “adherence” to exercise is to work with a Personal Trainer who will prepare strength workouts and make adjustments based on your needs and progress. Working with a Trainer saves time (you don’t have to make your workouts and wonder if you’ll get the results you want), but what about those cardio sessions? They can be challenging because of the lack of variety, unlike lifting weights with a trainer who can make each session different and interesting.

One way to spice up your cardio training is to dance! Contrary to popular belief dance can be a great cardiovascular workout, if continuous and fast paced. No wonder then, that Zumba has been one of the most popular fitness trends of the recent years. Since I’m not a zumba expert, I decided to interview Lauren McGuire, our wonderful Zumba instructor. If you had questions or were thinking about trying Zumba, read below what Lauren had to say about it:

1. What is your definition of Zumba?

I’ve heard it said that Zumba is the most fun you can have with your clothes on, however, my husband would say that skydiving is really the most fun you can have with your clothes on, so I think a more thorough definition would be helpful.
Zumba is a dance-fitness class with particular emphasis on Latin dance steps such as cumbia, salsa, merengue, and reggaeton done to songs of international flavor. In addition, there are sometimes hip-hop, pop or other styles thrown in as well.

2. I have two left feet and no rhythm. Does it make sense to even try Zumba?

Zumba is not about following the steps perfectly. I always tell my class that as long as they’re moving, that’s all that counts. Zumba is truly about moving and having fun, so no, you don’t have to have a dance background or even be a good dancer to join the party.

3. Everyone seems to think that Zumba is fun. That’s great, but will I actually burn calories? If so, how many?

This is exactly why Zumba is so popular. It is tons of fun AND you burn calories in the process. It’s a win-win situation.
The number of calories burned will depend on how much you put into your dance moves as well as the challenge of the dances themselves. In a typical class, I would say you could burn between 500-800 calories.

4. What should I wear to class?

The only requirement is to wear clothing you can move in. From there, you can get as creative as you want. There is actually an entire line of Zumba clothing and shoes at zumba.com with an emphasis on wild, bright colors and fun, funky styles. A lot of people also like to wear the wraps that jingle when they move, which makes dancing even more fun. Bottom line, though, is to wear comfortable clothes you can move in.

5. What about my age? Is Zumba not recommended for any age groups?

Zumba is truly for ALL ages. Currently we do the basic Zumba class, but there are several types of Zumba. Zumba Gold is focused on the older population and ZumbAtomic is for kids. There is also Zumba Toning done with weights and Aqua Zumba done in the pool, so there is a class for everyone.

6. What are the benefits of Zumba?

In my opinion, the biggest benefit is that Zumba is so much fun. Zumba’s slogan, “ditch the workout and join the party” really sums it up. If a person dreads whatever physical activity they’re doing, they are much less likely to stick with it versus something they see as fun and exciting.
In addition, Zumba provides a cardio-based workout incorporating resistance training to create a total body workout.

7. Why should I try Zumba?

• It’s a blast! Basically like exercise in disguise.
• It’s easy in the sense that everyone can do it regardless of fitness level or background.
• And it’s effective! In all the fun, you don’t even realize you’re exercising.

It’s that time of the year again. It seems like everyone around me is getting sick! I always tell others: “I get sick once a year, at the most”. Well, not this year! I fell victim to a virus which gave me a reason to look into methods of natural immune boosters, as well as preventative remedies, most of which I used.

Our immune system (IS) certainly is an amazing defense mechanism protecting us against bacteria, viruses, and toxins, to name a few. It protects us mainly by creating a barrier that inhibits the entrance of bacteria and viruses into the body; it fights and tries to remove any harmful invaders before they multiply, in case they do enter the body; and finally your IS will fight to remove any of the bad guys when they reproduce and make you sick. Thus, the stronger our IS, the better it can function at all three levels.

I will not be getting into cellular biology or chemistry here, rather, I’ll list some ideas that might be helpful in preventing a sickness or get over one faster. Keep in mind, though, that these tips are alternative ways of treatment, and they may be used by themselves or with your prescribed medication, but always with doctor’s approval.

1. Support your immunity with a herb called echinacea when sick or exposed to others who are sick. Echinacea can be found at any drug or grocery store, and it usually comes in a form of a pill or liquid. Remember to stop taking this herb when the sickness has gone away. Otherwise your body will become used to it and its effectiveness will lessen.

2. If suffering from a bacterial infection, try eating raw garlic. This sounds terrifying, I know, but garlic has germicidal properties and can help fight infection. Try sprinkling a

clove of garlic on your dinner, and the smell and taste should be gone by morning. For the brave ones out there, take a half a clove of garlic, chop it finely, and add to a tablespoon of honey. The taste becomes a bit easier to tolerate and the honey is known to have antibiotic-like properties.

3. Honey is also great for the throat, so when suffering from a throat infection, try slowly sucking on a teaspoon of honey 3-5 times a day. Also, add honey to a herbal tea and sip when battling a cold. It will add some much needed nutrients in the times of sickness and lack of appetite.

4. Nourish your body with fruits and vegetables and stay away from junk food. Providing your body with a balanced diet full of fresh foods and good-for-you proteins is especially important when the body is trying to heal itself. Soups are a great food during sickness due to a good ratio of liquids to solids and the ease of swallowing.

5. Exercise is proven to contribute to how well your IS is functioning, so be active if you want to keep away from colds. When sick, most of us stay away from exercise. Continue being active to the best of your ability as long as you don’t have a fever or when the symptoms of your cold are located above the neck. Try taking a short walk, ride your stationary bike, or lifting lighter-than-normal weights. Slightly increased circulation might help with sinus congestion, low energy level or headaches.

6. Empty your nose often, use a saline nose spray or use a neti pot. A neti pot is a

traditional Indian remedy that helps clear sinuses and cleanses your nasal passages, making it more difficult for bacteria and germs to grow. The treatment also helps to remove mucus more efficiently than nose blowing by itself. Neti pots are available at drug stores for $8-$11, and they can be used preventively as well. More on neti pots here.

7. Sleep! This one is very simple: try to rest and sleep as much as your body wants to. Most of the healing and regeneration happens during sleep, so zzz away and your cold will go away faster.

8. Drink plenty of fluids, mostly water. The body releases toxins and byproducts in the urine, so it is important to stay hydrated when healthy or sick.

9. Increase the consumption of vitamin C and zinc. Foods high in vitamin C include broccoli, bell peppers, green leafy veggies, cauliflower, kiwi fruit, strawberries, oranges and tomatoes. Apples will work too! Especially that grocery stores are packed with many varieties of apples this time of year. Some common foods containing zinc are: beef, pumpkin and sesame seeds, dark chocolate (yep, that’s right), chicken, peanuts, beans, almonds, and fish.

10. Gargle salt water to ease throat ache or use it as a preventative method of cleansing the throat from any potential bacteria.

Stay healthy!

I had worked in different offices throughout the years, and I was always interested in trying to find simple ways to improve my well being while working there. I wanted to share some of the things that helped me stay healthy!

Drink water

• Make sure you’re not dehydrated by monitoring the color of your urine. If it’s close to a color of apple juice or darker, drink H20.
• Try to replace sugary/diet drinks with pure cold water. Not only will it purify your body by helping you remove toxins faster, it’s also more likely to refresh you more than soda or coffee.

Take stairs more often

• Instead of using the elevator, take the stairs! Depending on how many flights of stairs you walk, you can burn a fairly high amount of calories.
• Don’t have a reason to visit your co-worker upstairs? Make a quick trip up and down the stairs for no reason, and you’ll not only burn calories but also provide much needed oxygen to your brain. Studies suggest that a quick break that includes some sort of physical activity can actually increase your productivity.

Have some green tea

• Green tea is proven to speed up your metabolism, so drink up!
• If you normally drink 2 cups of coffee at the office, try replacing one cup with 2 double green teas. The caffeine content will be similar (slightly less depending on the brand of coffee/tea), but the benefits of the antioxidants and faster metabolism are worth the switch.

Stretch

• Since nowadays we stay inactive for extended periods of time sitting down in one place, our muscles can become weaker and less flexible with time. Flexibility is important for retaining muscle strength, and more muscle equals faster metabolism.
• Perform simple stretches such as twisting your torso or neck left and right in your chair,  extend your arms above your head or behind your back, or stretch whatever feels achy or tight. Also, visit this website for other office friendly stretches.

Switch your office chair to a balance ball

• Using a balance ball to sit on instead of an office chair can help strengthen your core, prevent back ache, and improve your posture. This will essentially keep your muscles working without you knowing it, and yes, it’ll help you keep your metabolism working faster!
• It’s a fairly inexpensive switch; prices for a balance ball range from $10-30, which is much more affordable than buying even the least expensive office chair. It might be a good idea to discuss this with your boss first.

There are countless other simple ways to improving your health. You can chose to graze on fruits, vegetables and nuts instead of sugary snacks, manage your stress by listening to music that helps you relax, give your eyes a break from the computer monitor, or bring in a plant that will help filter the air around you… 

I wanted to share the ideas that worked for me, but even moreso I hope you’ll try to figure out what other healthy ways might work best for you to stay healthy.
Questions, comments, ideas? Send them to us at olivia@box5208.temp.domains.

We’re so excited to launch this blog and start bringing helpful health, fitness and wellness related information to you. Our goals are to inspire, motivate, teach, and answer any questions that you might have. Email us at olivia@box5208.temp.domains or megan@box5208.temp.domains, or talk to any of us at the studio.We’d love to hear from you! And remember, even the smallest question is worth asking…we’ll be here to answer it!

Visit us often or anytime you need some inspiration or ideas for a healthier life. See you at DeCore!

Stay fit and have a safe weekend.

This is the second post in the series of explaining my personal top 10 tips for a healthy life. In the first post I talked about the importance of drinking enough water, consuming loads of fruits and veggies, and exercising regularly. As I mentioned in my previous post, I try to follow these rules and achieve as many of them daily and weekly. It doesn’t always happen, but the more of them I do apply in my life, the better I feel, look and perform. Below I explain three more healthy tips:

4. Get enough sleep

When we sleep our bodies recover, rebuild, rest, and detox. Many important physical needs are met when we sleep, but even more important than that are the crucial effects sleep has on our minds. Even though our bodies benefit from sleep tremendously, making us feel refreshed and stronger than the night before, it is actually possible for our bodies to function non-stop (without sleep). It’s our minds that need sleep more than our bodies do (although of course our bodies would be chronically tired without sleep as well). Without sleep the mind cannot function properly. We all know that lack of sleep makes us foggy, unable to focus and inhibits our ability to process information quickly. With chronic sleeplessness the mind will shut down, drastically alter behavior and even go crazy! (science knows that from known cases of torture that involves keeping a person up for as long as possible until the point of mental dysfunction).
When it comes to sleep and a healthy lifestyle, it’s important for both the body and the mind to receive proper amount of sleep. The body will not be able to work efficiently without sleep, which means decreased physical performance in daily life and exercise from lack of energy. If the mind is deprived of sleep, energy levels are also decreased, a person may become depressed or unable to motivate themselves to be active during the day. To summarize, sleep is important for proper functioning of the body and mind!

Aim to get 8 hours of sleep. It may vary per individual, some of us may need more or less sleep depending on our age and activity level, and a good way to know if you’re getting enough sleep is to be able to wake up to the alarm and be ready to get up, without the overwhelming feeling of tiredness we are all familiar with. It is challenging for most of us to get this much sleep, but setting a goal of trying to go to bed 10 minutes earlier than the previous week might be a useful way to trying to reach that goal.

Fun fact: It is more difficult to lose weight and easier to gain weight if one doesn’t sleep enough due to imbalance in two hormones: leptin and gherelin. In other words: if you’re trying to lose weight get enough sleep!

5. Properly manage social life, spiritual needs, and mental state

Studies have been consistent in showing that having good social life, access to a like-minded community or possessing a sense of belonging contribute to our happiness, and as a result to our overall health. Tim Van Orden, a well known health and wellness speaker, calls it Vitamin P. We all need to get our vitamin P (P for people). As humans we are social beings and we need to be able to relate and interact with others, exchange ideas, learn from each other, rely on each other and serve each other. Without others around us we would be lonely, possibly depressed and even physically unhealthy.
Spiritual needs are also important to our overall health. We often hear the expression “Body. Mind. Spirit” in regards to health and wellness. The mind and the “spirit” are closely connected with the body, and they all fuse together to create one healthy being. Spirituality is known to improve one’s mental state: spiritual people are on average more positive, hopeful and confident.
Whether one chooses religious, philosophical, or even agnostic approach to spirituality, that spirituality is going to help them become more peaceful and happy beings.

Fun fact: A 2005 study showed that individuals who meditated 40 minutes a day showed thicker cortical walls than non-meditators. Cortical walls are associated with slower aging of the brain, as well as improved memory, attention, and decision making abilities.

6. Eat a plant based diet

Eating more plants doesn’t mean everyone should be vegetarian, although there are countless benefits to vegetarian and vegan diets. It simply means that increasing plant foods in our diets will improve our health. I’ve been eating a plant based diet for over 5 years now and I’m not looking back! Immediately after adopting this lifestyle I increased my physical performance (for example, I was able decrease my 200m sprint time from 31 seconds on a Standard American Diet to 27 seconds on a plant-based diet), I decreased mucus in my airways, lost weight, gained energy, increased strength and improved my endurance. Those are just some of the benefits that I’ve noticed, although I will not know for sure what other invisible benefits I received (such as increased antioxidant intake, thus possible reduced risk of cancer).
Of course no one should base their beliefs and make drastic changes to their diet or lifestyle just by hearing one person describe their experience. Good news, though! Research all over the world confirms that a balanced plant-based diet is healthy and healthful (again, animal products are ok on a plant based diet as long as portions are controlled and a person consumes more calories from plants than from animal products in an average day). It reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol, prevents and helps fight diabetes, prevents and reduces risk of cardiovascular diseases, prevents obesity and helps to maintain a healthy weight, provides more energy, helps prevent cancer and may even help treat cancer, provides more variety of vitamins, minerals and enzymes than animal products, to name a few.
Replacing one meal a day or few meat-based meals a week with beans, tofu, or grains (such as quinoa grain which is very high in complete protein) can be a good way to start increasing your plant intake. Also, try adding a salad to each meal, alternate between animal milk and almond or soy milk for your cereal, add veggies to your pizza or snack on fruit and veggies instead of chips.

This meal pictured to the left is an easy 15 minute dish consisting of (per serving) 1 tbs olive oil, 1 cup cooked quinoa, 1 cup zucchini, dill weed and spices. It has 368 calories, over 10 grams of protein, 44 grams of yummy carbs, and a whole lot of nutrients, fiber and vitality your body will love.

Fun fact: Did you know that former President Bill Clinton eats a vegan diet? (A diet that excludes all animal products such as meats and dairy). President Clinton enjoys this lifestyle and was able to reduce his cholesterol, lose weight, gain more energy and improve his blood tests.

Do you have your own health tips you’d like to share? Email me or comment on this post. I’d love to learn from you!
Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for this year?