Invest in your health

Many of us wake up and think “today I’ll be healthy,  no junk food,  I’ll get a salad for lunch,  and I’ll get a workout in.” But as you go about your day,  things change up a little.  It’s a co workers birthday and lots of (delicious) cake flowing around the office. Or you get slammed and have to order pizza because you don’t have time to get lunch.  Then you decide to just pick up Chinese food on the way home because you don’t feel like cooking and the gym?  Ha no way, not today!

Once you realize that everything you put into your body will effect not only the way you look but the way you feel, you will be more careful or your food choices. “It’s too hard to plan ahead and really expensive to eat healthy.” Not really – when you think of how much you spend on fast food each week and not to mention the money you’ll be spending on medical bills as you get older.

There is no price for a healthy life and you are in complete control of it! Not to say you have to make every meal and go to the gym every day – just be aware of what you are ingesting and how much you’re exercising. Take pride in yourself and fuel your body with the right stuff!

Start today! Email maketimforfit@gmail.com for your personalized workout program! I will work with you to fit a program into your busy schedule!

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Good Habits are Contagious

Great news–good habits are contagious and once you have gotten into a healthy routine with regular exercise and healthy eating, it can have a positive effect on your friends, family and co-workers.

HOWEVER – bad habits are JUST as contagious!

You must surround yourself with like minded people in order to succeed. It’s so easy to get tempted and to have people that aren’t trying to live a lifestyle like you are – it makes it difficult to stay on track!

Find a support group, a workout class, siblings, whoever –  as long as they will help keep you accountable!

 
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No gym partner? No problem!

A healthy and fit lifestyle is personal decision. IF your spouse, family, friends, kids are all doing the same it does make it (a whole lot) easier to help keep on track and accountable. Sometimes a solo workout can help you refocus and benefit you not only physically but also emotionally and mentally.

Working out alone gives you some alone time to think about you.

Let’s face it, life gets busy but DON’T forget you are a priority.

That solo workout whether it’s a quick run, a strength training session or a 6 mile jog – enjoy the time because time alone doesn’t happen often! That little alone time will help you to be best version of you – a healthy one!

You can go at your one pace – no partner pushing you faster or slowing you down. You become your own motivation.  Plus, you can skip the chit chat and focus on the workout you are doing.  Running, lifting, yoga, whatever it is you can go with your personal flow and do you!

Choose whatever music you want! Get lost in some music and let yourself take it all in! Sometimes a good jam session is all you need to keep going! Your music, your choice, you call the shots.

So take advantage of some solo time and get a workout in on your terms! You are only trying to get better than you were yesterday, sometimes a solo workout is just what you need!

 
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Tupperware Life

Living a healthy lifestyle takes a little planning, time and preparation.  In the super fast paced world we live in everything is thing “go go go” and planning takes a back seat. Some simple tips that can help you continue to ready healthy on the go!
•Make extra
When you do have time to cook dinner, cook enough for 2 extra meals.  It’s just as easy to make a piece of grilled chicken as it is to make 4.
•Staples
Have things you like in the house as ready go-to’s. For me I like string cheese,  clementines, bananas, grapes, edamame, fresh spinach and hard boiled eggs.
•Pack early
If you pack a lunch or dinner the night before you can just grab and go. Way easier than frantically putting things together lat minute.
•Single servings
When you store your left overs store them in meals. Don’t put all the chicken breats together, but rather the chicken,  edamame and rice. Again making it easier on yourself in the long run.

So I bring my lunch and sometimes dinner to work with all my Tupperware.  But if your health is important to you,  you find ways to make it work.  Plus, you can save a ton of money but not eating out! 👏👏👐👍👌

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Booty for your Boo

I got married in July 2014 and I definitely wanted to have the right curves in the right places! So whether you’re getting married and want to have that nice round booty in that perfect dress or you are getting ready for date night or even better you just to look in the mirror and check yourself out – here are some moves to help you get that booty!

Try these moves to help shape your booty for your boo and to look fabulous in whatever you wear!

BentKneeHipExtension HipExtensionwithChairAssist butt-kicks StepUp Superman-JustLegs

**MakeTimeForFit assumes no responsibility for any injury as a result of these moves**

Egg sandwich

I love the results I’m seeing from carb cycling – (if you want to know more about that email maketimeforfit@gmail.com). One of my favorite breakfast meals* is this egg sandwich – and it’s super easy to make.

I have an egg poacher (it was 4 dollars from Bed, Bath and Beyond here) and make two eggs with a quick stir and a little water – microwave for :45-1:00 and then put a little ham, cheese and couple slices of avocado the middle. Viola – super easy, and just as quick as a bowl of cereal!

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What are some of your favorite low carb breakfasts?

*I work out in the morning so I usually have a 1/4 c of oatmeal with this for enough energy to get through my workout.

February is Heart Awareness Month!

healthy-heart

In honor of Heart Awareness Month – thought I’d give you five ways to keep your heart healthy!

Just like any muscle the more you work it out, the stronger it gets and the same goes for you heart. When you exercise regularly, your heart can recover faster after your heart rate is up from an activity.

Here are five exercises for your heart:

1) Swimming: The effect of immersing one’s body in water itself reduces stress. Swimming enables one to use the muscles in one’s body that might never be used otherwise. It can lead to a host of other benefits, such as:

• Reduced heart rate
• Improved breathing
• Improved circulation
• Better blood pressure
• Weight control, etc.

2) Cycling: To counter the sedentary lifestyle of an individual, cycling is a healthy and low-impact exercise. It can be enjoyed by all ages and it gives the heart, blood vessels and lungs a good workout. Regular cycling reduces the risk of health problems such as stroke, heart attack, etc.

3) Brisk walking: It is said that every step an individual takes is a part of their journey to good heart health. Brisk walking increases the heart rate. Regular brisk walking can reduce the risk of a heart attack, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, and raise (good) HDL cholesterol, lower blood pressure, help manage weight, and improve one’s mood.

4) Running: Running can build up the fitness and endurance of the heart. It can also reduce the fat content surrounding the heart and inside the blood vessels. Running provides long term strength training to the heart, which helps in maintaining and increasing the fitness level of the heart.

5) Aerobics: Aerobics helps the heart muscles become stronger due to exercise, which makes it pump more efficiently. Therefore, one’s resting heart rate is reduced and the heart does not need to work as hard. It needs added oxygen to be pushed through the body to one’s muscles, and the heart being one of the biggest and hardest working muscles, benefits the most from this.

Be sure to take care of your heart – it’s the only one you got!

Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 killer of all children, more than all childhood cancers combined, yet the research is grossly underfunded. 1 in 5 children with a CHD will not make it to their first birthday. My friend’s baby, Luca was that 1 in 5. If you would like to donate to help those with heart conditions I encourage you to visit Hopeful Hearts.

Reference here – www.healthmeup.com

Slider workout!

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Sliders are all you need for a great full body workout! Sliders cause you to burn more calories during an exercise because it requires you to engage your stabilizing muscles. The more muscles being used during each move which results in more calories burned!

Mt. Climber [advanced: twisting Mt climbers]
Bear Crawl [advanced: add push up]
Scissors
In and outs
Single leg in with wiper
Push ups – all kinds a challenging variations.

Check out my instagram for video examples of some of these moves!

If you don’t own sliders you can use towels on wood for or even paper plates!

Sweat it out

If you’re like me nothing sounds better after a good workout than to sweat it out and relax in the sauna – but do you know what you are sweating out??

The answer is toxins! Sitting in a sauna and sweating helps your body rid itself of many toxins that have built up from processed food, alcohol, chemical and pesticides from the air! Regardless of how perfect your diet is there are tons of chemicals in your body simply from living and being around other people (don’t get too grossed out!).

Here’s where a sauna comes in. On an average day, your eccrine glands put out about a quart of sweat. But when you hang out in a sauna, they pump out that much in 15 minutes.

But the benefits of the sauna don’t stop there! It also helps your heart! A post-workout sauna session helps improve blood flow!

Japanese researchers have found that sitting in a sauna is particularly helpful for congestive heart failure. After taking daily saunas for four weeks, 13 of 15 patients with serious heart failure had significant decreases in blood pressure and improvements in ejection fraction (a measure of the heart’s pumping ability), exercise tolerance and oxygen uptake.

Sauna sessions can help with –

  • Improved blood circulation: The sauna increases and improves the rate of blood circulation and breathing.
  • Weight loss: Sauna is similar to mild exercise, it burns about 300 calories per average session. Regular sauna treatments combined with a healthy diet and moderate exercise will help you lose weight and stay fit and healthy.
  • Skin cleansing: A profuse sauna-induced sweat followed by a shower cleanses your skin far more thoroughly than just taking a shower. It makes it soft and healthy with immediately noticeable effects.
  • Body relaxation: Stress build-up creates tension in the body manifesting in various aches and pains. The heat and humidity of the sauna diffuses the pain and relaxes tired muscles. A sauna in the evening will leave tense muscles and sore limbs totally relaxed. Sauna also temporarily relieves arthritic pain.
  • Mind relaxation: The sauna is essentially a place to relax. Regular sauna adepts all agree that it effectively helps relieve physical and mental fatigue and stress.

And most of all it just feels great to sweat it out! After your workout – go for a sit in the sauna and reap all the benefits!

***Try this: When you sit in the sauna, brush, lightly scratch, or tap the skin on your arms, legs, belly, and back. This will stimulate your pores to open more while you’re in the sauna, and boost the circulation at the surface of your body. Immediately after you leave the sauna you have to immerse yourself in cold water! This will close your pores back up, pull the blood back to your core organs, and reinforce your natural defenses. This means that you will actually lose less heat when you are out of the sauna, boost your circulation, stay warmer longer, and keep your vital organs happy and functioning at the same time.***Reference 3


Reference 1
Reference 2

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Teach kids the importance of exercise!

Did you know that children spend more than 7.5 hours a day in front of a screen – TV/Video/Computer.

The majority of kids are not active and not getting enough physical activity. Take your kids on a walk, work out with them, teach them HOW and WHY it is important to exercise daily! Plus teach them the impact food (good and bad) has on moods, headaches and overall well-being. They will follow whatever example you set – so be an example of what you want them to be.

Teaching your kids healthy habits such as daily exercise will help them stay healthy and help keep you accountable! Don’t forget they are always watching!

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