"Keep it Going"

smartpassiveincome.com

It could happen to the best of us. The holidays arrive, the parties begin. And before you know it, your priorities start to shift. Suddenly, it seems so much more important to meet up with your girlfriends for an indulgent lunch than to haul your butt to the gym. Or better yet, it’s bang in the middle of the year with no reasons for celebrations whatsoever. You have been through a plethora of different kinds of exercises since the year began. Yet, after just two weeks of that hip-hop aerobics class, you literally find yourself making any excuse not to make it (my desk needs to be re-arranged??!).


News Flash! Working out only works when you make it a permanent part of your life. Don’t freak out. I am not saying you need to live in your gym clothes and exercise eight hours a day. What I am saying if you are looking to stop being a workout quitter (start,stop,start,stop – you get the picture), you need to find a way to make exercise a part of your normal life.



Cut out the pity fest - First things first, you need to stop playing the victim. “I’m already so fat, so what’s the point?” “I’ll never be skinny like those salad-eating waifs, so let me just drown my anger in a bowl of ice-cream instead! If you want things to change, you can’t keep waiting around for some miracle. It’s up to you to make it happen. So get your hand out of that bag of chips, get off the sofa, and do something about it.



Wake up to reality - Figure out what will really work for you. Which means take a look at your life, your job, your schedule, and think about what kind of work out would truly suit your current life. That way, you can find a way to incorporate your workout times into your life, rather than trying to change your entire life around to make some 6pm class on the other end of town!



Enjoy what you do – Personally, i think this is the golden ticket girls and boys. Discover what you love. Trust me, it’s out there. Something that makes your blood pump, your heart race, and always puts a big, fat smile on your face.



Make it stick – Once you have found that special something (think running, swimming, yoga, cycling, kickboxing, dancing, basketball, soccer, the list is endless!) hold onto it with your life. Realize that this is something that adds to the quality of your life. And stay with it. The rest is easy... :)

"The Power of Three"

blog.kir.com

Find your perfect blend of diet, exercise, and lifestyle!

Managing your weight in a healthy way is more complicated than it looks. It comprises of a balanced mix of three elements: diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices. And while some people like to pick just one of these elements and focus on it to get healthy, that never really works. Just focusing on diet without doing any exercise or resting may well give you results when it comes to weight loss, but this is rarely sustainable. More often than not, the minute the diet is over, the weight comes back.


Then there are those who like to concentrate on just intense working out. While that may result in burning calories and building some muscle, it’s really a waste of time if those gymaholics are chomping down cheeseburgers and pizzas right after their workouts. Even those who try to live a clean lifestyle cutting out the alcohol and late nights are not really gaining any health benefits if they are leading a sedentary lifestyle with no restrictions on diet at all.

When it comes to getting it right it is vitally important to remember that it’s the whole package that matters. That means you need to think about all three aspects of your life when you want to get the best results. For instance eating right is not simply about going on a binge diet every few months during which time you starve yourself in order to fit into that killer dress. Instead, one needs to evaluate the way we make our food choices on a daily basis. Homemade meals versus those meals eaten out, the kind of preparation we use to cook our foods (frying, steaming, raw), and even the mix of grains, meats, fruits, vegetables, and sugars we consume. Looking at food through this multi-angled lens then allows you to be more aware of what and how you are eating.

In the same way, as long as exercise is a “chore” or something you dread, it will never be a permanent part of your life. For that to happen, you need to figure out some physical activity that you truly enjoy doing. Dancing, swimming, running, yoga, soccer, weights, pilates, kickboxing, squash, the list of choices is limitless. Just find what you love, and do it. The calorie burning, muscle power, and strengthening will all follow naturally.

Finally, the pyramid of three gets perfected once you are able to balance your lifestyle choices to complement the exercise and diet you like.

"Workout Woes"

tzimg.com

          
What to do when your workout just isn't working out...

Eating right (pre and post): Its always a good idea to make sure you are fuelling your body properly before hitting the gym or doing any form of exercise. My advice? Eat something small but high on energy about an hour before you are planning to work out so that you can use the energy to really give it your 100%. If you work out in the mornings try and eat an apple/banana or a bowl of high-fibre cereal. A friendly word of caution to all the ladies looking to lose some love handles, if you try and starve your body before you work out thinking it will help you lose more weight you couldn’t be more wrong! In fact, trying to work out with little or no energy is pretty much a waste of time since you are not going to be able to pack any power into your session and end up just feeling cranky and exhausted! Also, make sure to eat a little something within an hour of your workout. It refuels your system and actually helps to increase the metabolic rate of your body.




Hydration Counts: Keep a small bottle of water handy when you are working out and make sure to keep taking small sips from it through out the session. Remember, water is made up of two parts oxygen (which is why they call it H2O) and that oxygen is what replenishes the organs and muscles to work better when under strain. So drink up folks.



Breaking the routine: One of the biggest problems people have with their work outs is this one. Of course its going to be frickin boring when you are repeating the exact same exercises, in the exact same order, for the exact same number of counts, every single time you go to the gym people. Its time to get creative.Not only does variation in your work out make it that much more fun (eg mix up mon and fri weights training with kickboxing on wed), its also more effective when working towards weight loss.


Perfect timing: each of us is built differently and so your work out regime too, should be customized to work perfectly for your personality, body type, and lifestyle. If you find yourself to be a night owl, always ready to rock and full of energy post the sunset, then evening work outs are probably great for you. On the other hand if you like to sleep early, and love to wake up at dawn, plan your work out to meet the morning sun and you will find yourself feeling great all day long. Despite what you may have heard or read, I truly believe there is no “right time” for exercise. The right time is what works for you, its as simple as that.

"Kick that flab to the curb"

bangkokfitnesstraining.com

Wishing you could back into those super sexy skinny jeans? Sick and tired of the same old, boring workout routine week after week? Trying to figure out a way to lose those extra kilos without starving yourself silly? Let me tell you about a total body workout that literally kicks butt! Combining a way to build your stamina, flexibility, strength, and core power which listening to your favorite tracks: It’s intense, powerful, and leaves you exhausted and aching. But boy, does it work. And yes, it gets your mojo going again. Welcome to the world of kickboxing.


But, just like anything else, you need to know your facts about this form of exercise before you go into it guns blazing. Kickboxing, unlike aerobics, or your generic body workout, is an old martial art that finds its roots dating up to 2000 years ago. Which makes it a true blue form of fighting. It takes a lot of energy, strength, and ability to endure the sometimes severe aches and pains which go along with learning to master the basic forms in kickboxing. Besides keeping your body at a supremely fit level, kickboxing has other benefits. According to some studies, you can burn anywhere from 350 to 450 calories an hour with kickboxing! Now if that’s not motivation, then I don’t know what is 

In addition, kickboxing also reduces and relieves the effect of stress. Think about it, the power and skill needed to perform this demanding and rigorous workout — controlled punching and kicking movements carried out with the discipline and skills required for martial arts — is the perfect way to deal with a tough day at work. It’s the perfect remedy to release your frustration and anger so that it doesn’t stay inside your system and do some serious damage. Practicing kickboxing moves on a regular basis also help to improve balance, flexibility, coordination, and endurance.

Another bonus especially for the ladies: Kickboxing , while being an awesome way to get a total body workout, also teaches you some fierce self defense tactics, helping you feel more confident. So get out there and jab, punch, and kick your way to your highest fitness level!

"Party Smart"

embridge.gov.uk

The festive season. Diwali, Christmas, and New Years Eve. The best friends wedding. Your brothers birthday. Not to mention so-and-sos anniversary. And of course their sons 1st birthday! The list goes on and on and on…..and so does the eating, the drinking, the merriment, and the mayhem.


And after a few short weeks you start to notice the not-so-small things. Those jeans that don’t zip up as easily. That dress that now fills out in all the wrong places. The suit that fits a little too snugly. Welcome to the festive season - in which you mourn the loss of your waistline, your 6-pack, and that oh-so-toned butt! So whats a party animal to do?

Not to worry, I am here to help :) Its time to take control ladies and gentlemen. Here are a few simple tricks to surviving this party season with your waistline (and party reputation!) intact



Pre-Dinner Dinner! Want to know where the worst damage from this season of celebration comes from? Steaming hot, usually fried, superloaded with sugar, ghee, cream, snacks aka dinner party meals that are served during this time of the year. Think about it. If you are planning a party inviting 50 odd people who you want to impress, the last thing you are going to offer them is a plate of steamed veggies and salad right?! That’s exactly why you tend to see an assortment of chips, pakoras, parathas, kebabs, and other heavy dishes served at these events. Now, I am not saying be a saint and don’t touch the stuff. Instead,I would suggest, grab a little something light and healthy to eat at home before you head out to the party. Call it a mini-meal, maybe a bowl of sabzi with a little dal. This way you kill 2 birds with one stone: the first being that you don’t attack the buffet the minute you see it (which is usually past ten at most parties) since you are already full from your earlier meal. And when you do decide you indulge a little (and hey we all should since the season only comes around once a year!) you can keep things under control (just one pakora and not 4).Secondly, your stomach is well lined before you begin to drink up.


Liquid Diets – Which brings me to tip number two. If eating out is the cause of your greatest downfall in this season, then drinking is the sneakiest, most stealthy adversary out there. To tell the truth, most of us would never have guessed that even if you are balanced with your eating, and carefully watch what you fill your plate with at parties, you can often get more calories from a couple of drinks than from all that stuff on your plate. Shocking, but sadly, true girls and boys. Hard alcohol, particularly whiskey, vodka, and rum, can all set you back a couple of hundred calories per drink. In contrast, beer and wine are lower in caloric count. So beware of any cocktails that sound like they belong in a travel catalogue “Sunset in Paradise” or have multiple alcohols “Long Island Iced Teas”.while they may look like the prettiest and taste more like dessert than drinks, they are most often loaded with sugars and syrups, and usually the culprit for getting a little “too happy”.

An Active Social Life – I like to think of the famous quote “work hard, party harder” and tweak it slightly to make it “party hard, work out harder” :) this ones a no brainer people. In order to stay in somewhat decent shape through the season of overindulgent, utterly decadent, over the top parties, you need to literally put your back into it! So get yourself into those walking shoes and get your morning jog, power yoga class, gym hour, kickboxing going in high gear and combat those killer calories coming your way!

"To Stretch or Not to Stretch"

fitnessnyc.files.wordpress.com

Hello, my name is Diya and I am an adrenalin junkie. What some might call a “fitness freak”. Challenging my body and mind in different forms of exercise and physical activity is something I have loved ever since the day I first discovered the “feel good” burst of euphoria one can only get from endorphins being released into the bloodstream. And that, my friends, is the ultimate high :) In the last decade I have hiked up Table mountain (South Africa), completed multiple half-marathons, practiced yoga, hot yoga, power yoga, vinyasa yoga, taken salsa classes, kickboxing lessons, and some seriously tough pliometrics (aka army style exercises from hell).


But my point is that throughout it all, aches and pains, sore knees, and stiff muscles, not only was my body able to recover, but it was able to continue. And I attribute it all to the simple action of stretching. To many people, stretching is a waste of time which they are impatient to get through so that they can get to the “real exercise”. A lot of these same people end up with chronic ligament pain, stiffness they cant seem to get rid of, and joints which have little or no ability to stretch, at least not without significant discomfort. In my books, effective stretching plays one of the most critical, if not the most critical, part of any workout regime.

It’s the simple, gentle movements which take only upto a maximum of ten minutes which allow the body to slowly warm up, heating up the muscles and preparing them to engage in more challenging physical activity. In fact stretching post a workout (especially after running or any intensive activity) is the best time to work on increasing the flexibility of the body. Of course, there are also some who feel like stretching prior to exercise can also cause pain since the muscles are cold at this time…I personally do not agree, but would suggest you try it yourself and see how your body feels. Then, go with what feels good for you!