Category: Overall Health

Ways to Stay in Shape Over the Holidays

The holidays can be a tough time for exercisers to stay in shape.  With an abundance of food and drink, it’s hard to stick to our diets.  On top of that, many people travel to go see family which usually results in taking a break from their normal exercise routines.  Here are some easy ways to stay active over the holidays.

Go for a walk or jog. Walking or jogging are great ways to build up your aerobic endurance and burn off some of those unwanted calories.  Best of all these activities don’t require any equipment.  Try to go out and walk or run for about thirty minutes to an hour three days a week.  With the extra time off you can go to any of the great parks in New Orleans and take in the sites while exercising.

Use body weight training. If you happen to be traveling over the holidays and don’t have access to a gym you can use a simple and easy body weight workout to keep in shape.  There are a variety of exercises you can perform with no equipment.  Here’s a easy sample workout:

Perform 2 to 3 sets of each exercise, shooting for 10 to 15 repetitions 2 times a week.

Body Weight Squats

Pushups Variations

Bridges

Lunges Variations

Supermans

Planks Perform 2 to 3 Repetitions holding for as long as you can.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

3 for Thursday – Take Charge of Your Health

Calling all Women! Are you leading your families’ health movement? With health care in flux, proactive health solutions are becoming more and more important.  And traditionally, women make the majority of the families’ health decisions. This article by Daphne Oz shows you how to get your family moving in the right direction.

“We’re eating too much, we’re eating too much of the wrong foods, we’re sedentary and we’re not educating our children on how to fix this,” McGrath said. “The only way you get control on health-care spending is to improve the underlying health conditions of our population.”  says Matt McGrath, vice president of Holmes Murphy & Associates, (an insurance brokerage that performs employee benefits consulting).  This article in the St Louis Business Journal discusses how our own behaviors are greatly responsible for the rising costs of health care, and provides prudent advice for how proactive wellness can help you control your health care costs.

Next in this Wall Street Journal article, see how this Dad changed his life by prioritizing his workouts. You can do it too!

Well I hope that these 3 articles inspire you to re-think your own health. Tell us what you think. How are you going to lead your own health movement?

Photo: Neighborhood Centers