| February 9, 2011 |
February Health & Fitness Challenge Update!
Been sticking with your 2010 goals and the Poise Health & Fitness challenge? Terrific! If you’ve gotten this far, it’s time for an update. Usually after six to eight weeks of the same routine, the body begins to understand what’s happening and it stops reacting. If this is the case for you, or if you’re just ready to add more health and fitness steps into your routine, read on for my latest challenge. You can do it!
(If you missed the initial 2011 Poise health and fitness challenge newsletter back in December, visit the newsletter archive page at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs038/1102237935337/
archive/1103453724480.html)
Fitness Plan
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Take a look at the exercise routine you’ve been doing the past six weeks and be honest with yourself about what’s working and what’s not. Feeling like you could push it a bit harder at spin class? Now’s the time to do it! Think the yoga DVD you’ve been doing is a little beneath your level now? Buy a more advanced one! Whatever the exercise, take it up a notch this month. If you haven’t already moved up from, say, pressing 8-pound dumbbells over your head, grab those 10-pounders the next time you strength train (physical health permitting). The key is to escape any stagnant feeling when it comes to working out – which just leads to boredom and eventually quitting altogether. And no one likes a quitter (that jerk of a P.E. coach in junior high was right about that one thing)!
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Educate yourself: If you don’t do so already, pick up at least one fitness magazine this week (something besides one with mostly recipes). Reading about fitness makes people more likely to want to become physically fit, and you should start learning about new moves, exercises, and fitness tips and tricks you may not already know about. Knowledge is power!
Health Plan
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Try a new veggie every week for the next six weeks. One to try? Fennel! I’m talking about the plant, not the seed. Fennel is my new favorite ingredient to add to salads – it’s light and fresh tasting, which is a nice treat that makes me forget it’s still winter. Also stick with the fruit you’ve been eating from the original challenge (or start eating fruit if you’ve been slacking a bit again).
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Start paying attention to how much protein you consume (lean meats, dairy, beans and legumes, etc.) and try to get more if you need to (some people, especially men, actually get quite enough). Here’s how to figure out how much you need: Take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2. This gives you your weight in kilograms. Now take that number and multiply it by 0.8-1.8. Choose closer to 0.8 if you’re mostly sedentary and in decent health. Choose the higher end if you are under a lot of daily stress, you work out a lot at fairly hard levels, are pregnant, or recovering from an illness. The resulting number is your protein requirement in grams. Aim to get 10-20 grams at breakfast alone.
That’s all you’ve got to add in for now! Look for another update to the Poise Health & Fitness Challenge in six to eight weeks!
Hot Cereal Makeover!Creamy Wheat Berry Oats Ingredients • ½ cup raisins • 2 cups nonfat milk, or unsweetened almond milk (nutrition stats include nonfat milk, so if you use almond milk the total calories, protein and fat amounts will differ just slightly) • 1/8 teaspoon salt • 1 ¼ cups cooked wheat berries (just Google “How to Cook Wheat Berries,” it’s easy) • 2 teaspoons brown sugar • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • ¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted if desired Directions Stovetop Directions: Bring milk or almond milk to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in oats, raisins and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in cooked wheat berries and cook until heated through, about 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon; let stand for 1 minute. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve! Nutritionals per serving (makes 4; each serving equals about ¾ cup): 340 calories; 6 g fat (0g saturated, 2 g monounsaturated); 3 mg cholesterol; 59 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 7 g fiber; 304 mg sodium; 392 mg potassium. Recipe and photo courtesy of Eating Well |
Meet the Trainer
Crystal is a certified personal trainer through the National Sports and Conditioning Association (NSCA). She has a passion for helping others live a healthy lifestyle and coaching them to push their limits beyond what they think they are capable of.
