Happier, Healthier, MoreActiveYou!
It’s that time of year again, the beginning of a new year when many of us feel compelled to make New Year’s Resolutions. What will be your resolutions towards taking care of your health? Will you set a goal to lose weight, exercise more, eat better and increase your activity level? Unfortunately, such declarations often fail after a month or two. This can often be attributed to two things: a lack of readiness to actually change bad habits and a pattern of setting unrealistic expectations. So what types of resolutions can we make that we’ll actually stick to? If you want to improve your health and increase your energy, here are some simple ways to change your lifestyle for the better. 1. Begin the day with protein. Eating protein for breakfast helps curb your appetite throughout the day and tends to improve your overall diet as well. While you may wind up consuming the same number of calories over a day’s time, you’ll be less tempted by high-fat snacks around dinner time. Keep in mind that there are plenty of plant-based proteins available, including hemp seeds, black beans, almonds, edamame, and pumpkin seeds among them. 2. Limit your drinks. By this, we aren’t only referring to alcohol. Instead, try to cut back on the calorie-laden drinks popular this time of year. Concoctions such as sweetened coffee drinks, sodas, diet sodas and energy drinks can be detrimental to a healthy diet. Focus on a higher consumption of water during the day and to make it easy, keep a glass by your desk or carry a bottle around with you. 3. Try wearable technology. Research shows that people who use wearable technology gadgets such as Fitbits, Garmin, and Withings, tend to stick to their exercise routine more faithfully than those who don’t. With many of them, you can track your heart rate, steps per minute, sleep cycles, and more. 4. Increase Your Range Of Motion. Avoid shortcuts when it comes to exercising. Strive for using the greatest range of motion. This may include making longer lunges, stretching arms more while jumping rope, or leaning over further during yoga. Whatever the case, doing so helps your muscles do more work per rep, which results in breaking down more tissue by the end of your workout. If you have
difficulty reaching a full range of motion, or have discomfort, consult your physical therapist. 5. Reduce fatigue. As anyone who has tried and failed at establishing a regular exercise routine can agree, fatigue is the number one enemy. To help kombat this, drink beet juice. Studies show that it can increase stamina by up to 16 percent. Furthermore, listen to music that keeps you motivated. Listening to the right music can actually expand your blood vessels by 26 percent. Work on a schedule routine that ensures you get enough rest, exercise, and activity. 6. Switch it up. If you’ve been plugging through the same fitness routine day after day, you may notice a reduction in strength gain. To avoid this, try different exercises, working out at different times of day, using different repetitions, or lifting different weights. As 2018 begins to unfold, consider ways to add healthy decision- making to your lifestyle. Remember that putting things off doesn’t get you to where you want to be. We are here to help you reach your goals and achieve a healthy, pain-free lifestyle. Talk to your physical therapist at our practice today, or schedule a consultation to make your 2018 the healthiest yet.
The Highest Compliment Nothing is more important to us than helping people get back to doing the things they love. We care about our patients and our community and want to help as many people as we can reach optimal function. The opportunity to touch lives is just one reason we’re so grateful for your referrals! To us, a referral is the highest compliment, and we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has trusted us enough to send family and friends our way. Susan Adams Sue Sutley Chuck and Barbara Skarshaug Dennis Ramsdell Winnie Montgomery Patty Perryman Larry and Karen Letchford Larry King
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