CONTRAST SHOWERS
The contrast between hot and cold water increases circulation, promotes detoxification and strengthens the immune system. This helps bring nutrients, oxygen and immune cells to damaged and stressed tissues and carries away metabolic waste, inflammatory by-products and other toxic substances.
Start with three minutes of hot water followed by less than one minute of cold water. Repeat this pattern at least once, always finishing with cold (e.g. 3 minutes hot - 1 minute cold - 3 minutes hot - 1 minute cold).
EMBRACING & ENJOYING YOUR EXERCISE PROGRAM
If you’ve been sedentary for years, don’t go overboard with exercise. Doing too much too soon can lead to burnout and injuries.
Here are a few suggestions on simple exercises to get started.
JUMPING ROPE OR JUMPING JACKS
The goal is to jump for 10 minutes a day. Start off slowly. Jump for 10 seconds, then rest for ten seconds. Keep it up for 10 minutes. Every few days, increase the Jump/Rest time. Continue until you get to a solid ten minutes of jumping.
WALKING
Begin by walking outdoors or on a treadmill for 10 minutes a day. After a few days, increase your walking session to 15 minutes, then 20, and eventually to 60 minutes.
OTHER WAYS TO GET MOVING
Walking to do errands, bopping to music when drying dishes, or riding a bike to visit friends - all these activities burn calories. Identify opportunities for exercise in all areas of life (take stairs instead of escalators, park farther away from the store entrance, Walk the dog, etc.). Remember that household chores are exercise (yard work, washing the car, cleaning house, snow shoveling). Encourage friends or extended family to join in.
Obese people can use cycles, because the equipment supports their body weight. This permits the target muscles to work only against a controllable external resistance. Begin with recumbent cycling because it offers built-in back support and enhanced cardiovascular efficiency. By keeping the legs higher and moving horizontally, recumbent cycling facilitates blood return to the heart and places less stress on the circulatory system.
After you can walk 60 solid minutes without feeling winded, begin to pick up the pace or find a hilly place to walk.
Continue to step up the pace of your exercise program and add some other forms of low-impact exercise (i.e., cycling or low-impact aerobics). Varying your exercise routine prevents boredom and burnout.
If your schedule seems too jammed for exercise, be willing to give up something else. Wake up a half-hour early to exercise. Say no to the next person who asks you to volunteer somewhere. Or, take a walk or go to the gym during your lunch hour, then eat at your desk afterward.
We suggest the following as a healthy, achievable regimen that can help you keep your NEW BODY!
REDUCING STRESS BY MEDITATING
Meditating 10 minutes each day not only combats stress, a prime cause of overeating, it also gives your mind a chance to rest. Meditation is not prayer. Whether you pray or not is a personal choice. Meditation is different, it does not replace prayer.
If you don’t know how to meditate, you might choose one of the following simple, yet extremely effective, methods. You will have to practice these methods. Even though they are very simple, you won’t be able to do them completely successfully the first time you try. That is not important. It is only important that you reach for these goals. As you form the habit of meditating daily, you will become more and more successful at accomplishing the meditation goals.
BREATHING MEDITATION
Sit in a straight chair or in a crossed leg position on the floor with your back straight. Close your eyes. Now, for 10 minutes, pay attention to your breathing. Don’t change it, just pay attention to it. If you find yourself listening to your heart beat or thinking of what happened to you the day before, immediately force your attention back to your breath.
‘THINK OF NOTHING’ MEDITATION'
Sit in a straight chair or in a crossed leg position on the floor with your back straight. Close your eyes. Now, for 10 minutes, think of nothing. Whenever a thought, any thought, comes into your mind, immediately banish it. Make your mind a complete blank.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT SENSE
Both these methods require practice, but you will get better at them each time that you try. Invest in an egg timer or set your pager or alarm clock so that you won’t be concerned with the time.
It is best to meditate in the morning. This prevents you from falling asleep when you’re meditating. It is also best to exercise in the morning. When you sleep your body uses up the fuel you’ve consumed the day before. If you exercise first thing in the morning, before you’ve eaten, it must take from the ‘stored’ fat to provide the energy that the exercise demands.
Before committing yourself to any diet/exercise program, check with your health practitioner.
Lastly, learning how to keep weight off is just as important as losing weight by smarter eating, reducing stress and regular exercise. To keep the weight off, use the following regimen.
Eat fruits before noon with a large raw salad before lunch and dinner. Jump rope for 10 minutes and meditate for 10 minutes each day.