Ten Commandments for Fitness!

I have not updated my blog in over a month because of travel and work load but am hoping to get back into the groove. There have been some good articles I have been reading and wanted to share some of this with you.

So I read these 10 tips for being fit in the National Post...pretty basic and simple to follow:

1. Drink plenty of water: By the time you realize you are dehydrated, its too late. Water is the best - fruit juices contain too much sugar. A glass of coconut water works well so long as you have the real stuff or a good organic brand (ONE - from Brazil) that is not sweetened. It is high in potassium (better than banana which is essentially sugar on a stick!), low in carbs and sugars and naturally replenishes the body's fluids after exercising.

2. Make sure you include dietary fibre in your diet. Fibre has many healthy benefits. It will make you feel full so you will not crave unhealthy foods.

3. When you feel hungry, try eating a few ounces of protein....this helps cravings as well.

4. Add variety to your diet. As I mentioned earlier, its good to trick the body. Fruit smoothies are good and easy to make. For example, use fresh or frozen fruit, protein powder and low fat milk or unsweetened juice. Great for post workout - at that time you can add banana/peanut butter.

5. Decrease sodium consumption (I know in India we tend to add too much salt to our food, but in the western world, its the sodium in canned and processed foods that can be harmful) -it leads to health problems such as hypertension.

6. Incorporate cardio workouts three to four times a week. To burn the most calories in the least amount of time, interval training is the way to go (bouts of vigorous exercise followed by bouts of mild exercise). Its always good to challenge the body.

7. Another way to optimize a workout regime is to include multi-joint exercises, such as squat presses. For general fitness and achieving a lean and toned figure, try full body workouts - you will burn more calories than training one or two body parts.

8. Mix it up. Doing the same exercise everyday is not effective. Try cross training - circuit classes, kickboxing, swimming, dancing and even yoga are good options.

9. Working the core is very important. If you continually think about engaging the core in exercising, your performance will be better. Use of stability ball, bosu or balance board will increase the intensity of the workout.

10. Challenge yourself! We all like to work within our comfort zones but to get optimal results, you will have to push yourself past where you usually stop exerting.