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Activity Trackers… Are They Beneficial???

Fitness and activity trackers are hot on the market right now. It seems like every major company has their own version. But do you need one? What are the benefits of using an activity tracker?

Accountability. This is a big one for those who need a little push out the door to get moving (especially in the morning). Most fitness trackers work with third party apps where you can challenge a buddy to a workout and post your planned sessions to keep yourself accountable to your exercise program. Research has shown that social exercise aids in helping us perform more regular exercise and avoid pulling the cover over our heads to sleep in. Plus, when you do fit in that activity, you can share it on social media with your active friends!

Motivation. Another benefit to fitness trackers is the visual progress you see as you log your time moving. This includes seeing how many steps you take during the day and the motivation that comes with that information. On average, it is recommended that we take 10,000 steps per day to be in the healthy, active category of movement. Setting daily goals for yourself helps you get those extra steps so you reach 5 miles, 15 flights of stairs, or 1,000 calories- whatever your daily goal may be!

Healthy Eating. We all know living a healthy lifestyle involves both regular activity and a healthy diet. Trackers often feature a fuel and hydration log to help you keep track of the quantity and quality of your every day fuel. You can enter your food choices for each meal including the quantity and see calories for that serving. Tally your water intake during the day will keep you on track. Evaluating the quality of your diet may help to inspire better choices.

Goal Setting. There is nothing more helpful in achieving weight loss and other goals than to have a carrot dangling out in front of you to keep you inspired. One of the key features of fitness trackers is the ability to set goals and achieve them. Whether it is to lose ten pounds or increase your daily activity, by tracking your exercise, fuel, and sleep you are hands on in learning what it takes and how to achieve any goal you set. Goal setting keeps you focused on progress and personal fitness evolution. It’s the difference between wanting to be fit, and actively engaging in a plan to live a fit and active lifestyle.

Tracking your Sleep. The quality of your sleep can affect everything from your metabolism, cravings, energy, mood, and safety. Many fitness trackers can also track your sleep patterns, not only showing you how long you slept, but whether it was deep or light sleep throughout the night and how many times you woke up. Realizing the quality of your sleep is less than optimal can inspire life changing sleep habits, which will improve your life performance.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Serving Size: 10

There is nothing better than a Crock Pot meal on a winter weekend and this one is a favorite. It’s easy to make and little prep is required!

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 16oz can black beans
  • 1 16oz can kidney beans
  • 1 8oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 10oz package corn kernels
  • 2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes with chilies
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 24oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • chili peppers (optional)

Directions:

Combine onion, beans, tomato sauce, corn, tomatoes, taco seasoning, cumin, chili powder and chili peppers in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Nutrition per Serving:

Calories: 204
Fat: 2g
Carbohydrates: 33g
Fiber: 10g
Protein: 17g

**For those with special dietary needs, a couple options are to remove the corn to reduce the carbohydrates by about 5g per serving or you can reduce the serving size and pair with spinach leaves for a taco salad.

Safe Shoveling 101

PUNXATAWNEY PHIL SAYS WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER… AND WINTER IN NEW YORK MEANS MORE SNOW! SHOVELING SNOW CAN BE A BIG PROJECT; IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOT ONLY DO IT EFFICIENTLY, BUT DO IT SAFELY, TOO! HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU GET THROUGH THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF WINTER…

1. Stretch first
Don’t be in a hurry to get outside. Thoroughly stretch your hamstrings, back, and shoulders. Then dress in removable layers, grab your shovel and resist the urge to fly at the white stuff just to get the job done. Pace yourself. Start slowly and ramp up to speed.

2. Don’t move snow twice
Before you even take your first scoop, decide where you’re going to dump the snow. Drop the first shovelful farther away from where you are standing, then dump remaining snow closer and closer to where you are. That way, the last scoops that you shovel are moved the shortest distance. Don’t block access to snow that needs to be removed by piling it up in a way that will force you to move it twice.

3. Move snow the shortest distance possible
Consider that everything from a driveway to a patio to a walkway is really a rectangle, and rectangles have a center point. Move the snow from the center of the rectangle to the nearest edge.

4. Clear cars first
Brush snow off cars then clear around the cars.

5. Do the foreground then the background
For example, to clear snow from a rectangle, first shovel a strip clear along the perimeter of the rectangle. Then, moving from the center to the edge, push the snow into the cleared area. Next, lift and throw the snow out of the area.

6. Maintain proper posture:
A. Use your leg muscles as much as possible – push snow when you can and use your legs to lift when you can’t push it.
B. Keep your back straight as you move from the squat position to the upright position.
C. Use your shoulder muscles as much as possible.
D. Hold the snow shovel as close to your upper body as possible.
E. Keep one hand close to the shovel blade for better leverage.
F. Don’t twist your upper body as you throw snow.

7. Keep hydrated
Take bottles of water out with you and keep them accessible, either in the car or on the front stoop or somewhere else convenient.

8. Rest frequently
Clearing an area by hand means that you may lift and carry anywhere from hundreds of pounds to tons of snow.

9. Be thorough but not fussy
The sun is relatively strong this time of year. Clear an area, spread de-icer if necessary and then let the sun do the rest. The fact is, any surface color that you expose in shoveling (gray, green, brown or black) will be far less reflective than a thick blanket of snow, and remaining snow will melt more easily from that darker surface.

10. Don’t overdress
You need to stay warm, but if you overdress you’re going to be soaked in sweat in no time. Dress in loose-fitting layers that you can peel off as you heat up.

11. Whenever possible, team up
Shoveling with a friend or neighbor is inherently more enjoyable than shoveling on your own. Plus, it’s quicker to get the job done with two or three sets of hands.

12. Go easy on the de-icer
Once the area is clear, all you need is a thin scattering of de-icer to keep it that way. If you’re scattering by hand, throw the salt, pellets or granules low along the ground so they bounce and roll into a uniform layer.

13. Whenever possible, get a head start
It’s easier to remove snow in thin layers than wait until all the snow is down to have at it. If it looks like your area is going to get dumped on, try to get out there and shovel it in several passes.

14. Maintain your equipment
The front edge of a snow shovel takes a beating. If it’s metal, hammer it straight when it gets bent; if it’s plastic use a utility knife to carve off the burr that forms on its end. Tighten a loose handle by driving a large hex head sheet metal screw through the blade socket and into the handle.

15. Stretch when you’re done
Stretch gently when you’re done and use an ice pack to take care of inflamed muscles. Rest and remain hydrated.

How Do You Get The Sunshine Vitamin In The Wintertime?

Vitamin D is important for our bodies, but how can we get enough during the winter months?

Research has linked Vitamin D to decreased rates of cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression. Vitamin D levels in the body are not as much of an issue during the summer when people are going outside. However, during the winter months, people spend a lot more of their time indoors due to colder temperatures and snowy days. This often leads to a drop in the body’s vitamin D levels.

But how can you get Vitamin D in the winter? Go outside! Even when there is snow on the ground, you can still get enough sun to boost your vitamin D levels. When you’re outside, let as much skin show as you comfortably can- your face, neck, and hands can get some sunshine. Go outside during “solar noon.” This is the time of day when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. When you’re outside, use your skin as a cue. If your skin starts to turn pink, you’ve had enough. Keep in mind that you don’t need to spend hours in the sun. Even ten minutes a day can help boost the level of vitamin D in your body.

We live in an area where the sun shines enough in the winter that vitamin D supplements may not be necessary. However, especially with supplements, we need to ensure that we don’t get “toxic” on vitamin D. A better way to get vitamin D is simply by eating more of the foods rich in this vitamin. There are a handful of foods that can help boost vitamin D levels. Good food sources include fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, mushrooms, eggs, and vitamin D fortified foods such as milk. Wild salmon is a great source and just a small 4 ounce serving can give us more than enough of the recommend daily allowance. For those with dietary restrictions, any type of milk will do! Cow, soy, almond, and coconut milk are all vitamin D fortified.

Following these simple recommendations can help everyone enjoy the health benefits of vitamin D naturally not only during the winter, but all year long.

Beating The Winter Blues!

Ever feel like you have a case of the “winter blues”?

This seasonal funk is actually a type of depression related to the change in seasons, but you’re not alone. Many people have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which generally starts in the fall and lasts through the winter months. Often people feel like they have less energy or may have mood swings. However, there are things you can do to help keep your mood and motivation constant throughout the year.

Symptoms of winter-onset SAD, aka winter depression, include: oversleeping, appetite changes (craving high carbohydrate foods), irritability, tiredness/low energy, and weight gain. It is normal to have some days where you feel down, but if this continues for days at a time and you cannot seem to enjoy things you like, it may be time to talk to your doctor.

The common factor which plays into SAD is the decreased hours of sunlight during the winter. This can cause a disruption to your biological clock. The shorter daylight hours in the winter may throw off your circadian rhythm and lead to feelings of depression. Seratonin is a brain chemical that affects your mood. During the winter, levels of their neurotransmitter may drop causing depression. Lastly, a drop in melatonin during the change in seasons can affect your mood and sleep patterns.

There are medications and treatments to help with SAD, but these “home remedies” may help with your winter blues. Make your home or office environment sunnier and brighter. Open blinds, trim tree branches that block sunlight, or sit closer to bright windows. Get outside! Take a long walk, eat lunch at a nearby park, or simply sit on a bench and soak up the sun. Even on cold or cloudy days, outdoor light can help. Spend some time outside in the morning. Regular exercise and other types of physical activity help relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase SAD symptoms. Being more fit can make you feel better about yourself, too, which can lift your mood!

Keeping Up With Your Resolutions – More Tips

HERE ARE A FEW MORE TIPS TO KEEP YOU ON TRACK THIS WINTER!

GOING ON CRASH DIETS

A quick Google search will bring up pages of flashy diet options that promise fast results. Losing weight quickly is tempting, but the results will not last and could compromise any future weight loss. When we consume less calories than our bodies require, it puts us into “starvation mode.” Our bodies will begin to lower our basal metabolic rate in order to compensate and protect our organs and ensure we can complete our essential functions. When we return to our normal way of eating, not only will we gain weight but it will be difficult for any future weight loss. The first step is to look at what period of time you put on the weight and understand it will take that time plus some to lose. Fat loss is a slow and gradual process that allows our body to adapt as we progress to ensure that we maintain our ability to function at an optimal level.

NOT ADDRESSING THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF WEIGHT LOSS

Many psychologists concur that emotions are the top obstacle when it comes to losing weight with emotional eating and lack of commitment being the top behaviors compromising your progress. We have found many clients don’t truly believe that they deserve to be healthy and happy. They have used their weight to define part of their identity and often have used food to dull emotions and negative experiences. These associations can be difficult to break and without proper acknowledgement lead to self-sabotage and negative self-talk. One of the best tools is to keep a journal of your realizations, triggers, moments of doubt, accomplishments, and more in order to identify areas where you need assistance. Also, find an alternate option for self-care that you enjoy that can replace the void that emotional eating has filled in the past. Lastly, speak to someone you trust to help you break the barriers on your weight loss journey.

BEING UNREALISTIC

In theory, it would be great if your meals were all cooked at home and you exercised at the gym every day, but if you don’t have time to cook or get yourself to the gym, then that’s probably a poor plan that will leave you feeling defeated. It is better to start small and make resolutions that you think you can keep. Creating short term goals along the way will help you ultimately reach your long term goal down the road. If your aim is to exercise more, schedule three or four days a week at the gym instead of seven. If you want to start eating healthier, start by replacing sweet desserts with something else you enjoy, like fruit or yogurt. Having realistic expectations helps you to form goals that fit with your real life and your individual needs and personality—so that you can be successful and feel good about that. In the past, I’ve had clients who wanted to start a 5 week program, but they expect to lose over 20 lbs. in that time. Realistically, healthy weight loss is about 1-2 lbs. per week. It is important to set small weight loss goals along the way; this will help make your long term weight loss goal more attainable. Remember that minor missteps when reaching your goals are completely normal. Don’t give up completely because you ate a brownie and broke your diet, or skipped the gym because you were busy. Everyone has ups and downs; resolve to recover from your mistakes and get back on track.