The following tips are to help guide you towards a healthier lifestyle. Use them as you please, but just do me a favour and try one or two on for size. They just might add some more spring to your step and years to your life.
Pass the olives please Next time you are at a restaurant, or having company over for dinner, replace that bread and bun basket with a plate of olives. This way you will be replacing empty carb calories with healthy monounsaturated fats - the good fats that are a preferred fuel for your body to burn.
EAT YOUR BREAKFAST
Your mom was right when she said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not only does it provide you with much needed energy (from fasting all night), The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate breakfast had smaller waists (by nearly two inches), and those who didn't skip breakfast snacked less throughout the day. Aim for a blend of protein, complex carbs and good fats. My favourite breakfast right now is Greek yogurt mixed with fresh berries, and a half cup of Fibre 1 cereal.
HEALTH MYTH: GRANOLA IS GOOD FOR YOU
I think granola deserves a trophy for making us believe all these years that it is good for us. A cup has over 400 calories of mostly sugar and fat. Better cereals for you are: Kashi Go Lean, Kashi Whole-Grain Puff and Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted, Fibre 1, Bob's Steel Cut Oats, Nature's Path Smart Bran and Nature's Path Multigrain Oat Bran.
BE WARY OF SPORTS DRINKS
One bottle of Gatorade has 310 calories and 14 teaspoons of sugar. You would have to run at six miles an hour for thirty minutes to burn that off.
If you really need something (other than water) when working out, chia seeds may be a better solution than sugary workout drinks. A recent study found that runners who drank chia seeds mixed with half a sports drink performed just as well as those who drank the whole bottle, but they ingested 14 grams less sugar, fewer calories and chia seeds are rich in omega-3s.
DYNAMIC STRETCHING IS BETTER FOR YOU
If you are looking for the best way to warm your body up before exercise, think dynamic, not static. By moving your body rhythmically and continuously, you will drive up the warmth in your muscles and connective tissue a lot faster, thus decreasing any chance of injuring yourself.
In addition, your coordination and motor abilities will be revved up and, most important, you will prepare your mind for the work about to be done - which is a lot more than I can say for the common thigh, heelto-bum, stretch that I see a lot of people use to warm up with.
HEALTH MYTH: FAT MAKES US FAT
Excess calories make us fat, not fat. Our bodies need fat to function properly.
Besides being an energy source (nine calories per gram), fat is a nutrient used in the production of cell membranes, as well as in several hormone-like compounds called eicosanoids. These compounds help regulate blood pressure, heart rate, blood vessel constriction, blood clotting and the nervous system.
In addition, dietary fat carries fat-soluble vitamins - vitamins A, D, E and K - from your food into your body. Fat also helps maintain healthy hair and skin, protects vital organs, keeps your body insulated, and provides a sense of satiety after meals (fullness).
Check out these tips, as well as others at the "Fitness with P.J." Facebook page. P.J. Wren is a local personal trainer and writer in the Delta area who can be reached at fitnesswithpj.com.
