3 Tips for Creating Healthy Habits

Creating healthy habits is a great way to make small, incremental lifestyle improvements for better performance and to reduce your risk of developing chronic disease. If it truly is all about the journey, make it worth your while by keeping these tips in mind:

Set goals: What do you want to do? Accomplish? Goals should be clear, reasonable, specific, and, if possible, measured or quantified in some way. Instead of “I will eat healthier this year,” try “I will eat 3 servings of vegetables every day. Write your goal down and keep it visible. Read it and re-read it regularly. Use power statements, “I will” instead of “I’ll try.” How will you achieve this goal? What are the steps? If your goal is weight loss, what tools, resources, activities and habits that help you get there?

Stay positive and reward yourself along the way: Celebrate successes and don’t underestimate the importance of recognizing your progress. If your goal is to complete a 5K run, reward yourself every time you complete a practice race, shed time on your miles, etc. Instead of saying “I can’t” say “I can” and “I will.” Complaining won’t get the job done and if it is too easy, was it really a worthy goal in the first place?

Mark your calendar: In addition to writing down your health goals, use an online, old-fashioned, calendar, day timer, journal, etc. Use it to schedule your workouts, shopping trips, to make notes. Noting the number of veggie servings you eat daily will enable you to track weekly average servings. Stay on top of your progress. Make time for your goals and specify the steps you’ll need to complete to reach them.

Tips to avoid late-night snacking

An important weight management tip is to eat when you we feel true, physiological hunger. Eating when not truly hungry can lead to excess calories and weight gain. Excessive snacking before bedtime and/or late at night, in particular, can become a bad habit. It can be a ‘go to’ behavior to distract us when we are experiencing uncomfortable or unpleasant feelings, such as frustration, anger, fear and boredom. Even excess stress and exhaustion can play a role in night-time eating. Here are some tips to limit mindless eating at night:

Eat well during the day: Aim to consume regular, well balanced meals with a wide variety of foods. Take time to plan your meals and snacks. Listen to your body and stay fueled throughout the day, according to your hunger levels.

Include fiber-rich foods: Few Americans eat enough of fiber-rich foods. Fiber, found in plant foods, promotes digestive and heart health and keeps you feeling fuller longer. Whole grains, fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds and legumes are fiber-rich. The more fiber you eat, the more important it is to drink plenty of water.

Don’t skimp on protein and overdo processed carbs: Noshing on processed carbs all day, such as crackers, white bread, granola bars, sugary cereals, sweets, pastries, and chips, for example, doesn’t provide your body with what it needs for optimum performance. Stick with healthier carb choices, such as fruit, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Pair these foods with a source of protein, such as a hard-boiled egg, Greek yogurt, nut butter, cottage cheese, hummus, tuna, etc.

Think twice before taking a bite: what are you really feeling? Is it true hunger or are you anxious, bored, frustrated or tired? What other activities and behaviors would satisfy you? Consider calling a friend to chat, playing a game, going for a walk, taking a relaxing shower or bath, reading, etc.

Go to bed earlier: if you are eating out of boredom or as a compliment to late-night television, consider an earlier bedtime. Sleep is important for weight control. Inadequate sleep can interfere with efficient carbohydrate metabolism, increase fat storage and hunger.

If you are truly hungry, eat a healthy balanced snack, such as yogurt with fruit, oatmeal with raisins and nuts, 1/2 small turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread or a slice of whole wheat toast spread with peanut butter or low-fat ricotta cheese and a dab of honey or jam. Keep your portions small and avoid distractions while eating.

5 Free Fitness Apps for 2020

Workout apps are all the rage and cover every type of workout. Enjoy strength training, yoga and/or barre workouts? There is an app for those. Here is a sampling of 5 free fitness apps for 2020.

JEFIT: This app is for resistance training workouts (no cardio or yoga). This app provides exercise training as well as tracking. Choose from hundreds of exercises by selecting your target muscle from a body map. Track your progress with photos.

NIKE Training Club: A great app that acts as a substitute for an instructor-led fitness routine. This app offers dozens of workouts led by Nike’s professionals, celebrity trainers and pro athletes. Choose your best workout by narrowing your choices based on specified criteria.

FitOn: An app that allows you to select from a variety of select workouts. Choose a workout by length, intensity, category or emphasis area. Because there is no membership or long-term commitment, you can use it as you like. FitOn offers a variety of workouts, such as HIIT, pilates or dance.

Seven: This app is based on the popular “seven minute workout” concept. This app is great for those that are short on time, dislike exercise and/or have little exercise equipment. Calisthenic-based exercises include body weight squats, step-ups and wall sits, for example. These are quick, straight-forward workouts.

Freeletics: You can effectively strength train without workout equipment. Body weight exercises for resistance training continue to be a hot trend. You can even choose a workout by the amount of space you have available. Freeletics covers all muscle groups and fitness levels, with step by step instructions for each exercise.