Main Page> Miscellaneous> Fitness Tips Hydrate Yourself! Drink a glass of water before your meal and another with your meal. By filling your stomach with water, you will become full quicker and eat less. Alcohol Counts Too It takes 3600 calories more to gain one pound. That's only about 25 beers. If you have a weekend of heavy drinking, you could end up 1 pound heavier on Monday morning, especially if you combine drinking with high fat foods such as chips. Do it again the following weekend and you'll be even heavier. Liquid calories count too, so remember to watch them. Feel Great All Day Get a good night sleep tonight. Wake up feeling strong and rested. Before you start your day, take 20 or 30 minutes to get yourself warmed up for it. Stretch, lift weights or go for a quick walk. You'll feel great and it will motivate you to eat right through out the day. When you get home from work, take the time to relax your breathing. Feel good. Enjoy preparing a healthy dinner. Do something active in the evening. Spend time talking to your family and friends. Go to bed on time. Sit Taller When sitting at a desk, especially when working on a computer, watch your posture. Make sure that you are sitting up straight with your shoulders pulled back. Don't lean on your arms, forcing your shoulder blades to sit closer to your chin. Make sure your wrists are in line with the rest of your arm. Also, remember to take breaks every hour, by standing up, walking around, and grabbing some water. "Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself." - Zen Proverb Eating Out A restaurant serving of food is often enough to feed 2-3 people. When you get your plate, divide the food in half (or thirds) and eat only one part of it. Take the rest home for lunch the next day. Low Impact Activities High impact activities (any exercise when both your feet are off the ground at the same time) such as jogging can put a great deal of stress on your joints. If you find yourself in pain (not muscle soreness) from working out, you may want to consider switching to lower impact activities. Low impact does not have to mean low intesity. By increasing your arm movement you can increase intensity without increasing impact. For example, instead of jogging, try a brisk walk using large, controlled arm movements. If you must do high impact activities, try to limit them to a few days a week, filling the rest of your days with lower impact activities. The Truth About Low Fat Foods Just because there is little fat in your diet doesn't mean you can't get fat. If you consume more calories than you expend on a regular basis, you will put on weight, regardless of whether those calories came from fat or some other source. So when a package advertises that it is low in fat, or contains no fat, that does not mean you can eat as much as you want and be guilt free. Exercising in Humidity It's starting to get hot and humide out. Unless you're working out in a well air-conditioned area, chances are you're workouts are starting to feel a little harder and stickier. It's important to drink more water than you normally do in hotter weather. You should be taking small sips of water every 3-5 minutes to keep yourself from getting dehydrated as well as drinking plenty of water through out the rest of the day. Remember that if you're feeling thirsty you're already dehydrated, so keep yourself from getting thirsty! Toned Legs Get your butt ready for the summer by starting each day with some squats. So tomorrow morning roll out of bed, plant your feet on the floor and spend about 3 or 4 minutes doing some squats before heading to the shower. When you are doing your squats, always make sure your knees never extend out past your toes. Your knees should be at a 90-degree angle at the lowest part of your squat. Keep your back in a neutral position. Squeeze your gluts on the way up for maximum butt benefit. Alternate the speed of your squats as well. Keep this up and you'll be bathing suit ready in no time! Questions or Comments? Please e-mail me at bestrong_ca@yahoo.com