Step Up Your Game

Taking the stairs burns 10 calories a minute so the next time you're pondering taking the elevator, think twice.

And if you want to burn a few more calories, get up from your desk every hour or so and walk up a few flights in your office building if you can. Not only will you burn calories from the actual climb, but you'll also keep burning calories as your metabolism stays raised from this short bout of exercise.

Just 10 minutes of stair-climbing a day is 100 calories, which translates into almost a pound of fat loss a month / 12 pounds a year. That's nothing to laugh at!

Don't Forget to Stretch

In an effort to get in an out of the gym as quickly as possible, and still pack in as much cardio and weight training as possible, many people (myself included) skip the stretching part of their routine.
What do you gain from stretching anyway?
Well, according to the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, stretching will not only increase flexibility but strength as well.

Scientists asked 30 men to stretch each leg for 2 minutes, 5 times a week. After 6 weeks, the participants’ flexibility increased by 35 %. Their hamstring strength increased by 5% and their quadricep strength increased by 3.2%.

The scientists determined that stretching helps make legs stronger because it increases the muscles’ range of motion. This improves joint movement gives muscles more power.

Master of your Metabolism

It’s no secret that as we get older, our metabolism slows down.

That means that even though many of us are not overweight now, we could be come overweight in the future just by maintaining the same habits we keep now.

Our bodies will just not be able to burn as many calories in the future as they do now.

But there are a few things you can do to rev up your metabolism.

The first and biggest boost to your metabolism is weight training. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. One study found that senior citizens who strength trained 3 times a week for 6 months burned an extra 230 calories. A third of that increase was solely due to the muscle they gained, while the remaining calories were burned during the actual workout and the sped up metabolism following the workout.

You can also eat or drink your metabolism into shape. Spicy food has been said to boost metabolism by up to 30 %. So keep you foods fiery!

One cup of green tea could help your body burn an extra 80 calories per day and white tea is said to be even better because it is actually a purer form of green tea.

Don’t discount your morning cup of coffee either. The caffeine in an 8-oz cup of brewed coffee can elevate your metabolism for more than 2 hours.

Add all these tricks together and you don’t have to fear the future anymore.

Ode to Cinnamon

Cinnamon is one of the best things you can add to your diet.

Not only does it help food taste even better, but this wonder spice has tons of health benefits too.
- It has been known to help brain function and memory.
- It soothes the stomach, and may aid in preventing ulcers
- It suppresses bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections
- It reduces bad cholesterol levels, while leaving good cholesterol intact.

Cinnamon also helps reduce blood sugar and increase insulin levels, which could prevent or slow the onset of diabetes. Lowering blood sugar levels also helps you lose weight because your body is better able to shuttle sugar (glucose) to your muscles instead of storing it as fat.

Even better, because the fat cells in your stomach are particularly sensitive to high insulin levels, so regular intake of cinnamon could shrink your abdomen and, really, doesn’t sipping cinnamon tea sound so much better than doing dozens of crunches?

Weight-Watchers Tip

I just read about a great tip from Weight Watchers that I had to share.

I sometimes stay away from salad because I enjoy salad dressing and even the light stuff has around 30 calories per tablespoon. (I don't like the ultra-light ones. But that's a personal choice). I find that I end up putting at least 3-4 table spoons of creamy dressing in a big salad, which defeats the purpose of eating light, but here's a new tip.

Weight Watchers advises that you have your dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing before you putting the fork into the salad for each mouthful. You'll get the taste of the dressing with each bite without needing as much.

I'm having a big salad with my dinner!

Go Small for Big Results

Most people this time of year have got a fitness goal that they are working towards. Usually it involves a goal with a number at the end of it, as in "I want to lose 10 pounds" or "I want to lose 10 inches" etc.

On top of that, people want to attain this goal by tomorrow, if not faster. But big goals are hard to accomplish instantly and when people don't achieve them, they are often disheartened and give up.

Fitness specialists advise that the best way to get around this problem is to have smaller goals, which are easier to attain. So instead of thinking about losing 10 pounds, consider losing 1-2 pounds a week. That goal is achievable and is easier to work with. This type of goal is also healthier because people who lose big amount of weight usually lose muscle, which slows their metabolism.

With an attainable goal in mind, it's easier to get up off the couch and get moving! It works for me!

Sprinting Your Way to Happiness

ABritish study has found that performing just 30 seconds of intense exercise can clear your head.

The study was conducted at the University of Essex and involved 22 men who performed a single all-out sprint. Reseachers found that after the sprint each participant experienced less tension, anger and confusion. Furthermore, this new sense of well-being lasted for about 75 minutes.

Study author Dominic Micklewright, Ph.D. says that short periods of exhaustive exercise fatigue the mind, resetting it to its baseline. He adds that the same benefits can be attained with any short, intense exercise, including sprinting or even running up a flight of stairs.

And all that in 30 seconds! I'm impressed!