You Don't Have To Diet
I personally dont equate dieting to leading a happier life. In fact, dieting makes me moody, hungry and not much fun to be around. Leading a healthier lifestyle does not mean you have to start dieting! I know a girl who has recently lost a tremendous amount of weight, and is a lot healthier. Her secret? More physical activity, portion control, and incorporating power foods into her daily regimen. How easy is that?
Power Foods
There are a lot of different food items that you can incorporate into your meals that will boost energy, and fight off fatigue allowing you to sail right through your day without having to reach for the soda or coffee come 2pm.
A few power foods that will boost energy:
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Whole Grain Pasta
- 100% Fruit Juice
- Dried Fruit
- Fruit Smoothies
- Water
To learn more about power foods, and the benefits they have on the mind and body, check out this great article on Web MD.
Get Physical
Adding exercise into your life does not mean spending countless hours at the gym sweating your butt off with a personal trainer. Even just 30 minutes of physical activity a day is said to boost energy and release endorphins resulting in feeling happier.
Hate working out? Well, your just like me! There is nothing I hate more than running on a treadmill at a gym. Boring. When thinking of physical activities, i just couldn't come up with anything i would enjoy. That is, until I read up on exercise and found out that it doesn't mean I have to slave away at a gym. Any physical activity you enjoy counts as exercise and is good for your body and soul. Need some ideas?
Here is a list of fun ways to get your physical activity in:
- Tennis
- Roller Blading
- Biking
- Ice Skating
- Playing a sport
- Shooting Hoops
- Taking a brief walk
- Dance
- Hula Hooping
- Jump Roping
- Swinging
Those are some fun ways to add exercise into your life. When it comes to physical activity, it doesn't matter what you do as long as you are up and moving!
Stay Hydrated
This is super important, and something your body constantly needs to keep going: Water! Our bodies just don't get enough of it thanks to all the delicious soda and coffee readily available in the work place.
When we hit a wall, we instantly want to reach for a Coke or something with caffeine to boost energy. You wouldn't think water would do the trick, but guess what? It does!
Water has oxygen in it that our bodies need, and drinking the right amount of water a day will boost energy and increase alertness. Everyone should be drinking at least 8 ounces of water a day to keep our bodies healthy and hydrated. Not a fan of water?
Here is a few ways to make water a bit more appealing:
- Add ice- water is more refreshing when ice cold
- Add Lemon
- Add cucumber: Cucumber gives water a tasty and fresh feeling
- Water Flavor Packets: There are tons of packets to flavor your water without adding extra calories
Getting healthy doesn't happen over night, and the most success happens when you start off slow and work your way up. Setting unrealistic expectations when it comes to our diet can be the most damaging to our self esteem when they are not accomplished. Make sure you set small health goals at first, like, adding fruit to your breakfast, or taking a walk once a week. Once you feel comfortable with those small changes, you can keep adding on. Before you know it, eating healthy and exercise will fall into your routine, and you will feel like a brand new person!
sources:
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Foods_That_Boost_Energy.htm
http://www.ediets.com/news/NewsArticle.jsp?componentPath=&itemType=&start=3&id=999999933#article
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