1) Save Money: Choosing to cycle to work is pretty much guaranteed to save you money, and who isn’t looking to save money in these difficult times? Firstly, you’ll save money for not paying for a car. Secondly, you don’t have to pay any tax or insurance for a car. Thirdly, you don’t have to pay for fuel and, well, you get the picture.
If you’re using any kind of transport other than your own two feet to get to work every day, then you’ll almost certainly save money by going on a bicycle instead.
2) Improve Your Health: With many of us doing little more than sitting at a computer all day while at work, exercise is becoming more and more important to living well. It’s your body that keeps you going day in and day out, so it’s important to keep it in decent shape.
Cycling to work is a fantastic way to help keep your body healthy. By cycling, you’ll also eliminate the need to spend so many hours in the gym before and after work, saving you money and also time.
3) Clear Your Mind: Those who exercise regularly know how good it can feel for the body, but they also know it feels good for the mind. Exercise can help clear your mind, distracting you from your worries and concerns. It’s also a known fact that cardiovascular exercise can help with mental health, reducing both anxiety and depression.
4) Help The Environment: Global warming scientists suggest that we could have a big problem on our hands if we don’t start to take action right now, and the best place to start is with your carbon emissions. One of the biggest sources of these emissions is car travel. By using your car less, you can directly contribute to reduced carbon emissions.
5) Save Time: Although cycling isn’t usually thought of as the fastest way to travel, it clearly beats walking. However, on commutes where there’s a lot of traffic, cycling can also be quicker than travel by bus or car if you don’t live too far away. Even if it’s slower than your car journey, you’ll still get to work pretty quickly, and can enjoy the many other benefits listed above by doing so.
Some of the images above are affiliate links and we earn a tiny commission if you purchase something using those links (at no additional cost to you). The products we link are what we consider to be the best options available.
]]>
Losing weight is not as simple as eating less. Chances are if you’ve been eating unhealthy food for the past couple years, now your body has adapted to poor sources of calories. Simply switching your intake to cleaner, whole foods may make a big difference.
The difficulty is: how do you determine which foods are best for weight loss? How do you know what’s going to work best for you?
Here are some of the most effective ways to ensure you are losing weight and keeping it off.
Emphasize Balance in Your Diet
One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when they start a new diet is to remove a specific food from their diet. Whether you try a high-fat diet and remove most of your carbs or try a high-carb diet and limit your intake of fat ‒ both can be harmful to your health and weight loss.
Although these methods may work in the short-term as the months progress you may see a plateau. For this reason, it’s always best to emphasize a balance of all food groups.
Consistent weight loss will come when you create a caloric deficit which means taking in less calories than you burn off.
After you’ve found balance in your diet, consider keeping a few, more harmful foods out of your diet whenever possible. Check out these top 5 foods to avoid for weight loss.
5 Foods to Avoid:
1. Fatty Meats ~ We all love bacon and ribs ‒ but to a certain extent, these foods come with a high caloric value and a low nutritional yield.
● Limiting your intake of fatty meats like beef and pork and substituting fish, turkey, beans, and other lean meats can help to lower your intake of saturated fats and total calories.
2. Processed Sweets ~ Halloween is the only exception to this rule. Processed sweets like candy, donuts, muffins, and cakes all contain high amounts of calories with low nutritional value.
● They are also loaded with trans fats, perhaps the worst fat you can consume for overall health.
3. Processed Grains ~ Humans have developed over thousands of years to eat whole grains, yet the past generation of food processing has stripped grains of nutrition and can lead to weight gain.
● Limiting your intake of foods such as white bread, flour tortillas, ready-made cereals, and other processed grains can lead to stronger overall health, faster weight loss, and better digestion.
4. Whole Creams ~ Many people enjoy a nice cappuccino, but the extra amount of high-fat dairy is detrimental for your daily calorie needs.
● Limiting your consumption of high-fat dairy products like ice cream, whole milk, and full-fat yogurt could be a step in the right direction if you are looking for long-term weight loss.
5. Fruit Juices ~ Eating whole fruit will never be an issue, yet fruit juices are loaded with added sugar and preservatives that have no place in your daily calories.
● The added sugar can cause inflammation which leads to weight gain, and the extra calories are not needed. For best results, try making your own fruit juice smoothies. You’ll likely find no need for the added sugars.
Emphasize Moderation
These food recommendations are foods that are generally quite high in calories. At the end of the day, your weight loss will be about the total amount of calories you consume and your ability to maintain a calorie deficit throughout the weeks.
Do your best to emphasize moderation in your food. Simply put, all food is good when it’s consumed at the right time and the right amount.
Some of the images above are affiliate links and we earn a tiny commission if you purchase something using those links (at no additional cost to you). The products we link are what we consider to be the best options available.
For instance, the ketogenic diet has been popularly used for weight loss, while the vegan diet has been promoted due to the claimed health benefits from excluding animal products.
There are many popular diets out there, but we’ll compare the 3 most popular ones – The Ketogenic, Vegan, and finally, The Carnivore diet.
If you’re just getting to learn more about healthy nutrition and are wondering which option is the best, keep reading!
What Makes A Good Nutrition Plan?
Unfortunately, many of the self-proclaimed “gurus” that market these diets, claim that such an approach to nutrition may have supreme benefits over other types of diet.
However, the truth is that the exclusion of a certain nutrient, or focusing on a specific food group won’t really hack your way to progress…
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that these diets can’t be beneficial.
The MOST IMPORTANT factor of an effective nutrition plan is its sustainability, or, in other words, how well you can adhere to it – When on a diet, think in terms of “Can I stick to this in the long term or does it rather feel like torture?”
If you’re eating keto but can’t really tolerate it, why do it in the first place?
Now let’s have a look at all 3 nutrition approaches and discuss their pros and cons.
The Carnivore Diet
This first nutrition approach is one of the recently viral ones, and there is a reason for that.
The proponents of the carnivore diet believe that humans evolved to this extent with the help of nutrient-dense animal food sources, as we lived in hunter-gatherer societies for a long time.
These are the foods that increased satiety and provided essential nutrients that allowed the complex development of the human species.
As the name suggests, animal products like meat and organs are at the core of this nutrition plan.
Though similar to the ketogenic diet due to its high protein and fat content, the carnivore diet differs because it also allows for the consumption of quality carb sources like fruits and root crops.
Pros: Highly satiating, abundant in essential nutrients
Cons: Quality meat is expensive, you can’t consume grains and vegetables
The Ketogenic Diet
Similar to the carnivore diet, the ketogenic diet implies a heavy focus on fat and protein, as the main sources of calories.
The term ‘ketogenic’ comes from the metabolic state of ‘ketosis’, during which the body uses fat as its main energy source. (the liver transforms fat in ketone bodies that are released in the bloodstream and used for energy)
This diet has gained a lot of positive feedback from people on weight-loss regimens, or individuals who try to normalize their blood sugar levels.
However, one of its biggest disadvantages is that it excludes carbs and thus, athletic performance may suffer.
Pros: Highly satiating, plenty of quality protein and fats
Cons: Almost completely excludes carbs (worse athletic performance), doesn’t allow sweets, is not so flexible, may be hard and expensive to stick to
The Vegan Diet
Opposite to the carnivore diet that puts animal products at the core of nutrition, the vegan diet completely excludes those!
This approach to nutrition entails a complete focus and devotion to plant foods.
And though there are no additional benefits to that, as opposed to other diets (when calories are equated), the vegan diet may turn out to be more sustainable for some individuals, especially ones who don’t tolerate animal foods well.
Pros: May ease digestion and improve intolerances while granting sufficient nutrients for healthy functioning
Cons: Can be hard to find quality vegan foods, excludes the most nutritious foods (animal products), food volume is usually big, which can result in bloats
Which One Should You Pick?
Alright, before you rush into purchasing a stack of avocados and asparagus, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I like the foods this diet requires?
- Can I stick to this?
- Will I feel miserable following this nutrition plan?
- Is this sustainable in the long term?
- Will this provide enough energy for my daily mental and physical activities?
Remember, don’t fall for someone’s marketing tricks – Do your own research, experiment and find out the nutrition approach that is most sustainable for YOU!
Some of the images above are affiliate links and we earn a tiny commission if you purchase something using those links (at no additional cost to you). The products we link are what we consider to be the best options available.
]]>If you want to take food more consciously and, thereby, lose weight, you should learn to curb your appetite and eat less. This does not mean that you are going to suffer from feeling hungry, but that you will simply change small habits in your everyday life. With the next 7 tips, it won’t be so hard to eat less.
- Do not go shopping hungry
You have heard this tip many times because it makes sense. In a hungry state, our body thirsts for all things that are tasty and unfortunately not healthy for us. So just go to the supermarket to get only the most needed items on a full stomach (best with a shopping list).
- Eat smaller portions
If there is a lot of food on our plate, we feel compelled to eat everything, especially when it is particularly delicious. In order to eat less, you only have to get smaller portions – try not to cheat!
- Do not eat in front of the TV
Even as children, mom often left us with a delicious snack in front of the TV, and, as adults, we continue this tradition. It is so convenient to watch your favorite series with food on your lap. Unfortunately, this is a mistake, because, when we eat in front of the TV, our brain focuses mainly on what we see and hardly perceives what we eat. The sensation of feeling full occurs much later. So, when you eat, concentrate on your meal only.
- Eat more fiber
Foods with a lot of dietary fiber do not only fill you up faster, but are also good for your digestion. Nuts, whole-grain products or legumes are good snacks, just like fruits and vegetables, in order to combat the heat of starvation and, thus, to eat less. However, be careful not to overdo it with these foods, because, otherwise, constipation may occur.
- Avoid all-you-can-eat buffets
This tip is self-explanatory. Fully packed tables, which present us with endlessly many delicious dishes definitely looks so tempting. Although such buffets can save money, they are not at all useful for our purposes of eating healthier or losing weight.
- Avoid food containing flavor enhancers
Products that contain flavor enhancers such as glutamate (E 621) or inosinate (E 630) stimulate the appetite a lot. That’s why we want to keep eating. So, when shopping, do not buy products where taste enhancers are listed in the ingredients list.
- Chew more consciously
Do not cut your food down, but chew it more intensely and slower. By soaking the food with enough saliva, you can ensure good digestion, and the nutrients will be absorbed more easily. In addition, feeling full becomes faster and you eat less – faster weight loss guaranteed.
With a little discipline, you can easily change your eating and shopping habits. Eating less and more deliberately, that is what matters. This way, you can definitely lose weight without having to give up too much.
Some of the images above are affiliate links and we earn a tiny commission if you purchase something using those links (at no additional cost to you). The products we link are what we consider to be the best options available.
Swimming Is Great For Strength Training
Not only is swimming good for a cardio workout, swimming challenges the muscles all over your body and is great for increasing overall body strength. The water resistance you face while swimming forces your muscles to work harder – just like traditional forms of strength training. You’ll be able to gain some muscle and tone up your body at the same time. Swimming is also widely used as therapy to strengthen injured muscles in athletes because the water resistance provides a good workout without giving stress to the injured body parts.
Water Weights
Swimming Is Great For Everybody!
The great thing about swimming is that everybody can do it and enjoy it. It’s suitable for every age group and fitness level; you can decide how hard to push yourself when you swim. Elderly people can benefit from swimming too, since the water gives good support to their body and they can stay fit without worrying about injuring their back or joints. It’s also a great activity for you to do with your family: you can have fun together and stay healthy at the same time. If you bring little kids along to the pool, though, be sure to always keep an eye on them to prevent any accidents.
Ankle/Wrist Weights for Aquatic Exercises
Some of the images above are affiliate links and we earn a tiny commission if you purchase something using those links (at no additional cost to you). The products we link are what we consider to be the best options available.
