Spring is a great time to "clean house" and take a few moments to review
your health and fitness program. Ask yourself if your fitness program is
still fun or has it gotten a little stale? Are you getting a restful sleep
and feeling more energetic or do you feel stressed and tired all of the time?
Are you eating 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day or has too much
junk or fast food crept into your eating plan? Do you feel fulfilled and
happy with your life or are you like a hamster on a wheel? So did you
answer yes to the first half of all of these questions or do you need a
little spring tune-up? Let's talk about a few simple ways to revamp your
springtime health and fitness and help you look and feel your best.

Back to Fitness Basics

Subtle changes in your fitness program can make big changes in your
results. Instead of the traditional 30 minutes of weight training followed
by 30 minutes of machine based cardio, try shortening your workouts and
consider a whole body circuit workout. In a whole body circuit workout you
are shooting for 40 minutes of weights and cardio training simultaneously.
Choose whole body exercises that will keep your heart rate in the training
zone the entire training time. Try this for a challenging sequence;
push-ups, squats and curls combo, lunges and shoulder press combo, star
jumps, standing row, prone bridge/plank, hip lifts on the fitness ball,
wall sits and jump rope. Repeat once or twice. Don't rush it and no rest
time either except for water.

Sleep is a Time to Heal

Your sleep time is when the body heals and repairs itself. A good sleep
helps reduce the negative health effects of a stressful day. Getting a
restful sleep requires feeling equally physically and mentally tired. It is
difficult to get a restful sleep if you are more mentally than physically
tired at the end of the day. Regular physical activity like walking, whole
body circuit workouts or playing a sport will balance your mental and
physical fatigue. Learning to consciously turn off your day also improves
sleep quality. Before going to sleep, try reading a book with a strong
positive message, listen to quieting music or take a few moments to
meditate. These excellent "before sleep" habits help quiet your mind and
induce a deeper more restful sleep.

Eating High Quality Fuel

Food is basically fuel. The old saying "garbage in, garbage out" applies
in this example. The higher the quality of foods you eat, the easier it is
for your body to digest and extract the important nutrients. The myriad of
eating patterns and diet recommendations has made healthy eating much too
complicated. Simply follow a nutritional program that contains 50% fruits
and vegetables and adequate lean protein. Depending upon your metabolism,
minimize starch based carbohydrates like bread and pasta. These tend to be
addictive for some people and should be minimized. Fruits and veggies
provide plenty of plant based carbohydrates as well as greater amounts of
water and minerals. Correct portion size will also keep your body weight in
a healthy range thus eliminating the need for calorie counting, points or other
silly food games.

Creating a Purposeful Life

Last but not least, make sure your life has purpose. More than just making
money or tending the kids, humans need a purpose driven life to thrive. The
longest lived and healthiest people in the world all have a single, common
trait. Their lives are filled with purpose. They have a drive to get up in
the morning and fulfill that need. If you don't have an obvious purpose,
spend some time at the library or bookstore browsing the many wonderful
books on self-improvement. It will be time well spent.