Baby Steps in Healthy Living
Like most years, the advent of summer brings with it a glut of "get fit" information in the media. While this is great for parts of the country where it was snowing just a few weeks ago (yes, every day during my vacation, not to rub it in, but yeah, I'm rubbing it in) it is a little harder to suddenly adopt a workout routine in the heat of a Texas summer.
One article I read by Run Tex's Paul Carroza reminded me that working out during the summer is quite different than during the cooler months. The heat will increase your efforts during your work out, automatically adding intensity. It's a good time to concentrate on building endurance rather than working on speed. And because your heart rate climbs along with temps and humidity, Carroza suggest wearing a heart rate monitor.
It isn't the easiest to stick to a work out schedule when the hot weather has you longing for Barton Springs but it's all about taking baby steps in healthy living. Some weeks we are gung ho about our diet and exercise and some weeks we can barely manage to finish a load of laundry, much less make it to the gym or boot camp. The key is to challenge yourself when you need it and lighten up on yourself when life overwhelms you. Don't push yourself to a burn out but keep your zest for working out alive.
When we choose to eat healthfully and to exercise it's like putting a little money into the 401K of our life. Over time, that little bit adds up to a nice amount. Any amount of living healthfully has an improvement on our fitness. And just like a retirement account, the more we put in, the more we'll benefit later. If one day you aren't banking as much, don't beat yourself up but also don't close the account, ya know?
And it's not just about what we as adults do for our selves. It's also in how we care for our families. I've been sneaking healthy food in slowly so my fiance doesn't catch on until after he's tried something new and loved it. The whole "hey honey, taste this" works well with him.
You can do simple things like deciding against cake and ice cream at your child's birthday party in favor of a low sugar fruit pizza or a fruit cup topped with a bit of colored shredded coconut. Think the other parents will look down their nose at you? Who cares when it's your child's health you're protecting?
In the end, even if all you take are baby steps, you're still coming out ahead.
One article I read by Run Tex's Paul Carroza reminded me that working out during the summer is quite different than during the cooler months. The heat will increase your efforts during your work out, automatically adding intensity. It's a good time to concentrate on building endurance rather than working on speed. And because your heart rate climbs along with temps and humidity, Carroza suggest wearing a heart rate monitor.
It isn't the easiest to stick to a work out schedule when the hot weather has you longing for Barton Springs but it's all about taking baby steps in healthy living. Some weeks we are gung ho about our diet and exercise and some weeks we can barely manage to finish a load of laundry, much less make it to the gym or boot camp. The key is to challenge yourself when you need it and lighten up on yourself when life overwhelms you. Don't push yourself to a burn out but keep your zest for working out alive.
When we choose to eat healthfully and to exercise it's like putting a little money into the 401K of our life. Over time, that little bit adds up to a nice amount. Any amount of living healthfully has an improvement on our fitness. And just like a retirement account, the more we put in, the more we'll benefit later. If one day you aren't banking as much, don't beat yourself up but also don't close the account, ya know?
And it's not just about what we as adults do for our selves. It's also in how we care for our families. I've been sneaking healthy food in slowly so my fiance doesn't catch on until after he's tried something new and loved it. The whole "hey honey, taste this" works well with him.
You can do simple things like deciding against cake and ice cream at your child's birthday party in favor of a low sugar fruit pizza or a fruit cup topped with a bit of colored shredded coconut. Think the other parents will look down their nose at you? Who cares when it's your child's health you're protecting?
In the end, even if all you take are baby steps, you're still coming out ahead.
"Use the long days and warm temperatures to change your habits and reach new levels of activity. Move. Walk. Sweat. Bike. Garden. Hike. Have fun."
~Paul Carroza~
posted by Kay at 8:33 PM
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