A daily brisk walk helps switch on the hormone CRF, which protects your brain from memory decline, according to researchers at the University of Nottingham.
So, come rain or shine, let’s get out and start moving!
Category Archives: Healthy lifestyle
WISE UP ON PORTION CONTROL.
Many of us automatically count the calories that we consume in order to help lose weight. However, although calorie intake does of course effect our weight management, along with calorie expenditure (i.e. exercise), it is not the key factor in long-term weight loss.
If your body doesn’t get the building blocks of nutrients it requires for good health, weight loss is more difficult as your body reacts by holding onto what it can get. Also, calories from good fats and protein help to turn off hunger signals to the brain, keeping you fuller for longer.
Many of the people I speak to tell me that they struggle with knowing how much of any food equates to one portion. Being armed with this information can really benefit any weight management programme. As a general rule, carbs should be the size of a fist and protein the size of your palm, while veg should fill the other half of your plate.
For more information on portion sizes and planning meals, check out the Love Food Hate Waste website.
FIZZLE OUT THOSE FIZZY DRINKS.
It may be shocking to hear that according to a new study, having just one fizzy drink a day raises women’s risk of a stroke by a huge 80%!
Researchers at Osaka University found both regular and low calorie soft drinks raise the chances of an ischaemic stroke – a life-threatening condition.
Try sipping on ginseng or green tea for a natural high instead.
DE-STRESS FOR A FLATTER STOMACH.
A flabby mid-section is notoriously hard to shape up, and it often comes down to stress. Even if you eat well and exercise, leading a stressful lifelstyle can stop you losing inches.
When the body is under long-term physical stress, levels of the hormone cortisol shoot up, which can cause your body to hold onto fat around the waistline.
Cortisol effects appetite, causing you to crave sugary, high fat foods. These foods stimulate the brain to release neurotransmitters such as serotin and dopamine which, although soothe stress, are bad news for your body.
To counter the effects of cortisol, get yourself some consistent, solid sleep (ideally seven to nine hours a night) to allow your body to relax and recuperate.
You can also try stress-soothing foods such as oily fish, which helps regulate cortisol, or turkey, which boosts serotonin.
And, if that isn’t enough to make you want to chill-out and put your feet up, a recent study by Columbia University Medical Centre found the effects of stress are as damaging to your heart as smoking five cigarettes a day!
COMBAT STRESS WITH EXERCISE.
I could write a long list of all the benefits exercise gives us, but one that is maybe most overlooked, yet probably relates to 99% of us, is it’s ability to relieve stress.
Physical activity helps to use up the excess energy produced by the stress response. In fight-or-flight mode, the body is ready for intense physical activity.
By exercising, the stress response runs its course, and the body returns to a physiological normal.
Even if you don’t feel like exercising, push yourself to do something, however light. It will do wonders for your mental state and help to make you feel much more positive.
TOP TIP: Work out with a friend or partner. It’s a great way to get healthy, whilst have fun too!
GET UP AND START MOVING!
2013 is here and like thousands of other women across the country you are probably thinking about making a New Year’s Resolution.
Many of which go along the lines of wanting to do more exercise or to eat more healthy. If so, that’s great. But can you stick to it?
Here’s one way to a healthier lifestyle that is simple and easy to fit into your everyday routine.
How often have you felt bored, sitting in front of the telly just watching whatever happens to be on? Next time this happens, get up and start moving!
Sitting down and relaxing is great and we all need to make sure we have some ‘me time’ or simply ‘time to do nothing’. Relaxation is of course as important as exercise.
However, if this is a more regular occurrence, think of all the things you could be doing in that 30 minutes or an hour.
Make everyday chores fun. Dance and sing along to your favourite music while cleaning the house or ironing.Rope someone else in to half the time it takes and make everyday tasks a competition between you.
Make the most of the British summer (I know that seems a long way off at the moment!) and wash the car or do gardening on those sunny days.
And it doesn’t have to be work work work. Go out for a long walk or cycle to your local shops.
Not only will you feel better for getting up and about, you’ll burn those all important calories whilst doing it too!