Be Fit Fitness Blog

Spring In To Exercise and a Healthy You

Spring is finally here, at least officially on Friday. For many people it has been a very long winter. Winter has probably seemed longer if you haven’t exercised regularly or eaten properly. If this is the case, you probably have packed on a few unnecessary pounds. Well today is as good a day as any to get back into the fitness routine and to eat healthy. Forget about those diet pill weight loss gimmicks. The sure-way to lose weight and keep it off is by eating healthy foods and regular exercise.

Eating Healthy Foods

Take look at the types of foods you are eating. If you are eating foods high in Trans fats and saturated fats, eliminate or dramatically reduce your consumption of these types of foods.

Avoid most processed foods, especially the frozen foods. They contain too much sodium. Even if the companies claim these frozen foods are low in sodium, in my opinion, they aren’t low enough.

If you are feeling always tired, it’s probably because you are over-eating. Try to eat smaller meals and perhaps more frequently.

Increase your consumption of fish. Fish contains Omega 3 which boosts your immune system and I find, increases my energy levels.

Regular Exercise

It’s never too late to start exercising. Now is as good a time as any to get in shape for the summer if you want to shed those extra pounds.

For cardiovascular exercise, you could take the fitness classes at your local gym or use the cardio machines.

With the weather improving, a fun way to get in shape is rollerblading.

I also recommend weight training. The type of weight training you choose will depend upon your goals. Here are some ideas.

These are just a few ideas that I have presented for you. You can read more in-depth articles on all these topics at this blog. Therefore, by changing your sedentary winter lifestyle, you will look healthy and feel sexy for the summer and beyond.

Also, this Free Weight Loss DVD will help you lose weight if you are not sure how to go about it!

Fresh ginger is a great natural product to relieve sore or dry throats. Ginger is also great for relieving congestion due to a flu or a cold. A friend of mine recommended ginger to me and I find that it works extremely well. What I recommend is that you chew on some chopped fresh ginger because I find it is the most effective then in it’s raw form. You can also use ginger to make ginger tea and add some lime for flavor.

Fresh ginger is a lot cheaper than buying sore throat lozenges which, as far as I am concerned, do not work and are filled with all sorts of chemicals that I don’t know what they are!

Finely chopped fresh ginger also adds flavor to green tea or cooked dishes. So chop up some ginger and add it to a cup of green tea.

In my opinion, ginger is a very versatile and useful root. As with all herbal remedies, if you suffer from health problems and are taking medications, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor or homeopathic doctor about ginger for any possible side-effects.

I also found an excellent article on ginger here.

Every year I determine what I want to accomplish when it comes to my health goals and my fitness goals. What can I improve upon in my workouts, what exercise variations or new exercises should I incorporate into my workouts and how can I improve my nutrition, what I eat. I exercise to look and feel great. As I get older, I don’t want to look and feel beyond my years. I want to feel as if I am getting younger. Of course you can’t, but you really want to slow the aging process naturally as much as you can. There are a lot of active people who look great at their age. You may know quite a few.

I feel that I finished 2008 on a very strong note. I’ve increased my strength and endurance with respect to my weight workouts and thus, I have stayed very motivated. My weight is at a very healthy level. I’d like to increase muscle mass, but sometimes it’s better to let your body dictate your ideal and healthy weight, not let your superficial aspirations determine what you want to weigh. This year I’ll continue to increase my strength and continue to improve myn muscle definition. I also intend to increase the intensity of my leg workouts. I have to admit that the last few years I haven’t focused enough on legs, but I do a lot of rollerblading in the warm months to keep them fit and strong.

With respect to nutrition, I have made a few changes this past year that has boosted my energy levels at times substantially. I have gone back to drinking caffeine-free green tea on a regular basis. There are so many health benefits from green tea. I have also limited my coffee consumption to 1 cup per day. The problem with drinking too much coffee or any drinks with caffeine is that caffeine it is a temporary and short-term energy boost. In the long-run, it actually saps me of energy and it will weaken your immune system. I am also eating more fresh fish with higher protein amounts. Again the natural source of Omega-3 from fish has numerous health benefits. I also stopped buying frozen fish which tends to contain unnecessary sodium. The best is to buy fresh fish and freeze it yourself.

I also try to limit the amount of bad fats that I eat. Not only are they unhealthy for you, but they will drain your body of energy and weaken your immune system.

These are just a few of my goals and apirations for the new year. What I can attemp to do better and a closer look back at what I did well with respect to my fitness level and my nutrition, eating habits.

With the new year now here, it’s a good time to reflect on how successful you were with respect to meeting your health and fitness goals. One of your goals could have been the common problem a lot of people face, the weight issue. Either you were looking to lose a lot of weight or you just wanted to slim down a bit by losing a few extra pounds. If the weight issue was one of your concerns and you were not able to lose the amount of weight that you desired, it could have been due to the fact that you went back to your bad eating habits or that you didn’t stay committed and motivated to exercising on a regular basis.

On the other had, if you are a serious athlete or bodybuilder, did you advance to your next level. You may want to examine why you didn’t or what didn’t work for you and try a fresh and new approach.

Whatever your  health and fitness goals are, in order to achieve them, you must make sure they are realistic and attainable. Once you start to see results, you end up being more motivated and committed. If you set the standards or goals too high, you may fail and just give up.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss what I think I accomplished with respect to my health and fitness goals this past year.

I stumbled upon a website yesterday called 43things. It’s a place where people post their goals and what they want in life. It was pretty interesting to see what people want in life. I also took a closer look at the goals of people with respect to health and exercise. I singled out these two goals.

Lose Weight

Of all the goals and wishes of people, losing weight by far was one of the largest, if not the largest, at 32,488 people sharing this goal. For some people, shedding the pounds can be the toughest thing to do. Other people, may just want to lose just a few pounds to look even better and healthier. With all the weight loss and diets out there, what really works? Also, you may not have the motivation to carry out your weight loss. That’s why weight loss programs with a proven track record and the chance for you to win free prizes while losing weight can provide you with an added incentive to lose weight or reach your ideal weight.

Exercising Regularly

The goal of being able to exercise on a regular basis was shared by 9,272 people. I find that a lot of people wish that they could exercise regularly. The reasons people do not exercise on a regular basis are: no time, family commitments, you’re not sure what exercises to do and motivation. I think the real reason is motivation. You really need to be motivated to exercise. It’s easy to find excuses for not doing things. Sometimes you need some professional help to customize an exciting exercise program for you. Personal trainers may be a little expensive for you, but there are alternatives like online exercise programs. Some even offer you the chance to enter fitness contests as an added motivational factor in helping you achieve your exercise goals.