Health Affixed

Health Is Limitless

Running for a Cause

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There are so many worthy causes with annual invitations to run and walk. Why not participate?

Friendly competition is the best competition because everyone is a winner. Not to mention that your efforts and participation directly benefit people in need of support. The causes vary, the locations vary, and the activities vary. Thus, no matter what issue is close to your heart, where you live, or your activity level, you can make a difference and collectively we can have an impact on the issues that plague our society.

Explore here.

Exercise Breaks

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A rest day can turn into a rest week or month, but . . . is that a bad thing?

The truth is that exercise breaks or hiatuses are natural in a healthy lifestyle. Life happens and sometimes exercising has to be placed on a back burner until your mood increases or your personal crisis gets resolved.

However, if you make exercise a part of your life, then a break or hiatus will always end because you know that being your healthiest self means incorporating exercise into your life and you know that there is no better self-treatment than a good sweat session.

So, if it’s been a week, month, or almost a year since your last sweat session, plan your next one. You’re just on a break right now and that’s 100% ok. If you have a personal crisis that will be resolved in two weeks, plan your next sweat session for the following week and keep it simple.

Remember, the journey to health is a personal life journey; there are no rules or deadlines just keep working towards a healthy lifestyle in your own way.

Fitness Trackers: All the Rage

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If you aren’t wearing a fitness tracker, did you really workout? A fitness tracker gives you an idea of your intensity level while exercising. More importantly, it helps to keep you motivated to exercise by keeping track of your workouts and the amount of calories burned during your sweat sessions. Weight maintenance is a numbers game and fitness trackers keep you aware of the numbers. Some trackers offer additional tracking features like sleep and water intake.

The bottom line is that fitness trackers make you feel “some type of way.” When you look at the tracker and it shows that you worked out every day for the last month, you feel a sense of accomplishment and you feel motivated to keep the streak going. When the tracker shows that you only worked out twice in the last month, you feel disappointed and want to get back on track especially when you consider that, a month ago, you exercised every day of the month and survived!

Invest in yourself by purchasing a decent fitness tracker and start tracking your workouts. You won’t regret it.

Spring Break and Vacation Season

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Ah, the joys of getting away. If you are like most, you increase your workout level prior to going on vacation and severely decrease it while on vacation. While the food intake tends to decrease prior to going on vacation and severely increase while on vacation. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematician to know the outcome; the weight on the scale will be higher after vacation.

The must do: pack workout clothes and shoes. The goal is to try to counter the increased food intake with at least light to moderate consistent exercising while on vacation. To accomplish the goal, keep the exercising routines simple and quick – body weight exercises work well. Also, if you know the location will have a gym, plan to hit the gym for 20 minutes during off peak hours. Get in and get out. After all, you are on vacation.

Another option is to simply partake in vacation type activities like canoeing, beach volleyball, swimming, walking, etc. If you are the sunbathing on vacation type, then perhaps consider downloading a beach yoga routine on your phone.

Staying activity on vacation will help to balance your mood once the vacation is over.

Music and Motion

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You know when that song comes on, you have to move - whether the movement is ever so discretely or vivacious. Despite the loss of control side effect, music is good for health. It has been proven to stimulate the brain, aid in the recovery of stroke patients, reduce stress, improve the heart, and improve mood. I think we can all agree that exercising with music is way more enjoyable than exercising without it. The right song can also provide that burst of energy to get you through the last five minutes of your routine.

With all the benefits of music, you should not slack on your playlists. Be sure to update your workout playlists often and keep a decent pair of headphones on hand.

A good playlist can provide the motivation you need to exercise on a rainy day.