Six tips to avoid catching a cold or flu over the holidays
It seems as though nearly everyone catches a cold or flu over the holiday season (between December and February). Most people are of the opinion that this is a natural state of affairs, and unavoidable. This is simply not true!
There are many ways to avoid these debilitating and depressing afflictions. Follow the tips below and significantly reduce your odds of becoming ill during the winter months.
1. Avoid sugar. As hard as this might be during the holidays, sugar is the #1 reason people fall ill! Sugar impacts your immune system and makes you more prone to disease. If you can’t go without sweets and desserts during this time, try to significantly reduce the amount you do eat and choose a few specific times you will indulge. Daily sweets will surely impact your health, so avoid those daily chocolate hits at the office!
2. Get adequate sleep. When your sleep is impacted through stress or a busy lifestyle, your immune system is weakened. You should actually sleep a little longer through the night during the winter months, so do attempt to maintain your sleep schedule during the holidays and resist cutting back on your sleeping hours.
3. Don’t stuff yourself. When you overeat, your liver is forced to work extra hard, and this can lead to you getting sick. It might be tempting to eat more than necessary, but try to resist. Another reason to avoid overeating is the fact that gluttony leads to weight gain, because any energy your body doesn’t use gets stored as fat. Stick with smaller meals more often through the day and don’t be pressured into eating “just a little bit more.” Avoid falling into the trap of filling up on appetizers before a meal. Think about what you’re eating and don’t overdo it with alcohol.
4. Reduce stress and prioritize. Prioritize and plan your work and daily activities so that you don’t try to overdo it. When you become overwhelmed and stressed out, your immune system suffers and makes you more susceptible to colds and flu. Try yoga or meditation, or any other relaxing activity (a nice hot bath or alone time) for 20-30 minutes a day where you don’t have to rush around or be anywhere specific.
5. Cook with coconut oil. For a long time, coconut oil was the preferred cooking oil in North America, until the vegetable oil industry spread false rumors about its health benefits. Recent studies prove that coconut oil is healthy and keeps our immune systems strong. Coconut oil is a healthy form of saturated fat. Eat a couple teaspoons of coconut oil each day (in cooking or in a smoothie) to help maintain health.
6. Work out. If you can’t get in both your aerobic and weight lifting workouts and need to skip one, make sure you skip your anaerobic activity rather than your aerobic one. Anaerobic activities like sprints or weight lifting actually add more stress to the body and it is beneficial to skip these types of workouts occasionally to give your body a break. An otherwise stressful time of year like the holidays is the perfect time to give your body this type of break.
Sign Up here and receive:
“The Three Pillars of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Through the Mind-Body Connection” Audio
49 – Nutritional crackpottery and HMFB podcast value
(duration 21:00)
In this episode we begin with more paleo banter and its challenges (especially on the road), Kevin’s exercise regimen, including a hand-on collision with a turtle. We address one listener’s solitary journey of weight loss, amidst those who seemingly don’t care, as well as his question about who to trust…how does one know for certain whose ideas are correct when it comes to diet and nutrition? How can one tell a crackpot from a legitimate expert in these matters? Basically, it’s important to strive for objectivity, by looking at the evidence and paying attention to the carb/insulin factor, as articulated by numerous researchers and practitioners. Once you have the proper knowledge, mind set, and motivation, you can then lead by example and encourage others to live optimally as well. If you find value in our show, help keep it going and contribute to your own health and fitness by purchasing an Healthy Mind Fit Body ebook at http://getyourperfectweight.com. Thanks much!
Click here to get your free audio download of the 3 Pillars Of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Using The Mind/Body Connection, as well as our succinct newsletter.
Items mentioned in this episode:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_moccasin ;)
Amazing maple almond butter (among others)…
http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/products.php
Famous article by Gary Taubes, explaining where so much went so wrong in nutritional information:?http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html
What’s so wrong about the so-called nutritional experts in the health care industry…
http://healthymindfitbody.com/2010/06/22/37-interview-with-dr-james-carlson-part-1/
bumper music “All In My Head” (Remix) – http://www.kosheen.com
Feel free to rate and/or review our show on iTunes!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=332309038
Podcast: Download
How to Maximize Your Fat-Burning Potential – Guidelines for Athletes
Are you frustrated by that extra stubborn fat that seems to stick to you no matter how hard you train? Do you compete in sports for weight loss – or fat burning?
Many athletes complain about the same thing. They train really hard, they lose weight, but then they hit a plateau and the fat burning seems to hit a wall and stops. There are many reasons for this…but more importantly, there is a solution! Many times, athletes are unable to get down to their ideal weight or body shape because of:
• eating the wrong foods and eating too much
• training too hard, or not taking enough recovery days
• skipping workouts
• getting stressed out about workouts
For me, reality started settling in after college. I needed a fitness and nutrition plan – the mac & cheese and meatless spaghetti diet just wasn’t cutting it. I was developing a spare tire and I never had any energy. I made some major changes to my lifestyle and finally got back to the body I wanted and had more natural energy.
The changes I made were even more important as I started doing triathlons. As an athlete, you need the energy to train twice a day sometimes, and you also have to pay particular attention to your health to avoid injuries and illnesses. You need to keep up your endurance, as well.
So – how can you do this and maximize your fat burning potential? You need to figure out:
• the things those Low Carb, Low Fat, and calorie-restricting diets don’t tell you
• the best and worst foods for maintaining (or gaining) optimum health
• which fats help you lose weight and boost immunity – and which fats you should avoid
• seven items you should look for in a grocery store that will do wonders for your health
• the lies everyone is told about exercising hard to burn calories and why exercise alone is an inefficient way to lose weight
If you’re looking to get into the best shape of your life, while achieving optimum health, you need to train smart, not hard.
Click here to get your free audio (which answers the five issues above), “3 Pillars to Achieving Your Perfect Weight Using the Mind-Body Connection.”
Good luck!
Sign Up here and receive:
“The Three Pillars of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Through the Mind-Body Connection” Audio
48 – Freeing the animal with guest Richard Nikoley
(duration 36:28)
In this show we interview Richard Nikoley, whose blog promotes “expressing our primal genes for lean health, vitality, and attractiveness.” Understanding our nature as “rational animals” entails living as individuals who can make the wisest choices for ourselves, based on evolutionary fitness insights. Low-carb higher fat and adequate protein eating is a great start, and a paleo regimen just takes this to its logical conclusion. High intensity, brief workouts are great (chronic cardio, not). Being overweight is indicative of a broken metabolism, not bad genes. Intermittent fasting has positive health benefits. Probiotics (good bacteria) can be acquired in all sorts of natural ways, which don’t involve yogurt (ditch the anti-bacterial soap!). You have bare hands, so give bare feet a try.
Click here to get your free audio download of the 3 Pillars Of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Using The Mind/Body Connection, as well as our succinct newsletter.
Items mentioned in this episode:
Richard’s site
http://freetheanimal.com
Evolutionary fitness proponent Art Devany
http://www.arthurdevany.com/
for the adventurous paleos…Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1580080510/?tag=paleodietcom-20
next best thing to going barefoot…
http://freetheanimal.com/2010/06/out-with-the-vibram-five-fingers-and-in-with-the-soft-star-runamoc.html
bumper music “All In My Head” (Remix) – http://www.kosheen.com
Feel free to rate and/or review our show on iTunes!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=332309038
Podcast: Download
Paleo Kits & Steve's Original snacks- A Review
In August, I had Steve Liberati on the podcast, the creator of Paleo Kits- snack foods that follow the Paleo diet very closely. He sent me some samples and I was 
able to try them out the past couple of weeks. Here’s what I got:
Original Paleokit: Beef jerky, nuts, and berries
Grass Fed Paleokit: Grass fed beef jerky, nuts, and berries
PaleoKrunch Cereal: Grainless granola cereal made with coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and honey.
PaleoKrunch Bar: Grainless granola bar made with coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and honey.
Original Just Jerky: Just Beef Jerky!
Receiving the package of paleo snacks in the mail was excellent timing for me. As I’m trying to eat more and more paleo-ish, one of the hardest things is finding quick, easy snacks that are also healthy. Most of the bars out there are either too high in carb, or they have many chemicals that I can’t pronounce!
I’ve been really enjoying the jerky, nuts and berries. It’s an odd combo, but it has that sweet-salty taste that actually goes well together. And the plain jerky is fantastic for a quick snack when you are really after some extra protein.
The PaleoKrunch cereal has really been a treat! I haven’t eaten cereal in years and usually prepare a breakfast in the morning. But with this cereal, I’m pouring coconut milk over it and it’s good to go. I found that it works best to mix in some light coconut milk with the real thing, so that it mixes well with the contents of the cereal. This meal left me feeling satisfied and energized for hours after- as opposed to regular cereal which used to leave me hungry a short time after eating it! I still would not want to eat PaleoKrunch every day- it seems like more of a twice a week thing, but it’s great if you’re short on time in the morning.
And the bars, they are just the cereal in bar form. They taste great, my only problem with them is that they crumbled in my hands! I guess that’s what happens when they’re not loaded with preservatives!
Overall I definitely recommend Steve’s Original snacks.
Right now, you can get 10% off your order by going to http://stevesoriginal.com and using discount code ‘healthymindfit’.
Enjoy!
Sign Up here and receive:
“The Three Pillars of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Through the Mind-Body Connection” Audio
