Living Healthier

You don’t have to put in a lot of effort to live healthier. Adopt some of these tips to your daily life and you’re already on your way to healthy living!

1. Drink more water! Have you ever experienced the side effects of NOT having enough water? It’s not fun. Water is essential for life; but not only that, it also helps with weight loss (or at least weight maintenance), gives you clearer skin, and pretty much makes you feel healthy. Although I don’t keep good track of how much water I drink in a day, I can usually tell when I don’t get enough.

Image courtesy of Google image.

Tip: To make sure you get in enough water, skip out on your carbonated, fruity, or alcoholic beverages as your go-to thirst-quencher and reach for water every time you need a drink. Fun flavored liquids should only be consumed occasionally. And if you don’t like plain water, flavor it up with some lemon, cucumber, mint, or a variety of other fruits.

2. Take your vitamins! Although I honestly can’t tell how each vitamin I take affects me, there are some that I can’t skip if I don’t want adverse reactions. Vitamins provide your body with essential minerals to help it work at its optimal level. Think of your body like a machine: vitamins are the tools that you can use to help it run as best as it can; and even better!

Image courtesy of Google image.

Tip: If you have a hard time remembering to take your vitamins, try to make it a habit to take them after or before lunch.

3. Don’t eat as much sugar! I’ll admit: I have no self-control when I start snacking on chocolates. One turns into two turns into four turns into 32. The trick is to hide the sweets – out of sight, out of mind, right? And if that doesn’t work, I try reminding myself that I can always eat a treat later – the ones in front of me aren’t the only ones available for me to eat. You don’t have to stop eating sweats period, but you just need to learn to limit your sugar intake.

This is my Halloween candy. It is inside of a drawer, with a note that says "Do a 4 minutes Tabata" to discourage me from opening the drawer

Tip: Try the out of sight, out of mind, trick if your family won’t keep sweets out of the house. And if that doesn’t work, try telling yourself that if you make it to the end of the week, you can have a special treat (ONE special treat).

Living healthier doesn’t have to be about changing your entire lifestyle; just a few simple changes can help you get on the right track. Try some of these and let me know if you’re noticing a difference! Good luck!

Molly

Tabata Training - AKA Torture Training

Image courtesy of Peanut Butter Fingers

Let’s talk Tabata training.

Tabata training, according to bodybuilding.com, “is one of the most popular forms of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It consists of eight rounds of ultra-high-intensity exercises in a specific 20-seconds-on, 10-seconds-off interval.” Tabata training according to me is pretty much a new form of torture, disguised as an actual workout routine. Then again, I have that same feeling about most workouts. 

The idea behind Tabata training is that it works both your aerobic and anaerobic systems to give you maximum calorie burn for the time you put in. In other words, it tries to kill you in 4 minutes. Unless you’re insane (like me) and try to go through the entire workout, which consists of 8 rounds for a total of 32 minutes.

So does it really work? Lots of people say yes, it does. According to a research report posted the American Council of Exercise’s (ACE) website, four minutes of exercise may not be enough for you to reach your fitness goals but, “based on the evidence, short-burst, high-intensity training is the real deal. And adapting Tabata-style training to fit your client’s workouts is without a doubt another very effective approach you can employ to help them achieve their goals.”

If you’re looking for numbers, this is what the research posted on ACE’s website reveals: The 16 subjects burned between 240 and 360 kcals during the workout, for an average of 15 kcals per minute burned. Again, Tabata met established guidelines for calorie expenditure for improving health and facilitating weight loss. On average, subjects also anecdotally perceived Tabata to be pretty darn tough. The average RPE was 15.4 (rated as “hard”). Meanwhile, blood lactate levels averaged 12.1 mmol/L following the workouts, suggesting that subjects were working out well above their lactate thresholds.

If you would like to read the rest of the article, you can go here. 

Interested in trying out this killer (literally) HIIT workout? If you’re a beginner, you might want to start off easy, but if you’re advance, give it all you’ve got!

Here are my (totally non-professional!) recommendations:

For beginners:

Do pushups for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, do jumping jacks for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat until you’ve done 4 sets on pushups and 4 sets of jumping jacks. Try to get at least one more circuit in, using some of your favorite exercise moves in place of the pushups and jumping jacks.

For advanced:

20 sec. pushups

10 sec. rest

20 sec. lunges with bicep curls

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

20 sec. burpees

10 sec. rest

20 sec. squat jumps

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

20 sec. Russian twists

10 sec. Rest

20 sec. bicycle crunches

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

20 sec. sumo-squats with triceps extensions

10 sec. rest

20 sec. crescent pose with reverse flyes

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

20 sec. jumping jacks

10 sec. rest

20 sec. jump rope

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

20 sec. crunches

10 sec. rest

20 sec. twisting plank

10 sec. rest

(repeat 4x)

Come up with 2 more rounds and your good to go! (Sorry, I’m too lazy to think of anything else.)

Again, I have no training in health and fitness and only know what I’ve learned through internet searches and working my own body. If you don’t trust my Tabata suggestions, you can find more online. Basically, though, the idea is that you do 1 serious move for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, do another serious move for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat 4 times and go as hard as you can.

Good luck! Drink plenty of water! And remember to stretch!

Molly

The Amazing Green Tea

Image courtesy of Sabrina Bailey from The Red Room Photography

I used to hate green tea. It always left me with a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, and I preferred herbal or black tea. But I ran out of black tea one day and I needed a caffeine fix to start my day (and I hate coffee), so I decided to try some jasmine green tea. I realized that with a touch of honey, it wasn’t too bad.

Since that day I have switched to drinking green tea every morning. Mixed with honey and lemon, it doesn’t leave that bitter taste in my mouth.

Green tea has a ton of health benefits. I used to be skeptical when I would read how it was supposed to help with weight loss, but after drinking four cups a day (2 in the morning and two decaffeinated at night), it helped me to lose 2 lbs in one week! I had plateaued, and adding in that extra green tea really helped boost my metabolism.

There are plenty of other benefits of drinking green tea. Here are just a few:

• Improves blood flow and aids in heart health
• Improves brain function
• Reduces the risk of some cancers
• Aids in cholesterol health
• Great for skin care

For more information on the benefits of green tea, you can visit this website here. There are also a bunch of other websites out there that explain the benefits of green tea, but this one uses a nice list for convenience.

Tea is a great substitute for sugary beverages like pop. Even if you add one tablespoon of honey to your tea, you’re still saving a ton of calories! If you’re looking for an easy way to live a healthier lifestyle, drinking tea instead of these sugary beverages is a great step to take!

What is your favorite tea to drink?

Cheers!

Molly

Can't spare 30 minutes to workout? No problem!

The world is a busy place. I get that. Because everybody’s always running around, sometimes people feel like they don’t have time to work out. Well, 30 minutes out of your day won’t kill you (although depending on the intensity of your workout you might think otherwise).

Still, though, people cringe at the idea of spending 30 minutes out of their day to better themselves. If this is you, I’ve got great news: you can get a killer workout in 10 minutes.

Now, I would really rather you spend 20 or 30 minutes out of your day exercising, but if you really don’t have the time, I’ve got some awesome workout videos (shared via Popsugar) that are 10 minutes or less. 

Just remember: since you’re only doing these for 10 minutes, you really need to push yourself to get results!

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the P90X workout hype. I've never tried it personally, but I know people who have. I think they're crazy, but this 10 minute workout designed by the P90X creator is OK. It gets your heart pumping and burns calories in only 10 minutes!

Tabata is another workout that's gaining popularity. I love Tabata workouts (and also hate them) because they work to train your metabolism in 4 minutes or less! A full Tabata workout consists of 8 rounds, with each round 4 minutes long. This video (above) consists of two rounds of Tabata, so it's not TOO bad.

Inner thighs: probably the WORST trouble zone out there. This workout really works to target this particular trouble zone. Get ready to tone your inner thighs as well as blast your heart rate! Remember: you can do anything for 10 minutes!

Looking for a workout that tones and sculpts your arms? Look no further! This workout really works your biceps and triceps. Grab two sets of weights (they recommend 3s and 5s) and press play!

Need an ab workout in under 10 minutes? Click the image above and press play on the video!

I don't want to hear you say that you don't have time to workout. Everyone surely has 10 minutes each day to spend bettering themselves. How can you be expected to take care of your friends and family if you don't even spend time taking care of you? I know you can do this - you just gotta believe in yourself and make it a priority to take better care of yourself!

Have fun sweating!

Molly

Exercising When Sick

Don't you just love the fall season? Here in northeast Ohio, it's absolutely beautiful! The trees look like they're on fire, the air is crisp, and everything smells and tastes like pumpkin (and apple)! Sadly, it's also known as "sick season."

What do you do with your workout routine when you’re sick? I’ve heard it said that working out when you’re sick can be beneficial at times because it can boost your immune system. But how do you know when you’re too sick?

I had to battle a sinus infection for the past four days, but now I’m finally cleared up (for the most part)! I was unable to sleep properly for the first two nights and so was exhausted and fatigued for those days, so there was no way I was going to get through a workout.

By my second day of not working out I felt pretty bad. I wanted to try to get some physical activity done, but after walking across my college campus twice, I realized that I was not up for anything strenuous. Also, when my mom was sick a couple weeks ago she tried working out at the Y and came home feeling even worse.

So what’s the solution here? Working out is healthy for you and can boost your immune system, and, being a workout-junkie, my body feels bad after about two days of not exercising. However, if you’re too sick, working out can make you feel even worse.

Image from Kings William Natural Health Care Website.

 Research told me that if your symptoms are from the neck up (including sore throat, stuffy nose, and other sinus stuff), you should be okay as long as you don’t push yourself too far, and if your symptoms extend below the neck (including cough, body aches, and fatigue), you’re better off staying off your feet. (I'm not citing anything because practically every website I went to said the same thing!)

Well, the first two days I mostly had sinus issues with a little bit of a cough, but I was too fatigued to exercise. Now that my sinuses have cleared up, I feel much more energized but I still have a bit of a cough. This will be day four without exercise and I think I’m going to go insane.

As it turns out, sometimes working out is not the best thing you can do for your body. If you’re feeling bad about missing a workout because you’re sick, don’t be! Your body needs time to recover. If you push it too far too fast, it might take you even longer to heal. Remember: it’s not just about being fit; it’s also about being healthy.

So if you’re battling some sort of virus like I am, take it easy for a couple days. Take in as much vitamin C as you can, along with other vitamins like D, and drink so much tea that you begin to feel like you’re a fish from all the liquid. And if you don’t seem to be getting better after a couple days, you might want to stop in and see your doctor.

Stay well, everyone! The sick season can’t last forever…

Molly

How To Deal When You Binge

I have a confession to make. Even though I promote healthy living and making healthy choices, I don’t always follow my own advice. I’m human and I’m allowed to make mistakes. Plus, I’m a young woman; I’m pretty much owed a binge day every so often. This past weekend was my binge day.

But, just like fair food, road trip food doesn’t really count, right?

Sadly, fair food, road trip food, and vacation food all count. Last weekend my family took a trip up to Cedar Point for their opening weekend of the 2014 Halloweekends. The trip took us almost two hours by car, and, being taught several years ago by our Aunt Iris that road trip food is absolutely essential to any road trip, my brother and I both purchased junk food at a gas station. So on the way up, I am guilty of eating about 1.5 servings of candy corn and several handfuls of pretzels.

What do you think these guys ate on their road trip? I'm thinking I'm gonna skip on whatever it was!

But wait, that’s not all!

When we got to Cedar Point, we headed over to Johnny Rockets for lunch. (I absolutely LOVED Johnny Rockets at Daytona Beach, so I obviously had to try the one at Cedar Point.) There, I ate a hamburger and onion rings. I was going to order a side salad like I had at Daytona Beach, but the Cedar Point’s Johnny Rockets didn’t offer side salads. So I opted to split a side of onion rings with Mom and Kyle.

Johnny Rockets: Home of the original hamburger!

Then I ate the rest of my candy corn, which means I ate approximately 2.5 servings of candy corn in one day. We also got cookies and caramel apples before we left. And since I apparently wasn’t feeling sick enough, I ate 1.5 pieces of Little Caesar’s deep dish pepperoni pizza when we got home around 8:30.

I feel awful after bingeing. Seriously awful, and that’s enough to keep me from bingeing all day every day. But I am human and I am not always able to resist the temptation.

Instead of punishing myself in unhealthy ways such as vomiting after a binge, I punish myself in healthy ways. The term “punishment” is used very loosely here, because it just means I eat a salad for lunch and dinner the next day. And I like salads, so “punish” isn’t really the correct term.

In addition to upping my daily serving of salad, I also detox over the next 2-4 days with this delicious detox water recipe. It’s seriously simple and a great way to get your daily dosage of water if you are bored with plain water.

All it is is a pitcher of water with 1/3 to ½ a cucumber, 1-2 lemons, and approximately 8 mint leafs. Slice up the cucumber and lemon, put them in the water with the mint leafs and let it sit in the fridge overnight. It’s healthy, refreshing, and makes me feel a whole lot better!

Thankfully my metabolism is pretty good right now so I can afford to binge now and again. Unfortunately, bingeing really is unhealthy and even my “punishments” don’t make up for it. That’s why I only do it every so often, and I do NOT suggest bingeing! However, I just wanted to let you know that I, too, give into temptation. The correct response to bingeing is not to punish yourself, but to “punish” yourself in healthy ways, such as eating extra salads (healthy salads, don’t smother it in creamy dressings) and making sure you get your water in.

We’re all human. We all make mistakes. If you fall down, just pick yourself back up and keep going. You have it within you to get where you want to go, but you’ll never get there if you don’t keep going!

Cheers!

Molly

Simple, Easy Health Tips

So you want to start living healthier but you don’t want to commit time to the gym. If this is the case, you should check out my “Save The Excuses – A Perspective on Fitness” post. However, if you really, truly cannot find the time to exercise, there are some easier ways to help you start living healthier. Here I’ve listed a few out for you.

1. Drink more water! This is something you hear again and again. It’s the cliché of all clichés when it comes to healthy living. Well, guess what? Clichés exist because they’re true! Water can, among other things, help control calories by nourishing your body for free (as opposed to many other beverages that have a high calorie number attached to them), cleanse your body of toxins (it’s a great detoxifier!), and prevents cramps by essentially “greasing” your muscles.

2. Eat your greens! Greens are rich in vitamins and minerals, high in fiber and low in calories, and fat and cholesterol free. Greens are also reported to help in preventing some cancers. Want to read up on some more benefits of greens? You can check out the website leafy-greens.org here. 

3. Limit your sugar intake. I know how hard it is to resist sugary things, especially when someone in your family can’t live without candy and/or baked pastries. I am a young adult woman: TRUST ME, I know how hard it is to resist! However, I’ve found that it’s easier when you remind yourself that it won’t be the last time you have to eat a sweet. There will always be more donuts; you just need to wait until your “cheat day” to have one!

4. Take your vitamins. I always got Flintstones (or similar) vitamins as a child. I especially loved the vanilla-flavored calcium chews! Unfortunately, vitamins become less exciting when you’re an adult. Instead of awesome chews, you get to take pills. Bleck. But vitamins really do promote healthy living and are essential. And there are chewy/gummy options available for some adult vitamins (and there is nothing wrong with taking Flintstones vitamins! I still take them and I’m almost 20 years old!)

5. Get enough sleep. Studies show that sleep really does impact your health (and weight!). If you have a hard time falling asleep, maybe try waking up earlier and going to bed earlier? Maybe you could try some yoga? There are a lot of suggestions out there to help with sleep. My brother has a hard time sleeping, so he takes melatonin. However, I would ask your doctor before taking melatonin because some people have qualms about taking it. 

6. Make some healthy switches! Take brown rice instead of white. Whole wheat or multigrain bread instead of *insert unhealthy choice of bread here*. Munch on apples, carrots, or almonds instead of potato chips. Try to eat one salad every day, and use vinaigrette instead of a creamy dressing. Get grilled rather than fried chicken. Go easy on the salt. There are so many different options available. There are some other great suggestions on wholeliving.com. 

It’s a lot easier to start living healthier than a lot of people would think. You don’t even need to spend that much money (which is one of the more popular excuses). Try making just a few healthy choices, and I can guarantee you’ll start to notice a difference. I know I can tell when I’ve cheated myself of healthy choices (bloating is a big indicator).

If you already make healthy choices, what are some of your favorites? What would you add to my list? If you haven’t yet started to make healthier choices, what are you going to start on? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers!

Molly

The Truth About Metabolism

Let’s talk about metabolism. The word “metabolism” is used a lot in the world of Health and Fitness, and there’s this thing called “Metabolic Training” that’s been gaining popularity. But how many people actually know what metabolism is? The average person usually knows that people with high metabolisms tend to be skinny and people with low metabolisms seem to carry more weight. In reality, it’s not as simple as that.

According to my very large and very expensive textbook that I had to buy for a biology class during my first semester of college, metabolism is all of the chemical reactions carried out in your body. According to the Medline Plus website, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Metabolism refers to all the physical and chemical processes in the body that convert or use energy.” Basically what I’ve read is that your metabolism takes in your calories and transforms them into energy, then takes that energy and does stuff with it to make your body work efficiently.

Although people like to blame their metabolisms for weight gain, the truth is that it’s usually not your metabolism’s fault. Your metabolism is how your body converts food and drink into energy. The real problem is when you take in more calories than you really need, or when you take in the wrong kinds of food. According to Mayo Clinic, “To lose weight… you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or both.”

Let me put it this way: metabolism is how your body converts calories into energy, but you only need so much energy. If you bring in more calories than your body actually needs, your metabolism has no need to convert your food into energy and it gets stored as fat instead. If you’re more active, you need more energy and thus your metabolism has need to convert the calories you consume into energy. An article on kidshealth.org puts it this way: “Just as a car stores gas in the gas tank until it is needed to fuel the engine, the body stores calories — primarily as fat. If you overfill a car's gas tank, it spills over onto the pavement. Likewise, if a person eats too many calories, they ‘spill over’ in the form of excess fat on the body.”

I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that you can’t really change your metabolism; you get to keep the one you were born with. The good news is that you can do things to help your metabolism so that it seems “fast” or “high.” Any ideas what these things might be? I’ll tell you: exercise and eat right.

According to an article on the website for Mayo Clinic, “The more active you are, the more calories you burn. In fact, some people who are said to have a fast metabolism are probably just more active — and maybe more fidgety — than are others.” Exercising and being active don’t speed your metabolism; they just help it out by making it convert the calories you consume into the energy you need.

What you really need to be paying attention to is your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. This number measures how much calories your body uses energy (or burns calories). People with low BMR numbers don’t burn as many calories as people with high BMR numbers do. BMR is influenced by genetics (unfortunately). The good news is that BMR is also influenced by how active you are. Kidshealth.org says that, “BMR is also influenced by body composition — people with more muscle and less fat generally have higher BMRs.”

I mentioned eating right as another way to help your metabolism out. I’m not going to go into that right now because I’m going to write a separate post about that in the coming weeks. However, I will let you know of another way you can help your metabolism out. Although there is no miracle pill that can help you lose weight, taking vitamins and supplements can be of great benefit.

Chromium, cinnamon, and vitamin D are all said to be good for your metabolism. I take them every day and I know they help me. See, I have suffered from hypothyroidism ever since I was a little girl and so my metabolism really is lower than most peoples’ if I don’t take my pills. I have a prescription for my thyroid, but I’ve also noticed that vitamin D, chromium, and cinnamon all help me out. So take your pills!

Although metabolism is usually blamed for unwanted weight gain, it usually isn’t at fault. Your metabolism’s job is to convert food and drink into the energy your body requires, so if you take in more calories than your body needs, your metabolism has to store the leftovers as fat. If you want your metabolism to “speed up,” the key is to require more energy so that your metabolism converts more calories into that energy. And, unfortunately, the key to requiring more energy is to become more active. Eating right and taking vitamins and supplements can also aid in “speeding” your metabolism.

Here’s a tip: strength training is the best way to “amp up” your metabolism, with a little bit of cardio thrown in. I’ll discuss this more in a later post!

Cheers!

Molly

P.S. I said it before but I'll say it again: I have no background in health and fitness; all that I know I've gathered from research.

Save the Excuses - a Perspective on Fitness

People are amazing creatures. We put men on the moon, created a way to connect with others all over the world, and have been able to cure many diseases that were once thought to be incurable. People can do anything they set their minds to.

Unfortunately, this is not always a good thing. While people can do anything they set their minds to, they can also not do anything they set their minds to – i.e. make excuses. While we are great at being an innovative species, we are also great at being procrastinators.

What are your excuses for not working out? Or, if you do work out, what are some excuses you hear from others? “I’m too busy”? “I’m too old”? “I don’t have the resources”?

I used to be the fat kid. I had no confidence whatsoever. My doctors would tell me that I just needed to be more active, but I didn’t want to be. I was lazy and had no desire to sweat and force my body to change. Then one night a friend randomly decided that she wanted to be my fitness coach (although what she really wanted was someone to work out with). So I agreed and we started working out together.

This was me just a few years ago at the
Harry Potter midnight premiere in 2011.

About three days into our fitness goal, my friend abandoned me. But my body was already sore and I thought, “Well, I’ve come this far; I might as well keep going.”

I had excuses, too. The truth was that I just didn’t want to do it. All it took was a little push to get the ball rolling and now here I am about three years later, working out 5-6 days a week and 20 pounds lighter. So here’s to hoping this post will be the little push that you need to get you where you want to be!

This was taken last year at my graduation.
Photo courtesy of Sabrina Bailey from The
Red Room Photography.

“I don’t have time.”

There are 24 hours in a day. Working out for 20 minutes a day is a good starting point for beginners. I promise you that 20 minutes out of your day will not cost you much, even if you take another 20 to freshen up afterwards. If you total it up, 40 minutes comes to less than 3% of your day. Even if you're only up for 16 hours, that still comes to only 4%.

There are 24 hours, or 1440 minutes in a day. Taking 20

minutes a day will not cost you much. Image courtesy of

Sabrina Bailey from The Red Room Photography.

“I’m too old.”

How old is “too old”? Is it 30? 40? 50? My dad lifted weights about twice a week until he passed away. He was going to be 57. But maybe you’re really up there in your years. According to WebMD, only one out of four people between the ages of 65 and 74 actually work out. The same article discusses a lot of myths concerning exercise and older adults. They quote Dutta, PhD, chief of the clinical Gerentology Branch at the National Institute of Aging, "Some people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s are out there running marathons and becoming body-builders." You can check out the article here. The bottom line, though, is that no matter your age, exercise is good for you!

“I don’t have money for equipment.”

I remember working out with my mom every morning with Denise Austin when I was little. Do you know what I used for weights? Cans of vegetables. I work out every day with Jillian Michaels’ DVDs with only a mat and dumbbells (and a cute outfit). You don’t need gym equipment to get in shape – your body weight is fine! You can get a good cardio workout in without a treadmill if you just move your body. And if you can’t afford workout DVDs, there are plenty of exercises available online. Truth be told, the only thing you need to work out is your body and a sturdy pair of tennis shoes.

All you really need is a good pair of shoes!

“I just don’t want to.”

Well at least you’re not hiding behind excuses. Good for you! But you know what? I didn’t want to do it, either. In fact, I still dread my workouts. If anyone tells you that they like to exercise, they are lying. It’s only what comes after that we enjoy (the production of endorphins, the toned body, the overall sense of being healthy, etc.). No one wants to work out. We just do it because we know the ends justify the means.

Sometimes I feel like I'd rather be dead than work out.
But I do it anyways. Photo courtesy of Sabrina Bailey
from The Red Room Photography

Save the excuses!

20 minutes a day won’t kill you. And if you’re really struggling to find the time, start off by just taking a 10 minute walk every day.

Age is not a defining factor – only your mindset can tell you what you can and can’t do. But if you really are anxious about your age, talk to your doctor and ask them what they recommend.

So what if you don’t have equipment? You have a working body, don’t you? Get off the couch and move it!

Exercising isn’t easy. But you know what? It’s worth it. It makes you healthy, it produces endorphins that make you happy, and, frankly, it makes you look and feel great.

Save the excuses and get to work! I promise you won't regret it :)

Cheers!

Molly