Fitness Motivation: Three Tips to Help You Stay Active

The more sedentary you become the harder it is to get yourself moving. Try these exercises to get you back in the fitness groove.

Many people find it difficult to get and stay motivated with their exercise and healthy active lifestyle plans. The reasons for this lack of motivation are vast, but two very common ones are: today’s modern sedentary lifestyle and the natural aging process.

The more sedentary you become the harder it feels to get yourself moving. Sitting around all day decreases your energy levels and can have a negative impact on your body weight, which in turn makes movement less comfortable. This combination of lack of energy and not feeling good only compounds the desire to remain sedentary. Breaking this vicious cycle is essential if you want to get and stay motivated toward reaching your personal wellness goals.

The natural effects of aging can also make it difficult to maintain your exercise motivation, and although we can’t prevent the aging process, there are some great ways that we can counteract Mother Nature’s aging effects, and keep you motivated and exercising on a consistent basis.

Here are three tips to help you fight towards staying active and motivated.

Meet your minimum exercise minutes each day: Getting your body moving on a regular basis is not only great for helping you to reach your body composition goals, but it also gives you a natural energy boost, promotes increased circulation, and improves your overall sense of wellbeing. When you keep your joints moving with regular activity, you are less likely to experience loss of mobility and joint soreness that are commonly caused by inactivity. 

It is recommended that in order to experience the health benefits associated with daily activity, you need to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five days a week. The first step is often the most difficult, but once you get active, the feel-good benefits make it easier to continue. Even if you can’t commit to 30 full minutes to start with, know that a little bit of exercise is always better than doing none at all.

Mix up your impact: It’s important to strive to maintain healthy bone density as we age, and regain it after spending prolonged periods of being sedentary. Performing exercises that are high impact in nature, such as walking, running or jumping can help you maintain healthy bones. Alternating between low impact activities, such as swimming and cycling, and high impact activities, such as running and jumping, is a perfect way to ensure you are maximizing the bone health benefits of your exercise routine, at the same time as ensuring that you are not putting too much stress on your joints. Mixing up your routine will help you avoid excessive post-exercise joint soreness and prevent you from getting bored.

Focus on your muscles: A common age related issue that can be helped with exercise is the natural loss of muscle mass known as sarcopenia. Muscle loss or body composition imbalance is not always due to the aging process, spending a long time being inactive or being underweight can also reduce your lean muscle mass.

Lifting weights or performing body weight exercises in combination with consuming a protein-rich diet will ensure that you build lean muscle mass and retain your strength. Maintaining your muscle mass is great for your metabolism and for helping you look and feel your best. Try to perform muscle-building exercises at least three days a week.

Whether you are working towards achieving a specific goal, or simply want to feel young and energized, a daily focus on being active will help you get and stay motivated.

Why Immunity Is Your Best Defense and How to Fuel It

Our immune system has one job: helping our bodies defend and recover from illness.

Unhealthy diets – high on calories from sugars, meats, and dairy products – are usually associated with health problems like obesity and metabolic diseases. But they can also cause a tremendous imbalance in our immune system, thus weakening it.

Regularly eating foods that are not nutritious can break down our immune defense, similar to how invaders can damage a fortress. This, in turn, can also make one more susceptible to new and reoccurring illnesses.

 

Why Is Immunity Our Best Defense?

I want you to think of your body as a well-designed fortress. Every day, our body silently defends itself against potential harm through its layered system of defense. It can defend and repair when it is challenged.

Our cells are like the army of protectors, each with specific roles to play to help our body defend itself. If unsuccessful, they will repair the body when needed. That is why nutrition is so important. Our cells need nutrients that come in the form of:

• Macronutrients
• Micronutrients
• Phytonutrients

Within these three broad categories, we understand the specific importance of protein, healthy essential fats like omega-3, the power of fiber to support our microbiome, and of course, vitamins, minerals and plant-based nutrients that keep our body in optimal condition.

 

A Real-Life Story on the Impact of Good Nutrition

While deficiency is rare in developed countries, many people in developing countries do not get enough essential vitamins over a long period of time. Back in 1976, an eye doctor was working in Indonesia to reduce the number of children who would go blind because of a deficiency in Vitamin A. He noticed that when these individuals were given vitamin A, they also were not dying from common infections in the country like measles or diarrhea.

This led to studies and the eventual recommendation by the World Health Organization for universal vitamin A supplementation. The World Bank declared vitamin A supplementation one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions.

This teaches us that whether it is vitamin A, D, or C, minerals like Magnesium or Zinc, or antioxidants from plants or protein – our cells need the right balance of nutrients to do the job they were meant to do.

Consuming a balanced diet with the right vitamins, minerals, and nutrients while maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the best way to keep your immune system working fine and doing what it is meant to do: defend your body.

Follow the 7 Tips to Improve Your Eating Habits

Whether you are looking to change a number of bad habits or only one or two, there are some basic principles when it comes to navigating your way through the behavior change process. So, here are some tips for smoother sailing:

 

Set Your Behavior Goals and Make Them Reasonable

Be specific. “I want to get physically fit” or “I will eat better” is too vague. Instead, set a goal such as “I will walk 30 minutes a day” or “I will pack my own lunch twice a week.”

 

Start With the Easiest Changes First

Once you tackle those and feel successful, you’ll feel empowered to take on more challenges. As each small change becomes permanent, they’ll start to add up–which can add up to big health benefits, too.

 

Don’t Think ‘Forever’

Try just getting through a weekend without overdoing it, or take things one day at a time—or even a meal at a time if you have to.

 

Keep Track so You Know How Well You’re Doing

If you’ve been trying to boost your physical activity, keep a log of your minutes or miles. If you’re trying to cut back on sweets, set a limit for the week and keep track. And, for each small success, give yourself a pat on the back.

 

Try to Anticipate What Might Derail You and Plan Accordingly

If parties are your undoing, plan to have a snack before you go, and decide ahead of time how many drinks you’ll have. If you know you’ll hit the snooze button instead of exercising in the morning, put the alarm clock across the room–right next to your workout clothes.

 

Practice the Art of Distraction

When you get the urge to eat something you shouldn’t, tell yourself that you’ll wait 15 minutes before you give in. Chances are, you’ll get busy doing something else and forget about it.

 

Notice What Triggers Your Bad Habits and Break the Chain

If the vending machine at work tempts you every time you walk by, find another route so you’ll avoid it, or don’t carry any money with you. To stop nighttime noshing, head into the bathroom to brush your teeth instead of into the kitchen to raid the refrigerator.

 

Views expressed are personal to the author and Herbalife Nutrition shall neither be responsible nor liable for the same at any time.

This is only for general information and not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a qualified and registered medical practitioner or a recommendation for any treatment plan. Person with any specific or special medical condition should consult his/her physician before adopting suggested workout.