i ALWAYS make a New Year's Resolution. I haven't decided what this year's will be yet... it might be business related, for me to take a step into a business venture that I have been thinking about for a while..... but maybe my resolution will have to do with something as simple as making sure I have my kids' lunches ready the NIGHT BEFORE!! In any case, here we go again... a New Year... a chance at starting fresh! Here is an article I read that I had to share with you... These are tips to help you if your resolution is fitness related, no matter what level of fitness you are at... just some good suggestions!!! Thank you ONLINEANTHENS!
it is that time of year again; whether you’re assessing a paunch or trying to define yet another row above your current six-pack of abs, many people will set a fitness goal for their New Year’s resolution.
Setting small, realistic goals is important, said Stacy Connell, the assistant director for fitness and wellness in the University of Georgia’s Department of Recreational Sports.
“If you love cookies, and you’re totally wiping them out of your diet, you’re not going to be successful,” Connell said.
There are a few tools that could help you achieve your new, health-minded goals and inspire you to set even higher ones in the future, she said.
“Pedometers are a great way just to increase your daily movement,” Connell said.
Setting goals like walking 7,000 or 10,000 steps in one day can help encourage traditional couch potatoes to get up and take a walk around the neighborhood, she said.
People don’t usually fall into big lifestyle changes all at once, but building up through smaller goals can help increase endurance and physical fitness, Connell said. A pedometer helps people think about walking through their office during breaks, or parking further away from the grocery store’s entrance in order to achieve more steps throughout the day.
People who already are jogging or running can skip the pedometers. A person’s pace changes too much during jogging to accurately count foot falls in one day.
People who are interested in jogging and running might want to experiment with the website www.mapmyrun.com. The site also offers an app for smart cellphones. Runners can enter their routes and the website provides details about the length of the run, Connell said.
“It gives you a record, and then you can see how far you’re going distance-wise, which is really nice,” she said. MapMyRun helps runners set mid-term goals by adding up daily runs.
“You can have a goal to do 100 miles in a month,” Connell said. “It makes you think bigger picture.” The website and app also allow a user to enter information about additional workouts and eating habits, she said.
Connell prefers to use the MyFitnessPal app to track her calories.
“You can log in your food intake and the cool thing is, you can actually scan your food,” Connell said.
The program automatically counts the calories, and sometimes can document nutritional values for whole plates of restaurant food, she said. “For the most part, you can get very accurate with it,” she said.
The MyFitnessPal app also allows you to add information about your workouts and will adjust your recommended caloric intake as you expend different amounts of energy throughout the day, she said.
People who want to maximize their workout routines can consider using a heart-rate monitor, Connell said.
Users can program the device to ensure they’re working out at the best levels for their bodies by keeping track of heart beats, she said.
If the workout is too easy, a heart will beat more slowly than it should, and the monitor will sound an alarm; too much strain, and the monitor will go off again.
Many people go to the gym, but don’t see the results they’ve set because they’re not challenging their bodies, Connell said.
“They’re just not working hard enough to see the results that they want to see,” she said.
YOU WILL FIND THIS ARTICLE @ http://onlineathens.com/health/2011-12-26/tools-help-new-years-fitness-resolutions
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave any questions or comments!