Health and Fitness Routines

Having a routine is the best way to keep your life, health and nutrition well balanced. We all go off track sometimes, but doing daily things at the same time helps us live a healthier and happier lifestyle. Especially with your nutrition, knowing how to eat, what to eat and when to eat is the best way to help nurture your body with the healthy foods.

Not only nutrition routines are important, but workout routines are just as imperative to have in your lifestyle. But most of us find that sticking to a routine is quite hard and time consuming. We all have priorities that come above the “routines” and many things in our daily lives come up that cause us to forget that our health is just as important as our jobs and other priorities.

Here are some suggestions to help or start daily nutritional routines:

- Set a goal(s)

- control portion sizes

- Plan your meals ahead (pack lunches the night before)

- go to the gym classes and stick to those classes every week at the same time

- designate one to two days a week to just cardio, or set up a walk with a couple of friends 1-2 times a week on the same days

- stretch your body for at least 8 minutes every morning

- eat at the same time every day, and try not to drastically change what you’re eating

To help explain more about the importance of daily routines for your health and body, view the videos below for some insightful and helpful information.



Nutrition - "The Good & Bad!"

Nutrition plays an important factor in our every day-to-day life, whether it is a good or bad source of nutrition.  For effective weight loss, not only is exercise effective, but 75%, of weight loss, has said to deal with nutrition.

Good nutrition can lead to good health unlike bad nutrition, which can lead to bad health, which can cause many diseases.

Good Nutrition

When referring to good health, you want to make sure that your body intakes the recommended amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates, sugars and fats per day.  When making healthy food selections, such foods are mostly beneficial to your health:

·         All types of vegetables.  There is no recommended daily amount, although, it should be eaten in moderation.  Green vegetables have the most amount of iron which enhances energy. Bok-Choy, asparagus, beans and broccoli are great sources of iron.

·         All fruits.  Try to eat more of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, since they are high in antioxidants.

·         Wheat. If you want carbohydrates and bread seems to be your choice, try to select breads that are whole wheat, whole grains or multigrain. 

·         Meat.  Try to eat non-fatty and eat more of lean and high protein meats. Do not exceed the amount of 8oz per day. Chicken, lean beef and turkey are great sources of lean meats.

·         Fish.  Any source of fish should be eaten at least 3 times a week.  Stick to more of salmon and tilapia since both are high in protein.

·         Other types of healthy food or snack choices are: brown rice, nuts, soya beans and eggs.

Drinking 8 glasses a day will help reduce any toxins in your body and make you feel much lighter.

Bad Nutrition

            We all love the taste of fatty, greasy foods, but these foods are what causes bad health and may even cause diseases.  Eating these unhealthy foods will and can cause blocked arteries which can eventually lead to death.

            Unhealthy foods that we need to stay away from are foods such as:

·         Oily Foods.  These contain oily foods such as fries, chips and burgers.

·         Fried Foods. Don’t these certain foods taste delicious? STAY AWAY! Chicken fingers, wings and fried fish are bad for your diet.

·         Butter based foods. Desserts are my favourite, but all the butter that is put into baking foods is all fat that will go right to your butt! When the need to use butter, try to use margarine instead since it’s somewhat healthier than regular butter.

·         High Fat Foods.  When purchasing food items, check out the nutrition facts and what you should be most interested in, is the saturated and trans fat.  Both fats consumed are bad for the body.

When selecting you choice in consumption of food, it is important to look at the nutrition facts and ingredients.  Try to avoid packaged food items and processed foods and purchase more of fresh, lean foods.  They are better for your health as well as help to improve good health and proper weight loss.

Importance of Stretching

Stretching does more for your body than merely leaving you smooth, flexible and injury free. Stretching allows you to move better and ultimately gain better posture and can help in preventing things like arthritis.

A lot of people jump right into the gym or their exercises without stretching first and that can cause a lot of damage to your muscles. It is highly important that after a workout, even in the morning when you wake up to thoroughly stretch your muscles. A common mistake that many people make while doing their stretching exercises is the bouncing movement while in the stretch. This isn’t the proper way to effectively stretch your muscles because it's a sharp, abrupt movement which can cause damage to the muscles. Focusing more on the specific muscle that you are stretching and gradually push your limit without causing yourself pain is typically the more effective way of stretching.

Additionally, moving slowly and gently into the stretch is typically correct way. When practiced correctly, stretching is an essential part of any fitness regimen and can help you to avoid injury, increase flexibility and have better posture.

Some stretching exercises include:

-       Abdominal Lat Stretch

-       Abdominal Twists

-       Hurdles Stretch

-       Standing Hamstring Stretch

-       Chest and Bicep Flexibility Stretch

-       Forearm Stretch

-       Calf Stretch

-       Butt and Hamstring Stretch

-       Groin Stretch

-       Neck Rotations

-       Triceps and Lat Stretch

Stretching exercises help to relieve stress as they get the blood flowing - improving circulation while adding flexibility and relieving muscle tension. Working all day, no matter what your day consists of, our bodies become tense, and starting your stretch right from when you wake up enforces many benefits for our body’s muscles and bones.

Posted By: Nicole Spadafora