By Woody McMahon   

Spring is a great time to "clean house" and take a few moments to review your health and fitness program. Ask yourself if your fitness program is still fun or has it gotten a little stale? Are you getting a restful sleep and feeling more energetic or do you feel stressed and tired all of the time? Are you eating 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day or has too much junk or fast food crept into your eating plan? Do you feel fulfilled and happy with your life or are you like a hamster on a wheel? So did you answer yes to all of these questions? Do you think you might need a little spring tune-up? Let's talk about a few simple ways to revamp your springtime health and fitness and help you look and feel your best.

Back to Fitness Basics

Subtle changes in your fitness program can make big changes in your results. Instead of the traditional 30 minutes of weight training followed by 30 minutes of machine based cardio, try shortening your workouts and consider a whole body circuit workout. In a whole body circuit workout you are shooting for 40 minutes of weights and cardio training simultaneously. Choose whole body exercises that will keep your heart rate in the training zone the entire training time. Try this for a challenging sequence; push-ups, squats and curls combo, lunges and shoulder press combo, star
jumps, standing row, prone bridge/plank, hip lifts on the fitness ball, wall sits and jump rope. Repeat once or twice. Don't rush it and no rest time either except for water. Remember to keep your workouts safe by limiting flexion, lateral bending and rotational motions.

Sleep is a Time to Heal

Your sleep time is when the body heals and repairs itself. A good sleep helps reduce the negative health effects of a stressful day. Getting a restful sleep requires feeling equally physically and mentally tired. It is difficult to get a restful sleep if you are more mentally than physically tired at the end of the day. Regular physical activity like walking, whole body circuit workouts or playing a sport will balance your mental and physical fatigue. Learning to consciously turn off your day also improves
sleep quality. Before going to sleep, try reading a book with a strong positive message, listen to quieting music or take a few moments to meditate. These excellent "before sleep" habits help quiet your mind and induce a deeper more restful sleep.

Eating High Quality Fuel

Food is basically fuel. The old saying "garbage in, garbage out" applies in this example. The higher the quality of foods you eat, the easier it is for your body to digest and extract the important nutrients. The myriad of eating patterns and diet recommendations has made healthy eating much too complicated. Simply follow a nutritional program that contains 50% fruits and vegetables and adequate lean protein. Depending upon your metabolism, minimize starch based carbohydrates like bread and pasta. These tend to be addictive for some people and should be minimized. Fruits and veggies provide plenty of plant based carbohydrates as well as greater amounts of water and minerals. Correct portion size will also keep your body weight in a healthy range thus eliminating the need for calorie counting, points or other silly food games.

Creating a Purposeful Life

Last but not least, make sure your life has purpose. More than just making money or tending the kids, humans need a purpose driven life to thrive. The longest lived and healthiest people in the world all have a single, common trait. Their lives are filled with purpose. They have a drive to get up in the morning and fulfill that need. If you don't have an obvious purpose, spend some time at the library or bookstore browsing the many wonderful books on self-improvement. It will be time well spent.

Try these healthy lifestyle changes for 30 days. Feel what it is like to be a part of the health solution rather than a health burden. If you need additional suggestions and advice on living a healthier lifestyle, email or call me for a no cost consultation, at 703-628-2880 or email
woody@sequoiahealth.com.   

Photo credit: Public Domain Pictures