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Implementing a good strategy for the optimal recovery of your body is an important part both for your physical and mental performance. To a large extent, recovery depends on your food intake and sleeping schedule, but there are other ways to further boost body recovery and sharpen your mind, all at once. Meditation appears to be one of those tools and in this article, I explain exactly why you should include it in your recovery routine. What is Meditation? Many people think of meditation as a time where you just sit down with your eyes closed and try to empty your mind. And though that is a good way to put it, your mind cannot be completely empty. Try to think of meditation as a practice where your goal is to observe your thought and emotional processes and remain relatively neutral, or, take conscious action towards a change. Why Meditate? Now you may be asking yourself “why would I even do that?” And well, the reason is quite simple - We live in dynamic industrial cities that often induce stress, be it from your workplace or daylife dynamics. Such stress technically triggers our primal fight or flight mechanism, which is associated with an increase in cortisol levels, along with other stress hormones. During periods when stress hormones are taking over, your immune system, recovery and growth are hindered, because the body perceives stress as a button for what is essentially survival mode. What’s even more interesting is that cortisol is so good at buffering the immune system that doctors use it during organ transplants, so that the body doesn’t instantly reject the new organ. All of this can point us to the conclusion that you don’t really want that much cortisol in your system, especially if you are active and need better recovery. For this reason, again, including meditation in your routine can be a good way to manage stress levels and in turn, improve recovery. How to Meditate Now, because breathwork is one of the best ways to induce a calming feeling, it is going to be the main meditation tool throughout your practices, along with isolating the brain from sensory information So here is how you should approach your meditation sessions: Find a quiet place where you don’t have distractions or information going through your senses. Sit or lie down, close your eyes and relax. Focus your attention on your heart and your breath. Observe your current state and the work of your heart. During or after stressful situations, your heart rate might be elevated. Take a deep and slow nose inhale, into your stomach and then up to the chest. The inhale should be 4-6 seconds. Then, exhale for the same amount of time and consciously send a relaxation signal throughout the nervous system. Repeat this, focusing on your heart and breath. Tips for Meditating If or when any intrusive thoughts pop up, try to not latch on to them. Simply - Swipe them away. Otherwise, you are likely to catch one thought and develop it into a full story, which will instantly take you out of your meditative, aware state. Summary This is the essence of meditation as a practice but keep in mind that you should aim for an overall meditative state, as that will help you instantly cast away stressors in your daily life. In doing all of this, you will reduce stress response occurrences and thus, your body will maintain an optimal state of recovery for longer. Combine this with a proper nutrition plan and quality sleep and you will be well off on your way to better recovery and progress, both on a mental and physical level. If proper nutrition is new to you and you want to eat better, Check out my Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy . Have something to add? Leave a comment below or on our facebook page .

Have you ever consumed a couple of consecutive big meals just to feel hungry 40 minutes later?

Well, if this has happened to you, odds are you are not selecting the right foods with the appropriate satiety index. In this article, we’ll explain the importance of high satiety foods, and we’ll also give you a list of our 4 best picks in that category! So, Why Is Satiety Important? The modern-day market offers a variety or rather, an abundance of food products to choose from. However, the thing is that the tastiest foods also happen to be more processed AND least satiating. With poor nutrient profiles, these processed products simply satisfy your taste cravings, but hardly ever help you meet your actual nutritional needs. When you’re not meeting your nutritional needs, well, your body keeps asking for more food by sending hunger signals, until you actually give the body what it needs. That is to say that processed foods are NOT inherently fattening but instead, they make you eat a lot more which therefore leads to inevitable weight gain. Being satiated for the longest time possible after each meal is important, as that means you have met your nutritional needs and your body has the resources to work with for the goal of sustaining healthy function. What Actually Brings Satiety? Every sensation or bodily signal in the body is closely related with the balance of certain hormones. Specifically for appetite and satiety, leptin and ghrelin seem to be the two predominantly involved hormones. The macronutrients you get from food, that are most effective in inducing the feeling of satiety, are protein & fat. For this reason, it is of prime importance to meet your daily protein and fat needs, as they will play an essential role in how hungry you feel throughout the day. Remember that a hungry mind won’t be able to focus on other, also important tasks you have. Stay satiated! The 4 Most Satiating Foods Now without further ado, let’s have a look at the most satiating foods you can easily find in your local grocery store! 1. Beef As we mentioned, protein and fats from whole food sources are amongst the most satiating nutrients you can give to your body. Beef and other red meats happen to be abundant of both nutrients, so including them in your nutrition plan is a good bet! If you always wake up hungry, and that oatmeal & coffee breakfast full of sugar can’t satiate you, well, try a morning ribeye steak! It works. 2. Nuts Cashews, almonds, walnuts and other nuts are so dense in energy that just a 100g of them can keep you full for hours on end. Additionally, these tiny bites are full of essential fatty acids and other micronutrients that will not only keep you full, but also provide your body with the nutrients it needs. Don’t be nuts, eat nuts. 3. Eggs If you are trying to establish a nutrition plan that is nutrient-dense enough to keep you full and healthy, eggs cannot be ignored! Eggs are good as a standalone meal, or can be made an addition to a bigger meal, to make it complete! Furthermore, they can be enjoyed in a variety of forms, such as an omelette, scrambled, or even over some rice in japanese style! 4. Potatoes Though protein and fats are the most satiating macronutrients, the food with the HIGHEST satiety index contains mostly carbohydrates… That’s right! Potatoes are, in fact, the most satisfying food a human can eat! Try for yourself - Get a beef steak and cook up some potato mash and you will be full for at least 3 hours. Final Thoughts One of the most important aspects of your nutrition plan is to make it actually satiating! If you constantly feel hungry, you are not using the right nutrition plan, regardless of what anyone tells you. Make sure to include these 4 foods presented in this article and let me know how they affected your satiety and energy levels!

Good balance helps keep you active and avoid injury. It helps you to perform many activities you do every day, some as simple as walking and standing. Good balance is more and more important as we get older, as our bodies are more susceptible to injury from falls and spills. Regardless of your age, good balance is essential to your physical health at any age. The American Heart Association classifies health as one of the four types of exercise, along with strength, endurance, and flexibility. We often don't consider balance a form of exercise, but it is and should be incorporated into your regular exercise routine if you want to improve performance and reaction, and decrease risk of injury. There are many ways to work on your balance, some of which you may already be doing. For instance, a lot of lower-body exercises help improve balance. Yoga and tai chi are are more focused balance exercises that add variety and help keep exercise exciting. Here's a list of simple balance exercises you can do to improve your health: Balance Exercises Stand with all your weight on one leg as long as you can, then alternate to the other leg. Steady yourself with a wall or counter if you need a little extra support. You can do this anytime and anywhere, for example: when waiting in line, while brushing your teeth, or working in the kitchen. Walk heel to toe for 20 steps. Try doing this around the house as you go about your regular day. Walk while alternating high knee lifts with each step. Sit down on a chair and stand up without using your hands Use equipment like a Bosu ball or Exercise ball for advanced exercises Yoga and Tai Chi Final Tip It doesn't matter what or how you work on your balance. But the important thing is that you perform balance exercises to help improve your physical health. To work on my balance, I like to add variety to my strength training exercises by standing on one leg or striking a different pose. For example, performing the military press on one leg or with one leg in front of the other. I also make great use of my Exercise Ball. Check out a full list of exercises to perform with the Exercise Ball here: Workouts for Exercise Ball Want more tips on improving your physical health through exercise? Check out some of our other posts: Exercise
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Many people have a goal to get healthier, and believe they can do it by exercising more. In fact, exercising more is the most popular New Year's resolution , followed by improving diet and losing weight. But exercise alone cannot get you healthy. To get healthier, exercise must be paired with proper nutrition. Proper nutrition is the majority influence on your health, so improving your diet will have a greater effect on your health than simply exercising. The simplest measure of health is by weight. Your ideal weight can be calculated by height, gender, and age. Here's a tool to quickly calculate your ideal weight: Ideal Weight Calculator . If your goal is better health and you are overweight, than weight loss should be your primary focus. Weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you eat. The simplest way to burn more calories than you eat is to reduce the calories you consume in a day. But don't worry, eating fewer calories doesn't have to include eating less. It just means making wise decisions about what food to eat, and compounding those healthy decisions into habits. If you want to develop healthy eating habits, how do you know where to start? You probably already have some good eating habits, and probably some bad. You may have some old eating habits, ones that were established as a child. Making radical changes to old habits can lead to immediate improvement in your health, but it's not sustainable. To maximize your chances of being successful in developing healthy eating habits , it's important to start with small changes that are simple to adopt and fast to make a daily practice. Below are some tips to help you develop healthy eating habits. Hydrate There are many benefits to drinking water throughout the day. Water will prevent dehydration, can help facilitate weight loss, and boosts energy levels in your body and brain. Many people can't tell the difference between hunger and thirst. Often people eat when they get that feeling of hunger, but the feeling is also triggered by dehydration. Eating when you're dehydrated leads to weight gain. Therefore, staying hydrated throughout the day helps you to know when you're truly hungry. Get more hydrated by drinking water as soon as you get up in the morning. Your body is likely dehydrated after sleeping, so drinking water soon after waking will help revive it and provide a boost of energy. Also, practice carrying a bottle of water with you wherever you go. You will drink water without even thinking just by having it there. The golden rule is to drink about 1/2 to 1 ounce of water for every pound you weigh per day. Avoid Sugary Drinks Many drinks such as sodas, juices, teas, and coffees contain added sugars that can add up to a ton of calories that provide no nutritional value. The FDA now requires added sugar to be included on food labels because of the rising concern for added sugars in people's diet. The daily recommended value for added sugars in 50 grams a day for a 2,000 calorie a day diet. Each gram of sugar contributes 4 calories. One 12 ounce can of Coke contains 60 grams of added sugar. So if you drink a can of Coke a day, you're adding 240 calories to your diet that has no nutritional benefit. Instead of having a sugary drink, opt for water, juice with no added sugar, unsweetened teas, milk, or seltzer. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals that your body needs to fuel you daily, but they are generally low in calories. And since they're mostly water and fiber, they help keep you full. Thus, by eating fruits and vegetables, you satisfy hunger with less calories and more nutrients than probably most other food options. People who eat more fruits and vegetables are less likely to develop some chronic diseases. Discover more about the benefits of Fruits and Vegetables and how much you should eat from the USDA . Eliminate Trans Fat from your Diet Eliminate all foods with trans fat from your diet. You don't need them, and you can often find alternate products that contain no trans fat. Foods that still contain artificial trans fat include vegetable shortening, some microwave popcorn, certain margarines and vegetable oils, fried fast foods, bakery products, non-dairy coffee creamers, and some varieties of chips, pies, pizza, and crackers. As for saturated fat, if you can't avoid foods with it, limit your intake to less than 10% of calories a day. Saturated fats are most common in animal sources of food. Remember: check the nutritional labels before eating anything so you can make informed choices about what you put into your body. Snack Right Most people snack because they are hungry between meals. So if you're going to snack, eat something that satisfies your hunger, tastes great, and doesn't clog the arteries and add to the waistline. Aim for whole foods in lieu of processed foods rich in fat. Some ideas: raw vegetables with hummus, raw or roasted nuts, yogurt, fruit, rice cake, cottage cheese, a smoothie.
If eliminating a regular snack of chips scares you, try substituting it for something a bit healthier. For example, think pretzels instead of chips (see comparison of nutrition facts in the image below). Final Tip Don't get discouraged when thinking about changing your diet. It's never too late to make a change. Start eating better today by making small changes similar to the recommendations described above. Over time, those small changes will compound, become habits, and lead to massive results. Want more tips on building healthy habits? Check out How to Build Healthy Habits .
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Many people struggle with eating around the holidays. It’s very common, and I used to struggle with it too. I used to be bad. Every time I would walk by the kitchen, I would grab a cookie. Before I knew it, I had eaten a dozen or more. Cookies weren’t the only problem; I did this with candy, chocolate, salted nuts, chips, etc. You name it; if it was sitting out, I would grab for it. Even worse were the big family meals. I would load up on every food item on the table, and often go back for seconds. The meal was so enjoyable, but by the end I was feeling stuffed to the point I could barely move. Does this sound like you? Don’t worry, it’s normal, and you’re not alone. Whether it's with family, friends, or coworkers, big meals are a staple around the holidays. They're also one of the most enjoyable events surrounding this time of year. Who doesn't love gathering with people, some of which you haven't seen in awhile, to share festive drinks and a delicious meal? The problem is that these events are loaded with flavorful, but often unhealthy, food and drinks. There's nothing wrong with indulging in seasonal drinks and holiday meals. Who wants to go to a party that just serves kale and water? I'm sure you've come to the realization that eating and drinking poorly over the holidays is inevitable. But if you’re concerned about going overboard with the unhealthy diet, there are ways to avoid overeating, over indulging, and the other dietary fears that accompany the holidays. Try these 5 tips to eating and drinking healthy during the holidays. 1. Don’t go back for seconds Limit yourself to one plateful of food. Once you've finished eating everything on your plate, take a breather and relax for a few minutes. Many people opt for seconds and overeat because they don't get the feeling of being full. Well it could take up to 20 minutes to get that feeling of being full, so give your body time to recognize your food consumption. I'm not telling you to starve yourself. If you're still hungry after 20 minutes have passed since you began your meal, go back for more. Tip : Sometimes the food is so good we just want more. If that's the case, keep some as leftovers to enjoy it the following day. 2. Socialize away from foods Another reason we eat too much or not right is because we're constantly gathering around food. We go to parties to socialize with others. Well, don't socialize around the food, where you're liable to keep picking at whatever is in front of you. If you find yourself chatting around the hor d'oeuvres, dinner, or dessert table, take the conversation away from the table. You'll find you eat much less simply by not hanging out within arms reach of food. 3. Use small plates If you're like me, you fill your plate no matter the size. And if you're still like me, you finish everything on your plate. Research has proven we eat what's in front of us. If that's true, then one way to limit how much you eat is portion size. If you have the option of using a smaller plate, do it. It may sound silly, but you're unlikely to fill your plate multiple times, or more times than others. You're more likely to keep pace with those around you, who may be using a larger plate. So at the end of the meal when your friend has had 2 large plates of food, and you've eaten 2 smaller plates of food, you'll feel much better about the quantity you consumed and your choice to use a smaller plate. 4. Don’t buy unhealthy foods What you eat is usually what you put in front of you. Another way to put it is, "What you see is what you eat." So don't put unhealthy food items in your view. The easiest way to prevent poor eating around the holidays, or any time for that matter, is to not buy the things you don't want to eat. It's one of the core principals to healthy eating: don't buy unhealthy snacks . It's understandable that you can't control what is served by others around the holidays. If you attend a party and can't resist temptation to eat the delicious holiday treats that are on display for everyone to enjoy, I get it. But then only indulge at the party. Keep the sweet treats, or any food item you're trying to avoid, out of your home and out of your sight. 5. Schedule something important for mornings It's not just overeating and over-snacking that sets us back during the holidays. Drinking too much is a common theme around holiday parties and gatherings. I won't lie; I've enjoyed one too many cocktails at a party before, and regretted it's effects on my health. I absolutely love spiced egg nog, mulled wine, and Christmas punch this time of year. They're even better enjoyed with friends, and who can say "no" when you're offered a drink at a party? It's perfectly fine to enjoy fun holiday drinks, but do it sparingly. But how when they taste so delicious? Schedule something important for the next morning. One of my worst fears is waking up to do something, and feeling awful from drinking the night before. If you're the same, having something planned for the next morning will help you say "no" to another drink. It will also give you an excuse to the peer pressure of staying late to socialize over drinks. Final Tip Every year we look forward to the holidays that are abundant with good food and drinks with the people we love. But it's also a time that many of us stress about the effects of the holidays on our health. Practice the 5 tips above for a healthier holiday season. One final tip: drink lots of water. The more water you drink, the less you will eat. For hacks on how you can eat healthier anytime of the year, check out my Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy . If you have a tip, question, or comment about healthier eating, please share it in the comments section or post it on our facebook page .

Recently my wife and I had our second child. While raising a child is one of the ultimate satisfactions of life, the commitment can be a sacrifice to our health. The time spent at home with our newborn required me to modify my daily routine a bit to maintain my healthy lifestyle. It reminded me of how important good healthy habits are when my time and energy is focused on something other than myself. Your health is of the utmost importance. If you're not healthy, how can you expect to perform your responsibilities to the best of your ability? There's a reason airlines advise you to place your own oxygen mask before helping others in an emergency; it's because you are no good to others if you can't breathe yourself. Well, it's the same with your health. If your mind, body, and spirit are not in good health, you can't perform at 100% of your capability. Life is interesting, and it presents you with challenges every single day. Many of those challenges can easily throw you off your healthy lifestyle, even with strong healthy habits. The birth of a child, the loss of a loved one, stress at work, imbalance at home, social distractions, travel, etc. These are a select few of the many things in your life that occupy your time, effort, and focus and can lead you into making poor decisions with your health. But not you, not today, and not tomorrow or any other day. You have built strong healthy habits that are the foundation of your life. You won't let life's challenges derail your journey on a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it's life's challenges that are the very reason you've built strong habits. Strong habits are tough to break. So when you find yourself in one of life's situations that requires much of your time, effort, and/or focus, make sure you maintain your healthy lifestyle by practicing the basics of your healthy habits. Here's a refresh of the basic healthy habits to keep you grounded, as well as a few ideas to minimize the impact to your health during challenging times. 5 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle 1. Continue to Practice Healthy Eating Habits Having healthy eating habits is the ultimate way to stay healthy. If you didn't know, diet is the secret to good health . The majority of your health is through eating, so more than anything else, it is important to maintain healthy eating habits to have a healthy lifestyle. When people get busy, they often let their diet deteriorate. This happens for many reasons, some of which are because people eat when they're stressed, they make poor nutrition choices when their mind is focused elsewhere, and they eat the first thing available for convenience. No matter the reason, a change to a poor diet can be avoided by practicing fast and simple healthy eating habits . Healthy eating habits include eating slowly, planning meals, and never skipping a meal. Check out my Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy for more ways to eat healthier on a busy schedule. 2. Keep up with your Morning Routine Get up at the same time every day, stretch, drink water, eat protein, and plan your day. If you stay consistent with your morning routine , you stand a great chance of maintaining your health. You already know you may not be able to perform your morning routine every singe day like clockwork. That's fine; you're not a robot. Variety is important to keeping you excited in life. In fact, excitement keeps your mind healthy. But a morning routine is one of the basics of a healthy lifestyle, and a very easy one at that. If you have been practicing a daily morning routine regularly, you know how it makes you feel positive and prepares you for success each day. If you're out late one night and sleep in the next day, fine. But get back on track the next day. Don't get the protein you need for breakfast; ok, but make up for it at lunch. Get derailed by a fire drill and can't plan your day; that's understandable, but make time to plan the remainder of your day when things have settled. 3. Make the Best of Your Free Time I bet you would love to have an hour, or even 30 minutes, each day allocated to exercising. But that's unreasonable to expect in your life. If you're like me, 20-30 minutes for just 2-3 days a week is sometimes a stretch. And when life is so busy, exercising often gets eliminated from your to-do list. But just because you can't get in a 20-30 minute workout doesn't mean you have to forget physical fitness entirely. 5 minutes is all you need to keep your body in proper form. If you have 5 minutes, do a set of push-ups and sit-ups. You can do this several times a day. It doesn't have to be push-ups and sit-ups each time. Jump on your home workout equipment, perform some core exercises , climb stairs, etc. Whatever exercises you choose is fine. Just do something to engage your muscles and fluctuate your heart rate. Although you may not be able to get the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise that many health professionals recommend, that doesn't mean you're not physically fit. Adding up a few 5 minute workouts in a day can do wonders for your body, not to mention your mental health and emotional well being. 4. Make Walks your Cardio Walking is one of the easiest ways to maintain your health with a busy schedule. Walking regularly not only can help maintain your weight or even lose weight, but it's also beneficial to your total well being. Getting outside to walk can help elevate your mood, provide distraction from whatever stresses you, and give you some much needed Vitamin D from sunshine. Try power walks of 20 minutes or less throughout the day. Can't find a free 20 minutes? Bring your phone with you and make calls during your walk. Walk with your family and make it a family bonding event. When driving somewhere, park in the back of the lot and walk the extra steps. Better yet, walk to your destination if it's close enough. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. There are numerous ways to walk more in your day, so don't let a busy schedule prevent you from getting a sufficient amount of daily exercise to maintain your health. Added tips: vary your speed when walking to increase the calorie burn and change your heart rate. Include hills to work different lower body muscles and increase the intensity. 5. Be Present Many of us think we are good at multitasking, which involves doing 2 or more things at once. But scientifically people cannot multitask . Multitasking results in our brains switching back and forth between ideas, leading to loss of attention, errors, and more time spent on the tasks. For you who already has a busy schedule, multitasking can be disastrous to your production. So what do you do? Be undeniably present in one task at a time. If you're at work, focus your mind on your work. If you're with your family, be engaged with your family. Don't communicate (other than for emergencies) with your family when at work, and don't respond to work when you're with your family. This can be applied to anything you're involved in. Put 100% of your mind's focus on a task. Eliminate distractions. Not only will you be more productive, but your relationships will improve because you are engaged with people, and your stress levels will decrease because you are not thinking about something else. Added tip: schedule your time for certain tasks so there is a clear start and stop. This helps your brain to unconsciously switch from one task to another, and helps you to organize your presence. Conclusion You are faced with challenges every day that make you feel busier and busier. Managing your schedule is a challenge in itself. But don't let a busy schedule wreak havoc on your health. You are solely responsible for your health, and you are the only one that can make the choice to be healthy or not. Don't let other factors influence your health decisions. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will be a main contributor of success in other areas of your life. For hacks on how to help you create healthy habits, check out How To Build Healthy Habits . If you have a tip, question, or comment about healthy eating habits, please share it in the comments section or post it on our facebook page .

If you're like most people, your eating habits were developed when you were a child. You may have eating habits that are healthy, eating habits that are unhealthy, or some of both. Habits, in all forms, are created by doing something repetitively over time. However, habits can change. To eat healthier, it's not just a matter of changing what you eat. You may need to change your habits. But don't worry; it's never too late or too difficult to change them. The best approach to changing your habits is to start small. Small changes are easy to make and have a greater chance of lasting in the long run. Changing your eating habits is a 3-step process. Identify Healthy Eating Habits Identify Your Unhealthy Eating Habits Replace Your Unhealthy Eating Habits with Healthy Eating Habits Now that you know the process, in this article we will focus on identifying healthy eating habits that are simple and easy to implement. What are Healthy Eating Habits? There are many healthy eating habits people attribute to their good health. Rather than provide you with an exhaustive list, we have found there are 3 healthy eating habits that are simple, fun, and easy to adopt. 1. Eat slowly Eating at a slower pace has many benefits. First off, your body and brain will be in sync, and your body will communicate to your brain when it is satisfied. If you eat too fast, your body will not relay the feeling of being full to your brain, causing you to overeat. Second, eating slowly requires focus, which keeps you aware of how much you are eating. A few hacks to help you eat more slowly include: eat with others put utensils or food down between bites focus on the meal and eliminate distractions 2. Plan meals Planning gives you the opportunity to make a predetermined, thoughtful decisions. When you plan your meals, you give yourself a chance to ensure you eat a healthy, well-balanced meal. In meal planning you can preset the portion size, which reduces the chance of you overeating. Planning meals also reduces eating when not hungry, such as from emotional triggers (stress, anxiety, boredom) or association with an activity (TV, sporting event, etc.). A few hacks to help you plan meals include: prep meals and snacks mark in a calendar when you will eat read the menu before you go to the restaurant 3. Don't skip meals I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Well it's true, and here's why. While you sleep, your body rests, but it also rebuilds muscle, releases hormones, and goes through other processes that are critical to your overall health. It works on sugar levels in your blood. So when you wake in the morning, your body needs to refuel. Although breakfast should never be skipped, the same goes for lunch and dinner. If you go too long between meals, you will get hungry. Hunger often leads to unhealthy eating decisions, such as reaching for the first food item we see. It also leads to snacking and overeating. So stick to a daily eating schedule. A few hacks to help you eat every meal include: never skip breakfast (try these 4 healthy breakfast recipes ) bring food with you to work or when traveling schedule meals with others Final Tip You're here because you want to change: you want to eat healthier. You're not alone. However, today is the day you understand that just saying you will eat more fruits and vegetables, and less sugary and fatty foods, is not the answer. To eat better, you need to create healthy eating habits. Habits stick with you, and take much of the decision making out of the process, maximizing your chances of perpetual healthy eating. For hacks on how to help you create healthy habits, check out How To Build Healthy Habits . If you have a tip, question, or comment about healthy eating habits, please share it in the comments section or post it on our facebook page .

Stretching is one of the most overlooked elements of good health. Many people think stretching is just a way to loosen your body's muscles before activity to prevent injury. That's true, but there's many more benefits of stretching. And stretching in the morning introduces even more benefits to your health. Think of stretching in the morning as a proactive approach to better health. Before you start the day, set aside 10-15 minutes for a good stretch and core exercise. This serves as a warmup for your body and mind, and will help improve your overall health and well being. Stretching is one of the key elements of a Morning Routine . Here are the Top 5 Benefits of Stretching in the Morning 1. Wakes You Up Stretching in the morning helps you transform your body from a sedative state to one of awareness. It stimulates your senses, gets your blood flowing, and prepares you for the day ahead. 2. Relieves Stress Just like with yoga, your breathing is important while stretching. Take deep breaths and exhale slowly when you stretch. Focusing on breathing will calm your mind and help relieve tension in your muscles. While you stretch, think about your day and plan it out. What are your goals? How will you accomplish them? Who do you need to help you? Thinking about your day will prepare your mind for success and reduce anxiety. 3. Reduces Aches and Pain Your body goes through a lot of battles during the day, and at night it rests and recovers. During the rest and recovery period, your muscles and joints can tighten up. Tight muscles limit movement and can be painful. Stretching in the morning increases circulation to your muscles. Opening up the blood flow to your muscles can reduce soreness and increase recovery time, making your day pain free. 4. Increases Flexibility and Strength Stretching loosens our muscles, enabling us to move with a greater range of motion. Having loose muscles therefore prevents injury when forced into extreme positions. But it also increases strength. Tight muscles cause pain when they get strained. When that happens, you can't work the muscles the way they're intended and rather are left fighting the pain. However, when the body's muscles are loose, there is no pain and the muscles can work to complete a task. Therefore, working your muscles in a greater range of motion increases strength. 5. Improves Your Posture Many of us perform repetitive or limited motions at work each day, often at the expense of our posture. For those of us that sit at a desk all day, our chest is compressed and back expands. Similarly with our legs; our glutes compress and thigh muscles lengthen. If we don't do anything to counter those positions, the muscles rest in those positions, which can lead to posture and alignment problems. Loosening up our back, core, and chest muscles through stretching reduces the effects of bad posture and alignment and can help those muscles recoil to their proper positions. Stretching in the morning gets the muscles loose before the onslaught of tension through the day. Final Tip If you're new to stretching and not sure what stretches to start with, I recommend following the stretches from my friend at openfit: Stretching for Beginners or bupa: 10 Morning Stretches . In addition to your morning stretching routine, do one or two strength exercises, such as pushups or situps, to boost your endorphins and send you off into the world feeling positive. Remember, the key to good health is good habits. You can't be healthy by doing something once, or infrequently. If you want to improve in any aspect of your life, you must commit to it every day. The commitment to good health is not hard, and it doesn't have to take much time. But it requires consistency. For hacks on how to help you make stretching a habit, check out How To Build Healthy Habits . If you have a tip, question, or comment about stretching in the morning, please share it in the comments section or post it on our facebook page .

Is there any healthy fast food items? You will discover the answer to that question in this survey. Picture this: you're on a long road trip in the middle of nowhere, are pressed for time, and are starving. The only restaurants within any convenience are at the major highway stops. You know that fast food will hurt your diet, but there's no other food options.
What do you do? You've been in this situation before. You suck it up, order a burger, fries, and soda combo, and get back on the road. You shrug your shoulders, and tell yourself it's ok and you'll prepare better next time. The problem is, next time is the same as this time. You wish there was healthy fast food options to make eating on the road a little less terrifying. Lucky for you, there are healthy fast food options. You just have to know what they are. This survey will tell you the healthiest entrees, salads, fries, and breakfast items to choose when your best food options are fast food chains. Menu items from the largest fast food chains in America: Burger King, Chik-fil-a, McDonald's, Subway, Taco Bell, and Wendy's, were considered in this survey. Items were compared against each other for calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein and the top healthiest items in each category are listed as a guide for you when choosing healthy fast food options. Healthiest Entree Winner: Chik-fil-a Grilled Nuggets (8 count) Runner-up: Subway Turkey Breast (6-inch sub) If you guessed that a burger would not be one of the healthier options for an entree, you were right. Chik-fil-A scored the top spot for healthiest entree with their 8-count grilled nuggets. Not surprisingly, Subway has the 2nd healthiest food option with the Turkey Breast sub. In fact, Subway holds 7 of the top 10 spots for healthiest entrees from fast food restaurants. Healthiest Salad Winner: Subway Black Forest Ham and Subway Turkey Breast Runner-up: Subway Roast Beef Subway has long been known as a fast food chain dedicated to providing healthy food options. Their salads are some of the healthiest you can find, from any restaurant. Just remember to choose a light dressing for your salad. Red wine vinegar mixed with mustard is a tasty and fat-free delight. Healthiest Fries Winner: Burger King Runner-up: McDonald's I cringe to call fries from any fast food restaurant "healthy". They're not healthy, but the fries from BK and MickeyD's are less fattening than the rest. If you crave fries, choose a smaller size to minimize the damage. Healthiest Breakfast Winner: McDonald's Egg White Delight Runner-up: Chik-fil-a Sunflower Multigrain Bagel w/ Cream Cheese McDonald's was the first fast food chain to offer breakfast, and they are the first to offer a great healthy option. The Egg White Delight is as healthy a mix of calories, fat, carbs, and protein as you can make at home. Although just a bit higher in calories than the Chik-fil-a Multigrain Bagel, Chik-fil-a's Egg White Grill is another contender for the healthiest fast food breakfast. Conclusion: Healthy fast food options are limited for sure. But for people like us who are conscious of what we put in our bodies, it's important to know what to eat when we're destined for fast food. Hopefully this survey will help you to make healthy decisions with fast food options. For recommendations on starting to eat healthier, check out my guide, Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy .

Why is breakfast often known as the most important meal of the day? It's because your body has been resting and rebuilding during sleep, and it needs fuel when you wake in order to provide you with the energy and nutrients you need to perform your best. Any food will not do. To be at the top of your game, you need a meal packed with vitamins, protein, and hearty carbohydrates. Despite not being a nutritionist, I have tested my body with different meals, and I know what works to keep you full all morning without packing on pounds. Here are 4 healthy breakfast recipes that are simple, fast, and inexpensive for you to try today. 1. Smoothie Smoothies blended with fresh fruits, vegetables (spinach, kale, and carrots mix well), yogurt, and proteins are a perfect way to feed your body with a full supply of required daily nutrients by combining ingredients that aren't normally served together as a meal. Smoothies allow you to create new flavors by mixing a variety of ingredients together. And if you select the right ingredients, smoothies can be a healthier and more delicious alternative to your normal meal selection. I have found there are 5 essential ingredients that make a healthy smoothie. 1. Fruit: It is the base of any smoothie and adds sweetness, fiber, and healthy sugar to boost your energy. 2. Greek Yogurt: 0% fat plain greek yogurt provides a creamy consistency for the smoothie and helps you meet your daily protein intake. I recommend plain flavored yogurt as it is low in sugar and allows for the smoothie to be flavored by the fruit. 3. Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens are known as SUPERFOODS. The benefits of eating leafy greens are too numerous to list in this post. Leafy greens taste bitter, but when blended into a smoothie, the bitter flavor is overmatched by the sweetness of fruit, therefore giving you the health benefits but not sacrificing flavor. 4. Liquid: Smoothies need liquid to blend the ingredients and enable you to drink the smoothie. Milk, juice, and water are all great choices. For healthy options, choose low-fat milk and low-sugar, 100% fruit or vegetable juices. 5. Protein: Protein not only helps sustain and build muscle, but it also helps fill the void of feeling hungry. Protein powder is the easy way to add protein to any smoothie. Nut butters, sliced nuts (think almonds, flax seeds, and chia seeds) and oats are natural choices that also add texture to the smoothie. Making and drinking smoothies can be fun because there are endless amounts of choices to mix and match ingredients. Between preparation and cleanup, a smoothie should take not more than 15 minutes of your time. Save time by filling a large blender and saving some of your smoothie in the fridge for another day. Try my Berry Oat Kale Smoothie for a low-fat, delicious, healthy green smoothie: Ingredients (makes 2 servings): 1 cup red raspberries 1 cup blueberries 3/4 cup quick oats 3 oz organic baby carrots 1 cup kale leaves 3/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt 6 oz 1% organic milk 2 bananas Instructions: Pour all the ingredients into a blender and crank the motor until all ingredients are mixed. Not all the ingredients may fit in the blender at first, so fill the blender and blend to make some more room. If the smoothie is too thin, add some ice. If it's too thick, add some water. Makes about 32 oz., so pour half for yourself now and the rest in a sealed container and store in the fridge for tomorrow. Nutritional Information (per 16 oz.) 425 cal, 4 g fat, 1 g sat. fat, 36 g sugar, 84 g carbs, 15 g fiber, 21 g protein 2. Yogurt Bowl Similar to a smoothie, yogurt bowls are an excellent way to feed your body with a full supply of required daily nutrients. And if you select the right ingredients, they can be a healthier and more delicious alternative to your normal meal selection. I have found there are 4 essential ingredients that make a delicious and healthy yogurt bowl. 1. Greek Yogurt: It is the base of any yogurt bowl, and 0% fat greek yogurt provides a creamy consistency to help you meet your daily protein intake. 2. Fruit: Fruit is the taste of the bowl, as it adds sweetness, fiber, and healthy sugar to boost your energy. 3. Grains: Granola or dry oatmeal provides that crunch you need to complement the creamy yogurt and ripe fruit. Granola's and oatmeal's common ingredients include oats, seeds, and nuts, which are linked to numerous health benefits . Just make sure to choose your grains wisely and opt for lower sugar, low-fat options. 4. Protein: Protein not only helps sustain and build muscle, but it also helps fill the void of feeling hungry. Protein powder is the easy way to add protein to any bowl (mix it into the yogurt). Nut butters and sliced nuts (think almonds, flax seeds, and chia seeds) are natural choices that also add texture to the meal. Between preparation and cleanup, a yogurt bowl should take not more than 15 minutes of your time. Ready to make your 1st Yogurt Bowl? Here's a recipe for a Dragonfruit Avocado Blueberry Yogurt Bowl that is sure to get you hooked. Ingredients (makes 2 servings): 1-1/2 cups dragonfruit 1 cup blueberries 1 banana 1 avocado 1-1/2 cups nonfat plain greek yogurt 2 tbsp of peanut butter 3/4 cup granola ( Kind Almond Butter Whole Grain Clusters ) 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes Instructions: Mix the avocado with the yogurt in a large enough bowl so all the ingredients won't spill out the top. Add on the fruit , followed by the granola, peanut butter, and topped off with the coconut flakes. Nutritional Information (per serving) 660 calories, 26 g fat, 4 g sat. fat, 37 g sugar, 84 g carbs, 12 g fiber, 32 g protein 3. Oatmeal Here is my step-by-step process to preparing a delicious oatmeal breakfast. Be creative and add your own twist to enjoy a variety of flavors. Ingredients: European Hot Cereal: I get this from Sprouts, and it is composed of Rolled Oats, Raisins, Dates in Oat Flour, and Sliced Almonds. You can also create your own mix of Rolled Oats with dried fruit and nuts. I just like to buy the premixed product because it saves me time. Granola: choose a low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber mix. I like the Kind brands, and the Cinnamon Oat Clusters with Flax Seeds probably has the best mix of nutritional value. Egg Fruit Milk or water Instructions: 1. To start off, I get a gallon-sized storage container and mix in bulk to minimize my prep time in the future. 2. Combine 2 parts European Hot Cereal to 1 part granola. If making your own mix similar to European Hot Cereal, combine 2 parts quick oats, 1 part granola, 1/3 part raisins, 1/3 part dates in oat flour, and 1/3 part sliced almonds. 3. At meal time, scoop 1 cup of the mixture into a microwave-safe bowl. I'm 150 lbs and 1 cup holds me over until lunch. 4. Add a scoop of protein if you need to replenish muscle fatigue. 5. Stir in a raw egg and just enough milk or water for the mix to be saturated. Don't worry about the egg; it will be fully-cooked in the microwave later. 6. Top with a handful of berries, peaches, cherries, sliced banana, or any other fruit you think would be tasty. I like to stir my fruit into the oatmeal so the juices mix and soak into the oats. 7. Zap in the microwave for 3 minutes. Enjoy! You can also prepare your meal and chill it in the fridge overnight. The oats will soak up the liquid to reach their optimal saturation, delivering you a more complete breakfast. Nutritional Information (not including fruit, milk, or protein powder) 600 cal, 9 g fat, less than 2 g sat. fat, 6 g sugar, 108 g carbs, 8 g fiber, and 15 g protein. Depending on your choice of ingredients, and portion size, the nutritional value can vary. 4. Fresh fruit with peanut butter Bananas and apples with a bit of peanut butter is the quickest and easiest healthy breakfast recipe. Conclusion: The healthy breakfast recipes mentioned in this article are by no means the only healthy breakfasts ideas. They are, however, in line with Healthy Habits for Busy People's values of being simple, fast, and inexpensive. Be adventurous and mix and match ingredients to your liking and add variety to your breakfast. If you have a great, healthy breakfast recipe, please share in the comments or on our facebook page. *Tip : When shopping for berries, the color of berries is associated with antioxidants. The brighter the color, the more antioxidants there are in the fruit. So choose the brightest berries you can find to maximize your antioxidant intake. **Tip : To save time and energy, double or triple the serving size. You can then save the extra servings in a sealed container and store in the fridge or freezer for another time. Or choose to share with family or a friend. For recommendations on starting to eat healthier, check out my guide, Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy . The owner of this website, HealthyHabitsforBusyPeople.com, is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which allows site owners to earn fees by advertising products. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This occurs at not extra cost to you, and we appreciate your support.

If dessert can taste delicious and be HEALTHY, would you eat it? Of course you would. There's no catch. It's true. There are plenty of healthy desserts sitting right under your nose that you've probably never thought about trying. Dessert is defined as a sweet course, such as confection, that is eaten at the end of a meal. Confections are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, and are often exemplified by baked goods and candies. Well I have news for you. Dessert now takes on a new meaning: Healthy! That's right. Desserts high in sugar and carbohydrates are out, and healthy desserts are in. If you are sick of how you feel after eating cakes, cookies, pastries, pies, candy, chocolate, and other sweets, you're not alone. Many people today crave a sweet treat to satisfy their taste buds after a meal, but don't want the side effects that come with the highly caloric, sugary, fatty desserts that they're used to. Luckily for us, there are delicious healthy desserts that are - Simple to make - Fast to prepare - Inexpensive to buy and - Healthy for you I've prepared 5 of my favorites for you to try. 5 Healthy Dessert Ideas Frozen Fruit (blueberries, grapes, watermelon) Pop fresh blueberries, grapes, or diced watermelon in the freezer and enjoy a couple of hours later. Other than allowing time for the fruit to freeze, it takes no effort to prepare. Blueberries are often sold for $2.99/lb; grapes for $1.99/lb, and watermelon for $0.99/lb. The fruit tastes better than commercial water ice, has none of the added sugar, and is a fraction of the cost. Chocolate Hummus I recently discovered chocolate hummus, and am in love with it. I'm a big fan of hummus to begin with, but would never think of hummus as a dessert, until certain manufacturers released dark chocolate hummus. Dip fruit, nuts, unsalted pretzels, or rice cakes in the creamy chocolate hummus spread for a delicious, really good, healthy dessert. Trader Joe's, Cedar's, Sabra, Tribe, and Boar's Head are the most commonly found manufacturers. It can be found at many local grocery stores for $2.99 - $5.99 for an 8 oz. container. 2 tablespoons of the Trader Joe's brand yields 50 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0 g sat. fat, 0 g cholesterol, 9 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 5 g total sugars, and 2 g protein. Banana Frozen Yogurt This one can't be found in your local grocery store, and must be homemade. But the plain version only has 2 ingredients (bananas and yogurt) and costs less than $5 for 4 servings. Instructions: Peel 4 bananas and freeze them for at least 2 hours. Add the 4 frozen bananas and 1 cup fat-free, plain greek yogurt to a blender or food processor. I recommend Chobani non-fat plain greek yogurt . Blend until creamy. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in the freezer to be enjoyed later. To add some sweetness, sprinkle some sugar-free chocolate syrup or peanut butter powder into the blender and mix. 1 serving only gives you 135 calories, <1 g fat, 0 g sat. fat, 0 g cholesterol, 29 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 16 g total sugars, and 7 g protein. Frozen Fat Free Tapioca Pudding Freezing pudding gives you the same great taste you love in a pudding, but extends the enjoyment by making it into a harder, colder form. Tapioca flavor is naturally sweet, and pudding naturally creamy, giving you 2 of the most commonly desired characteristics in a dessert. Freezing the single-serve, 4 oz cups of the fat-free variety from Jell-o makes for a delightfully cold, fat-free dessert that takes zero preparation other than the time it takes to freeze (about 2 hours). You can find it at any grocery store cold reach-in section, or purchase the cook and serve online. One 4 oz cup has 100 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g sat. fat, 0 g cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 16 g total sugars, and 1 g protein. Unflavored Popcorn with Seasoning Unflavored popcorn is low in calories, fat, and sugar, and makes for a crunchy, light dessert. If you love popcorn, you're going to love making homemade popcorn with a variety of toppings. Best of all, it costs less than $1 per serving. You can make your own seasoning at home. But I know you want simple and fast, and so I recommend seasoning kits, like this one from Kernel Season's. As for the popcorn kernels, if you don't want to mess around with searching for the perfect kernel, any brand will do. You can't go wrong with Orville Redenbacher's. Takes about 10 minutes to make 2 servings (7.5 cups popped). For instruction on how to make popcorn on the stove, go here . Most people have pots large enough to make about 2 servings. Adjust as necessary. Per serving (3-3/4 cups popped popcorn and 1 tsp serving of seasoning): 92 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g sat. fat, 0 g cholesterol, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 0 g total sugars, and 2 g protein. Final Tip Whoever said dessert had to be bad for your health to taste good was wrong. There are plenty of fantastic healthy dessert ideas that are also simple to make, fast to prepare, and inexpensive. But remember, just like everything you eat, enjoy in moderation. Just because one serving only has 100 calories doesn't mean you should eat 5 servings. Nevertheless, I do like to indulge in a sweet treat every night after dinner. Stick to the healthy dessert ideas above and your belly will thank you. For recommendations on starting to eat healthier, check out my guide, Beginner's Guide to Eating Healthy . If you have a great, healthy dessert idea, please pass it on by leaving it in the comments section or sharing it on our facebook page . The owner of this website, HealthyHabitsforBusyPeople.com, is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which allows site owners to earn fees by advertising products. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This occurs at not extra cost to you, and we appreciate your support.

The exercise ball, or stability ball, is one of the best tools for working out and maximizing your results. It helps many people take their fitness to the next level. There are many benefits to using an exercise ball, which you can read about in my article: Best Equipment for Home Workouts , and in this article I will show you how to use it for a full-body workout. Performing exercises with a stability ball may be challenging at first as you learn to balance, but you will quickly find them to be simple and fun. It requires you to control your balance, and focus your body movements on performing exercises with proper form. While concentrating on the movements, you trigger both core muscles and stabilizer muscles, which improves strength and endurance. Many people associate exercise balls with rehab because they are beneficial in improving stability to help protect joints. But exercise balls, also known as stability balls, balance balls, yoga balls, and pilates balls, are quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for strength training and exercise. They promote proper alignment, posture, and balance; and when combined with exercises, stability balls help improve strength, endurance, flexibility, and of course stability. Exercise ball workouts can target the upper body, lower body, and core. There are an unlimited number of workouts for the exercise ball you can perform at home or in the gym. Below are exercises with the stability ball that are categorized according to targeted area of the body. Each is super effective at improving strength and balance. As you become comfortable with these exercises, feel free to think outside the box and introduce more into your routine. ** Don't have an exercise ball at home? Here's a list of recommended stability balls and tips for choosing the right one for you: Best Exercise Ball (Stability Ball) for Home Gym Exercise Ball Workouts for the Upper Body 1. as a substitute for a bench chest press fly skull crushers 2. as a seat military press curls lateral shoulder raises 3. to add difficulty to bodyweight exercises pushups shoulder raise dips Exercise Ball Workouts for the Lower Body 1. as a substitute for a bench hip thrust single leg dips pike 2. to support your weight wall squat incline squat single leg squat 3. to make balance more challenging squats lunges hamstring curl Exercise Ball Workouts for the Core 1. as a substitute for a bench elbow to knee bird dog mountain climbers elbow plank 2. for dynamic moves crunches russian twists rollout 3. to add weight russian twists v-pass window wipers Recommended Exercise Ball Workout For a full-body exercise ball workout, perform exercises one after another, similar to circuit training. Start with an upper body exercise, and then a lower body exercise, then a core exercise. Repeat this cycle with different exercises to really get your heart pumping and maximize your results. Final Tip Exercise ball workouts are a fun and challenging way to improve your fitness. Exercises performed with a stability ball are an effective means to target more parts of the body with each repetition. Because exercise ball workouts force you to use stabilizer muscles and core muscles with each rep, you are burning more calories and increasing your heart rate, improving the effectiveness of your workout. Want more tips on exercising at home? Check out all our articles here . Have something to add? Leave a comment below or on our facebook page .