Running on home treadmills or riding stationary bikes are both great ways to improve your cardio and get in shape. However, exercise is only half the battle when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle. It’s important that you watch what you eat in the kitchen so that you don’t discount all the hard work you just did in the gym. Continue reading “Must-have kitchen tools for a healthy diet”
It’s that time of year when it is pumpkin EVERYTHING! Not only does pumpkin-flavored anything taste great, but pumpkin is good for you too. There are a lot of great recipes out there, but if you want to try something healthy AND different, give chocolate chip pumpkin bread a shot! Using egg whites versus the egg yolk in this recipe will greatly reduce the amount of cholesterol consumed with each serving. This recipe makes a GREAT fall breakfast, or even mid-afternoon snack and only contains 152 calories per serving! Courtesy of Health.com, the recipe is as follows: Continue reading “Healthy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe”
The sun may be shining for longer and temperatures may have warmed up, but finding the energy to power through the day can still be a challenge. The fast pace of life nowadays, work stress and responsibilities may be zapping daily vigor, making it more difficult to commit to a session on your home treadmill. What’s more, if you do fit in a workout, it may not be as effective when energy levels are low.
There are easy ways to jump-start your engine such as energy drinks, but LiveScience noted that information presented at the 2013 American Heart Association meeting found that a habit of sipping these beverages could affect your heart rhythm and increase your blood pressure. Continue reading “Top 6 tips to boost energy throughout the day”
You know that exercising on home gym equipment on a regular basis not only helps improve your endurance and tone your muscles (which is great for a self-confidence boost!), it also causes the body to release endorphins – feel-good hormones – so that you experience a better mood more often. Continue reading “Try these 6 snacks to help boost your mood”
You may think of your home gym equipment as a sanctuary where you can escape the day’s stress, have some alone time and enjoy a really great session on your elliptical machine.
A successful sweat sesh is plenty of motivation to keep you dedicated to your weekly fitness routine, especially if you’re working toward an end goal. When you add in the improved mood, better sleep and better body image, it’s easy to spend extra time pounding your home treadmill’s belt. Continue reading “Top 4 recovery day mistakes to avoid”
Summer is finally here! If you live in a locale that experiences all four seasons, you have most likely been anxiously awaiting the return of hot temperatures, sunny days and longer daylight hours.
Another perk of the arrival of summer is that it’s a time when individuals, couples and families plan a vacation. Trips are a great way to spend quality time with loved ones, take a break from the stress of everyday life and allow yourself some time to truly unwind. Continue reading “Top 5 tips for staying healthy on your summer vacation”
The holidays have come and gone, as have the indulging in sweets and libations. You have put on a little extra poundage between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but now it’s time to reset and re-focus with a post-holiday detox.
Whether you’re hoping to drop that extra weight from too many cookies, want to tone up your muscles to see more definition, improve your diet plan or expand your endurance level on your home gym equipment, engaging in a healthy detox is a excellent way to examine your fitness and nutrition plans and make adjustments where it’s necessary in order to fully achieve your goals this year. Continue reading “Can you have a healthy post-holiday detox?”
Now that the holidays have come and gone, it’s time to focus on fitness – especially if you made healthy resolutions – and start losing that holiday weight. Indulging on sweets and treats over the holidays is often fun and delicious, but once January arrives, it’s time to get serious about hitting the home fitness equipment again.
If you’ve resolved to get in the best shape of your life this year, you must remember that in addition to being consistent on the home elliptical machine and stationary bike, you must stick to healthy eating. Unfortunately, many “diet” plans are very rigid and don’t leave a lot of room for splurge meals or variety. Because of this, they can become boring very quickly, causing them to be abandoned. There are also so many different diet methods claiming to be the most effective, so it can be a challenge deciding which is the right one for you.
The good news is, there’s an eating plan that’s super easy to follow and allows the freedom to make your own choices when it comes to meal planning: the 80/20 method.
What is the 80/20 rule?
The 80/20 rule is quite simple: 80 percent of the time you eat healthy foods and the other 20 percent of the time you can indulge in cheat meals or your favorite sweet or savory treats. This plan provides a lot of flexibility and it’s easy because you don’t have to adhere to any specialized food choices. This makes it easier to stick to for the long term and doesn’t force you to ignore cravings, which can lead to crankiness and overindulging.
For example, if you eat three meals a day, that’s 21 meals a week. With this plan, you can eat 17 healthy meals and have four splurge meals If you opt for five small meals a day, you have 35 total meals a week. With the 80/20 rule, you eat 28 healthy meals and seven splurge ones. Similarly, if you count calories and aim for 1,200 calories per day, 960 of them should be healthy and you can treat yourself to the remaining 240.
Why try the 80/20 method?
One problem with certain diet plans is that they make you believe you have to be on point 100 percent of the time, but no one is perfect. Therefore, even if you run every day on your home treadmill and strive to eat well, chances are you’ll have an off day. When that happens, it can cause you to feel guilty or bad about yourself. With the 80/20 rule, however, you can alter your ways of thinking to accept that it’s OK to have a cookie or slice of chocolate cake once in a while.
Eating well 80 percent of the time and splurging the other 20 percent keeps you happier in the long run, because instead of focusing on what you can’t eat, you can enjoy the foods you can consume and you won’t feel deprived of your favorite edible goodies. And there are no rules saying what you can and can’t eat, so you don’t have to worry about making a mistake and eating a food item outside of the guidelines. That can also lead to negative feelings.
If the 80/20 rule sounds like something you want to try, remember not to be hard on yourself. With this plan, you’re allowed to have foods you love and may not be the best for you occasionally. If you do eat a candy bar or a cupcake, don’t feel guilty about it, and remember that you’re mostly dining well and sticking to regular workouts. That being said, don’t go too crazy with the indulging, as that will prohibit you from losing weight as successfully as you want.
As you develop a commitment to healthy changes in your life, you’ll have to examine both the physical activity and diet choices you make. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, tone up your muscles or just be in better shape generally, it requires lifestyle changes on both fronts for you to truly see the best results.
After setting up your home gym equipment, it’ll be easy to spend time each week running on a home treadmill like the True PS100 Home Treadmill or an elliptical machine like a True PS300 Home Elliptical. Or maybe you’re preparing for a cycling race and like to spend time on a stationary bike like the True ES9.0 Home Upright Bike. Whatever your chosen method of working out is, sticking to a plan and switching up your routine periodically keeps you motivated and focused. Continue reading “Is the Paleo Diet a valid option for eating healthy?”