So, I've been over what I've done exercise-wise and why, now let's address the changes I've made in life to positively affect it's quality, fitness or otherwise.
First, let's address more of the common knowledge that people gloss over. You've been taught it since you were little--ignoring it then and today--but it's all quality advice. Eat your fruits and vegetables, drink lots of water, get plenty of sleep, and go outside and play. Oh how many influential people in my life told me that stuff. It's probably the best advice you can impart in 15 seconds...well aside from the occasional "Duck!" but that's situational at best. Applying this advice is the hard part.
Eating fruits and vegetables is hard in busy schedules. Usually we get some veggies through salads at restaurants, those are easy, but it's side dishes to restaurant meals where I get my veggies in. I try to get as many veggies as possible with my meal. Also, I eat them first. I figure, if I'm not as hungry when I get to my inevitably-worse-for-me dinner, I'll eat less of it. But what about getting more fruit?
This has been a tough one for me. I absolutely love most fruit but rarely eat any of them, so I had to make a real effort to get them. A banana a day gives me a ton of lasting energy, so much so that I can't go to sleep within 2 to 3 hours of eating one. Plus they keep for 5-7 days without any special effort. Other than that, I've recently taken to a diet that has me eating some Fruit-on-the-bottom Greek Yogurt. I'll address that more in the next post.
Water. Great tasting, smooth and creamy, and enticing are all phrase I don't use to describe water. But, I learned a fair number of things about water and being thirsty. If you're that bored, look up how your body uses water and in how many ways. Until I started drinking water regularly, I couldn't tell when I was thirsty at all. Of course, I didn't exercise and was rather inactive, so maybe my case isn't that unique. Today, I focus on drinking lots of water. Usually 32 fluid ounces between lunch and workout, then more with and after dinner as I get thirsty. The neat thing about being that hydrated is I never really need any water during workouts. Water also plays into getting plenty of sleep.
Oh sleep, how much I wish I was doing that right now. Moving on. Sleep is something most of us get far too little of too. This stems from being busy people and simply choosing to stay up rather than listen to our bodies when it says it's bed time. One other major factor in it is caffeine. In my efforts to get more sleep, I have no caffeine after lunch. Instead, and I mentioned it played a role, I only drink water once I'm done with lunch. Next, I listen to when my body says it's bed time. It really is a neat thing that your body can say when to sleep, and sleep is easy to achieve during that time. Once that sleepy feeling goes away though, it's a lot harder to go, isn't it? Think of that biological clock that we all have. It says "go to sleep" then it moves on to the next step "maintain current state." So, if you go to sleep when it says to then you'll stay asleep just fine. If you ignore it, you'll be able to stay awake easier than fall asleep. So, I've been trying to follow what my body says in that regard. I do fairly poorly at it, but I do try. When it's time to get up, I get straight up and get moving. To help with that, the alarm clock is across the room. I have to get up to make that noise stop. Then, since I'm already up, I stay up.
Playtime when I was little involved the swimming pool, the woods, bicycles, front and back yards, etc. Of course, I was a skinny little kid with a tan. High school through college and beyond, playtime became movies, computer games, and watching TV. With that, I changed into a rounder individual with no tan. Part of my fitness goal was to occupy that leisure time with time outside playing. Jumping on the trampoline, running, bicycling, swimming, and hiking are all perfectly acceptable ways to get back outside. Work takes up most of the daylight hours during the work week, so that's what I try to do on the weekends. Nothing like a little sunlight to make the day seem better and happier.
Next, vague dieting tips and my diet.
No comments:
Post a Comment