10 Smart Health Resolutions #2

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10 Smart Health Resolutions that can improve your health, and quality of life.

#2: Consistent exercise is key.

➡ Exercise gets you there faster, keeps your attitude positive, and provides added chronic disease prevention. Even 10-minute intervals delivers results and helps lower risk of chronic disease. Our bodies benefit with even short periods of exercise so don't let your crazy time schedule keep you from feeling and looking great. Doing this usually requires giving up another activity or behavior such as having a beverage break, chatting with friends or family, or checking our email. How many of us out there are already multi taskers that could easily walk and talk at the same time? Better yet, download a Smart Health Talk podcast to listen to while you walk or exercise, and learn even more how to achieve a healthier you!

➡ The body that gets regular exercise will always look and feel different than a body that is never challenged physically. You can never achieve with just food that you can achieve with healthy food and exercise. That's the bottom line and there is no getting away from it.

➡ Start simple with a walk around the block. If you try and do too much too fast, you can cause injury or get so sore that you won't be able to exercise again for days. You are exceptionally vulnerable during that start up time so you don't want to create a situation that might discourage you in any way. Time away from exercise and age have usually set us back more than we thought. Never try and start where you left off when there has been more than a couple of weeks since you last exercised. Some of lose strength even faster than that so be careful and instead of feeling depressed you are not "there" anymore, pat yourself on the back for trying.

➡ Mix it up so you are prepared for all kinds of situations. For most of us everyday is not the same, and life has a way of throwing some right hooks now and again. Travel, time limits, and commitments can eat into our exercise times, so by having a bag full of exercise options you can pull one out that works for what you are going through on a given day. Consistency, consistency, consistency is key.

➡ Find something you love, is fun, and could even include friends and family. Not all exercise is work. Some exercise is play and can deliver some of our best times and memories. Challenge yourself to try a new sport, or plan a family activity around something that will provide physical activity for the whole family. Taking a drive to a beautiful destination where you can hike, swim, and enjoy a picnic usually doesn't cost much and could end up being a cherished memory you and your children will hold on to forever.

➡ Don’t be hard on yourself if you fall behind. We'll say it again, consistency is key. If it is only a 10 minute exercise day instead of a 30 minute exercise day that is OK. So many of us build up to the ultimate work out and expect that of ourselves everyday. Let's face it, we have more energy and time on some days and others not so much. If on a low energy or time day we expect ourselves to achieve what we do on our most enthusiastic days, chances are we may not do anything. But if you cut yourself some slack, to do your "short workout" you end up doing something and that will make the next exercise day so much easier.

➡ Remember that the more muscle you add to your body, the more calories you burn at rest. In other words because you have done the work to add more muscle, a complex tissue that requires a lot of energy to maintain, even when you take the coach potato position or sleep, your burn more calories. Athletes have to eat more calories not only to replace and increase energy reserves, but to feed calorie hungry muscle tissue. So even if the pounds are not coming off as fast as you would like, take comfort in knowing the muscle tissue is not only taking up less space than fat tissue so you will lose inches, but is burning up more calories that are helping you not gain back extra pounds!

How Many Calories Are You Burning?

Click the button for the complete list!

Click here to find out how many calories you burn doing activities.

WALK THE DOG
211 calories/hour

Click to read "Don’t Overthink the Dog Walk – Just Do It!"

LIFT WEIGHTS
422 calories/hour

"Why Strength Training May Help You Live Longer." Click and read.

SWIM LAPS
700 calories/hour

Click here to learn about the "Benefits of Swimming."

Americans eat an average of 22 teaspoons of sugar per day which adds up to 355 calories. Over one year it adds 150 lbs of weight. That's 2-3 times more than we are supposed to be eating!

Agave
Barley Malk
Beet sugar
Blackstrap molasses
Brown sugar
Brown rice syrup
Cane sugar
Cane juice
Caramel
Carob syrup
Coconut sugar
Coconut palm sugar
Confectioner's sugar
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup
Demerara sugar

Diatase
Date sugar
Dextrin
Dextrose
Diastatic malt
Evaporated cane juice
Frutose
Fruit sugar
Galatose
Clucomalt
Glucose
Grape juice concentrate
Grape sugar
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar

Lactose
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Maple syrup
Palm sugar
Raw sugar
Rice syrup
Refiner's syrup
Saccharose
Sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Sugar
Treacle
Turbinado sugar
Xylose

Diseases Linked to High Sugar Intake

Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease, premature aging, fatty liver, poor memory, weaker bones, inflammation, kidney stones acne, depression, belly fat, dementia, cancer due to inflammation.

20 Benefits of Walking

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Strength Training builds muscle so you burn more calories all day long. Start a program very slowly to avoid soreness or risk of injury. It is worth it because can't exercise at all if too sore or hurt!!