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Exercise benefits every aspect of our health. It works for weight management, boosts energy, and builds a healthier heart (not to mention you’ll look better and have more confidence.)

But exercise benefits more than just the body; it’s good for the brain and improves cognitive function; a fit body generally leads to a fitter mind.

Coping with Daily Stress

Consider the stresses of daily life and its distractions, such as annoying phone alerts that never seem to stop chirping, or construction and traffic noise, and the endless onslaught of commercials and marketing, all competing for your mind’s limited bandwidth. It’s exhausting.

Turns out, exercise is a great coping strategy for dealing with mental stress and distractions because it recharges your mind.

Researchers divided students into three groups to measure the effect of exercise on attention span. One group did two twenty-minute moderate exercise sessions between morning classes; another group performed one twenty minute exercise session. The third group didn’t do anything – they just sat in their chairs while the others exercised.

The students who did two exercise sessions scored highest on attention span.

It Doesn’t Take Much

It seems that even a little bit of exercise is healthy for the mind. A 2007 research project involving students studied the ability of exercise to improve focus and concentration. Students with at least 56 hours of physical activity each school year had higher scores than their counterparts who only had 28 hours of exercise.

Physical activity should be an essential part of the educational experience. Usually, exercise proponents cite student obesity and diabetes rates for the inclusion of exercise. However, it’s cognitive benefits are equally important.

How Exercise Works Its Magic

Here’s how physical activity sharpens the mind. During exercise, a chemical called BDNF is released into the brain. BDNF nourishes brain cells and facilitates the formation of new neural pathways.

In addition to releasing BDNF, regular exercise boosts norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter, resulting in a heightened state of alertness, increased energy, and sharper concentration.

Thrive

Physical activity helps us thrive mentally and physically; we’re designed to move! Without exercise, many important physiological and cognitive functions suffer. The benefits of physical activity are essential to protecting and maintaining quality of life.

So, if you’d like to rise above the constant onslaught of never-ending distractions while strengthening your mind and body, get moving! Give yourself the gift of physical activity.

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Although this topic seems to resemble one of those outrageous infomercials you stumble across at 2 a.m. when you can’t sleep, it isn’t so.

In this article, you’ll find 5 cool and tricky ways of how to weigh less while eating more!

Most of us believe that to lose weight or maintain a certain body weight we need to eat less. Sure, eating more food works against you when it comes to weight management. But is this always true?

You get calories from the food you eat and the beverages you drink.

When the number of calories consumed exceeds the amount burned, where does the excess go? You guessed it. It’s stored as body fat.

However, there are some tried and true ways to consume more food without gaining weight. If you stick to this plan, you can have your cake and eat it too, technically.

• Different foods of the same portion size aren’t always equal in calories

The same portion size of two different food items doesn’t always contain the same number of calories.

For example, a serving size of lean meat has fewer calories than a serving of sugar-laden chocolate cake (wait…didn’t we just say you can have your cake and eat it too? Hold on…).

If you want to eat more food, choose foods with fewer calories such as lean meat, salad greens, mushrooms, strawberries, fruit, broth, vegetable soup, cod, eggs, 100% whole grains, low-fat cottage cheese, and vegetables.

You can eat much more food if you choose low-calorie, nutritious foods. Bonus points if they’re high in fiber.

The trick is to pick foods that are relatively low in calories in relation to their portion size and are high in fiber. Your tummy will be full, but you won’t gain weight because although you’re eating more, you’re consuming fewer calories.

Guess what this does? Since you’re eating fewer calories overall, you’ll have room for that piece of cake every now and then.

• Set up a ‘Window’ for food consumption

This trick is similar to intermittent fasting, but you don’t need a specific protocol.

Choose a time window within which you’ll eat your meals. For example, it could be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., noon to 6 p.m., or 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,

Consume all your daily calories within that window.

Let yourself off the leash and eat as much healthy food as you like during your “feeding window.” Just don’t crazy because this doesn’t mean you can eat all the cake, cookies, brownies or chips you want. We’re talking healthy eating here.

The idea is that you’ll feel full if you’re eating healthy foods, and because they’re healthy foods you’ll be eating fewer calories. However, refraining from eating outside of your feeding window takes self-control.

When using this “trick,” make sure you don’t exceed your daily calorie budget.

This trick can seem quite difficult at first because of the hours you won’t be eating…but this approach to eating works well for many people who are trying to lose weight and keep it off.

• Whole foods instead of processed foods

Whole foods are far more superior to processed foods when it comes to nutrition because they usually contain fewer calories compared to their processed counterparts. Plus, they’re far more nutritious.

Processed foods go through a refinement process that involves adding preservatives and high-calorie sweeteners.

Obviously, foods in their natural form don’t have any additives or preservatives.

When it comes to calories, you can eat a LOT more whole foods while getting fewer calories than eating the same serving size of processed foods.

Although whole foods aren’t always as enticing as that bowl of ice cream (depending on how you look at it), at least you get the benefit of eating more. Eating whole foods keeps your energy levels stable, too; you’ll feel better, stronger, and more alert.

• Avoid getting your calories from drinks

You can easily burn through your calorie budget by drinking sugary drinks like sodas, frozen beverages, and fruit juice.

You can consume half a day’s worth of recommended calories without even realizing it in just minutes!

Please don’t waste your daily calorie budget on sugary, unhealthy, calorie-packed beverages. You’ll suffer from energy spikes, weight gain, and won’t feel full.

Avoid sugary drinks because they pile on the calories and the pounds.

Drink water or low-calorie alternatives like coconut water, green tea, or iced tea.

This trick allows you to eat more food without piling on extra calories and pounds by consuming sugary drinks.

• Exercise

This trick is easy to understand when it comes eating more and weighing less.

Exercise burns the calories you consume as fuel.

So, the more you exercise, the more you can eat.

This approach is quite different than the other tricks we’ve discussed because instead of decreasing your calories, you can actually increase them.

If you burn 800 calories through exercise, you can afford to eat a few more calories, depending on your weight management goals.

Burning a significant number of calories requires the right kind of exercise like high-intensity interval training or resistance training. These forms of training burn calories for several hours after your exercise session has ended in a process called post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), also known as the “afterburn effect.”

But here’s what to remember, you can’t stuff yourself with sugary, fat-laden, high-calorie foods thinking that a stroll on the treadmill will work it off. It won’t.

This trick has to do with the intensity of the workout. One unhealthy meal can wipe out ALL your hard work and the awesome progress gained from a high-intensity interval workout. So don’t sabotage your efforts.

The number of calories your body stores can be efficiently reduced by engaging in regular cardio and resistance exercise. You’ll lose inches and pounds and have an easier time maintaining your goal weight, allowing you to eat MORE while weighing less!

Exercise combined with high nutrient and lower-calorie foods, setting an eating window, choosing whole foods instead of processed foods, and avoiding drinking your calories, are five great tricks for eating more but weighing less!

Photo by Jamie Brown on Unsplash

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Some people really love working out, but most want to get their workout done as fast as possible. They’re always looking for the ultimate bang-for-your-buck workouts that get them the best results in the shortest time!

Compound exercises are the easiest way to take your workout from good to great without spending more time in the gym. Working multiple muscles at the same time will help you to gain more muscle and burn more calories in less time.

Here are three of the most effective and time-efficient compound exercises.

Burpees

The best thing about burpees is that they require nothing but your bodyweight so you can do them anywhere, at any time. They are great for conditioning and strengthening your entire body.

Burpees can be a bit challenging for beginners, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them. Just add a squat in between the standing and the plank position.

Start the exercise by standing straight, then squat and place your hands on the floor in front of you and jump backward. If that’s too hard, replace the jump with a walk back. Lastly, jump forward and stand up (or drop to your knees, step forward, and then stand up).

Dumbbell Deadlift

Deadlifts are a great exercise. They target the hamstrings, glutes, lower back, upper back, and core muscles all at once, leading to huge improvements in strength and stability. This exercise improves posture and makes it easier to perform daily tasks. Lastly, deadlifts are the ultimate time-saver. Instead of using three different machines, you can get the same workout with just a pair of dumbbells.

To perform a dumbbell deadlift, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart while holding a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length, brace your core and lower your torso until it’s parallel to the floor keeping the dumbbells as close to your legs as you can throughout the movement (don’t arch your back; keep it flat/straight).

Squats

Contrary to popular belief, squats don’t just work your glutes. They also work your quadriceps and calf muscles. Squats help you build lean muscle, burn fat, strengthen your bones, and build endurance. They’re really easy to perform and can be done with or without weights.

To do a proper squat, stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width, sit into a squat position, keeping your chest up and your shoulders back. To avoid injury, keep your feet angled out about 30°. Also, start by mastering a regular squat before moving to weighted squats.

The best compound exercises put multiple muscle groups and joints to work in a single move. Therefore, by combining multiple compound exercises, you can get a good workout without spending hours in the gym.

Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash

Photo by Your House Fitness https://www.yourhousefitness.com/

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Tracking your weight can be frustrating, especially if you have more than a few pounds to lose because weight can fluctuate by more than a few pounds a day.

To complicate matters, when you’re thirsty, your body panics and retains water, causing you to weigh even more. When you’re adequately hydrated, your body drops the water weight, causing you to weigh less.

Although these little fluctuations are utterly pointless in the long term, they can mess with your motivation. 

Fat Loss Not Weight Loss

Muscle takes up less space than fat, which is why two people can weigh the same but look totally different.

By replacing fat with muscle you can lose inches around the belly, arms, thighs, and hips without losing a single pound on the scale. This is known as body recomposition, where you end up with a completely different ratio of fat to muscle, which is excellent news if you’re trying to lose weight.

The more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism runs, meaning you’ll burn more calories and lose fat faster.

But please don’t obsess over the number on the scale when building muscle. It’s so easy to freak out when you see a couple of extra pounds on the scale despite looking noticeably leaner in the mirror. 

Body Recomposition

Body recomposition is simply the process of replacing body fat with muscle, which is achieved by combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Spending hours on the treadmill may help you lose body fat but does very little for muscle growth. You need to combine running (or another aerobic activity) with weight training for body recomposition to take place.

Start with lighter weights so you can learn proper form and technique. It helps to have a trainer at this stage. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, challenge yourself by lifting heavier weights.

Nutrition plays a huge role in adding lean muscle mass. You need between 0.5 and 0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight for muscle growth. Stick to lean sources of protein, such as chicken breast, beans, lentils, and Greek yogurt.

Lastly, although some people have success staying on track by weighing themselves daily, others find that twice a month works great. Get a scale that measures body fat percentage and muscle mass.

 Don’t be afraid to seek professional advice if you’re not getting the results you’re expecting. Everyone’s body responds differently to exercise and nutrition. So, have fun figuring out what works for you until you’ve successfully designed a healthy lifestyle that you can stick with and enjoy.

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Few people push their bodies past their physical limits like Olympic athletes, who’ve proven over and over that when it comes to endurance, strength, and speed, our bodies are capable of far more than we ever thought possible.

What if we could learn from these athletes and incorporate their best practices into our workouts?

Understanding Your Physical Limits

Our physical limits are both physical and mental. For instance, if your muscles aren’t conditioned to lift twice your body weight, they will tear if you try.

However, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. You need to train your body to withstand the pain that comes with pushing your body incrementally towards achieving that goal while simultaneously recalibrating your brain’s self-imposed limitations.

Your physical limits are just as much mental as they are physical. Your brain tends to say “enough” before you reach your actual limit because its primary goal is to protect and keep you safe. Your brain works to keep you within a safe comfort zone.

As such, pushing past your physical limit is as much about believing what’s possible as it is about physical performance. This is why runners use less energy and can run longer and farther when they imagine feeling relaxed.

What You Can Learn from Elite Athletes

Have a goal
Olympic athletes spend four years training for their next medal. However, to stay motivated on a day-to-day basis, they break down their Olympic goal into smaller goals.

Adopting a similar technique helps you to stay on track too. For instance, if you’re training for a marathon, start by running three miles a day up to 5 times a week and build towards 20 miles.

Compound movements and cross training
Compound movements are exercises that use multiple muscles and joints at the same time. They help build strength much faster than isolated exercises.

Cross training, on the other hand, refers to varying your workout routines to engage different muscle groups. The goal is to pair workouts that support each other while also exercising muscles that are neglected during your typical workouts.

For example, if you’re a runner, start incorporating cycling or swimming into your workout sessions. Cycling will strengthen your heart and leg muscles, which will come in handy when you’re running. On the other hand, swimming provides a total body workout while giving your joints a rest.

The right attitude
While you probably can’t devote multiple hours a day to training like an Olympian, you can adopt an Olympian’s attitude during your workout. This means approaching your workout with single-minded focus and discipline.

For the duration of your workout, the only thing that matters is striving to improve your personal best. Put all other thoughts relating to your job, family, and other commitments out of your mind.

Be present, focused, and intentional. Concentrate on your goal. You’ll be surprised how this laser-focused approach accelerates your gains and improves performance.

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Many people have a love-hate relationship with exercise. They view exercise as a kind of penance for a bad diet or an unhealthy lifestyle, and the mere thought of exercise invokes feelings of shame, fear, and self-judgment. It’s why so many people feel the need to hit the gym after the holiday season, and why more than 90% of those people quit after only three months! 

It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s possible to enjoy exercise without thinking about weight, food, or calories.

Get Rid of the “Exercise is Punishment” Mentality

The first thing you need to do is change your focus from exercise to physical activity. The word exercise brings up images of planned, structured, and repetitive bodily movements, whereas physical activity is about moving the body. Which one would you rather be doing?

There’s a reason why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has physical activity guidelines rather than exercise guidelines. It’s because research suggests exercise may not be enough to offset the adverse effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Most people, including those who go to the gym every day, need to move more.

When you are no longer focused on calories, little things like parking farther away from the entrance or taking the stairs become more enjoyable. Every minute you spend on such activities counts towards the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week, and you don’t need to do any extra work to figure out how many calories it is.

Make Physical Activity Fun

Not everyone enjoys exercise, in the strict sense, but almost everyone can find a physical activity that makes them feel good. Whether it’s walking the dog or a bike ride with the kids, you should choose something rewarding and enjoyable enough for you to want to do it again!

Not sure where to start? Think of something you used to enjoy as a child and then try it. See how you feel about it as an adult.

Find Something You Look Forward To

The benefits of physical activity go far beyond weight management. So try to find a benefit that has nothing to do with losing weight. You can focus on getting stronger, relieving stress, better sleep, flexibility, endurance, or simply seeing what your body is capable of. This approach makes it a whole lot easier (and fun) to stay motivated when the pounds aren’t coming off as fast as you’d like.  

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After 40, some parts of our bodies become tighter and stiffer
while others become rounder and squishier! There are a couple of reasons why
this happens.

The metabolism slows by about 5% every decade after the age of 40. You will have to eat 100 calories less every day to maintain your weight, and much less if trying to lose weight.

As if having to eat less to maintain your weight isn’t bad
enough, the average person also loses between 3–8% of muscle every decade after
the age of 30. Lost muscle is usually replaced by fat, which can make you feel
weaker and look rounder.

The remaining muscles and tendons get tighter, stiffer and more
brittle. One hard tug could send you to the ER with a pulled muscle or torn
ligament.

However, a slower metabolism, less muscle, and a stiffer body doesn’t mean it’s impossible to stay fit after 40. You just need to learn how to work with and around your new body.

Eat More Protein

Protein helps to preserve and build muscle, so we need more of it as we age. As a rule of thumb, strive for 25-30 grams of protein per meal and 10-15 grams per snack. You can achieve this by including four ounces of lentils, beans, soy, chicken, fish or lean meat in your meals, and an ounce of nuts or two tablespoons of nut butter in your snacks.

Strengthen Your Muscles

The best way to prevent muscle loss as you age is to use your
muscles! And since most people over 40 don’t have many opportunities to use
their muscles in their daily ives, strength training becomes a necessity.

You should focus on building functional strength rather than
obsessing over the weight machines at the gym. For instance, you’re better off
doing squats and lunges to strengthen your quads than spending hours on the leg
press machine.

Functional strength enables you to put your shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle joints through a full range of motion without pain and stiffness. It’s the type of strength you need as you grow older because you’re likelier to find yourself picking up kids, climbing stairs, and loading heavy groceries into the car rather than pushing a sled uphill with your legs, or lifting a heavy load overhead like a competitive weight lifter.

Do Balance Exercises

Don’t wait until you begin toppling over to start working on your balance. Something as simple as standing on one leg like a stork when you’re brushing your teeth goes a long way in retaining and improving your balance. Other simple balance exercises include side leg raises, standing on your toes, and walking heel-to-toe.

You may not be able to fight the biology of aging, but you can work around it. Eat more protein, build functional strength and do balance exercises. With easy lifestyle habits like these, you won’t have to worry about your metabolism slowing down or feeling weak and wobbly with age.

The post Staying Fit After 40! appeared first on Lifestyle.

Tracking your weight can be frustrating, especially if you have more than a few pounds to lose. Besides, body weight can fluctuate by a few pounds a day, making it even more frustrating!

When you’re thirsty, your body panics and retains water, causing
you to weigh more. When you’re adequately hydrated, your body drops the water
weight causing you to weigh less.

Although these small fluctuations in weight don’t matter in the long term, it can mess with your motivation. 

Fat Loss Not Weight Loss

Muscle weighs more than fat but takes up less space. That’s why two people can weigh the same but look different.

By focusing on replacing fat with muscle you can lose inches around your belly, arms, thigh, and hips without losing a single pound on the scale. This is known as body recomposition. You can end up with a completely different ratio of fat to muscle, which is good news if you’re trying to lose weight.

The more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism. Therefore, you will burn more calories, which speeds up fat loss.

But please don’t obsess over the number on the scale if you want to build muscle. It’s so easy to panic when that number goes up even if you look leaner in the mirror!

Body Recomposition

Body recomposition is simply the process of replacing body fat with muscle, which is achieved by aerobic and anaerobic training.

Spending endless hours on the treadmill might help you lose body fat but it does very little for muscle growth. You need to combine running, or some other form of aerobic activity, with weight training for body recomposition to take place.

Start with light weights you can manage easily while learning proper form. It helps to have a trainer when first starting to ensure correct technique and avoid injury. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, start challenging yourself by lifting just a little bit heavier each time.

Nutrition plays a BIG part in building muscle mass. You need between 0.5 and 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight for muscle growth. Stick to lean sources of protein, such as chicken breast, beans, lentils, and Greek yogurt.

Lastly, instead of weighing yourself every day or week, consider twice a month. Get a scale that measures body fat percentage and muscle mass, and don’t be afraid to look for professional advice if you’re not getting the results you’re expecting.

The post Put Away The Scale (for now)! appeared first on Lifestyle.

More than 8 million people run 5Ks every year, making it the most popular race in America. If you’re not a runner, you’ve probably wondered what’s so special about a 5K.  

The K in 5K stands for kilometer; a 5K is basically a 3.18-mile run. It’s the perfect run for a beginner because it isn’t too easy or hard.  It provides a reasonable physical challenge that new runners can complete in as little as 7 weeks of training.

Benefits of Running a 5K

There are three main reasons why everyone should consider
running a 5K.

• Cardiovascular function

Preparing for and running a 5K improves cardiovascular function. The heart becomes more efficient at doing its job. Also, you’ll be gradually increasing your stamina and reducing your cardiovascular risk as you train.

• Weight loss

Running a 5K helps to get rid of stubborn fat by forcing the body to use up energy reserves. It also helps with controlling insulin and blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

• Mental health benefits

Running a 5K can be exhausting, especially if you’re a beginner. However, physical exhaustion triggers the release of neurotransmitters, which give you a sense of relief and boost mood, making it a great way to reduce stress.

From couch to 5K

You don’t have to be an experienced runner to run a 5K. Even a complete beginner can run one as long as they’re committed to prepare for it.

Start with a medical check-up

Obesity and certain heart conditions can be a hindrance to running long distances. If you’ve not been exercising and have chosen the 5K as your entry point into the world of fitness, you should get a medical examination first.

When you’ve been cleared medically, start with short distances and progressively build up. And remember, it’s not a good idea to endure chest or joint pain when running.

Keep it simple

Although you might be tempted to buy the latest running gear when first starting, it might not be necessary. Start with the basics like a good pair of running shoes and some music. Give yourself a chance to fall in love with running before investing a lot of money.

Train progressively

Keep track of your progress each time you go running; set a goal to run a little bit farther each time. You can start with jogging and then advance to running once your body has adapted to this new activity.

Pay attention to rest and recovery

As a novice, don’t run two days in a row. In fact, to avoid
injuries, start by running once or twice a week and then every other day until
your body adapts to the new training schedule.

Pay attention to hydration and proper nutrition

Dehydration makes you feel exhausted and gives you muscle cramps. So stay hydrated during and after your run. You’ll also have more energy if you follow proper nutrition by eating fruit, vegetables, and healthy proteins.

Don’t wait too long

You don’t need to run the entire 5K every time you do your practice run to be ready for the race. You’ll know it’s time to sign up for a race when you can run more than 2 miles continuously.

Remember, a 5K is meant to be completed and not necessarily won. So, the most important thing of all is to have fun!

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