Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, lungs and also improves circulation. A 30-minute daily regimen of moderate to brisk walking can burn fifteen pounds of fat each year for the average adult. Cardiovascular exercise not only helps manage weight; it also positively benefits every function within the human body.

Weight lifting tones and strengthens muscles. Muscle tissue is metabolically active, so it burns calories!  We hit our physiological peak at age 25 and for each year after 25, we lose between ½ - 1 pound of muscle a year!  Considering that one pound of muscle burns about fifty calories a day, by age 40 your body’s ability to burn calories may reduce between 375 to 750 calories a day.  Lifting weights just twice a week can maintain or help restore a youthful metabolism.

As we age, our blood flow tends to slow down which affects our energy levels and vitality. Our joints can tighten and begin to dry up, causing arthritis and other muscular skeletal pain. Yoga postures work on dynamically strengthening the muscles around the joints while simultaneously creating greater flexibility and blood flow. Yoga also improves balance, helping an individual maintain independence in performing daily life activities—reducing the risk of falling.  

Research has shown that when the body goes into starvation mode it begins producing more fat-storing enzymes and less fat-burning enzymes.  Eating every 3 hours will ensures that at no time does your body enter starvation mode and allows the body to burn its natural resource, FAT!!!

Protein not only requires more calories to be burned through digestion than carbohydrates, but it also causes glucagon to be released from your pancreas.  Glucagon is a mobilizing hormone, which can release body fat for the production of energy!

Insulin is a storage hormone; the opposite of glucagon.  You can stabilize your insulin by not overeating carbohydrates and sticking to more complex carbohydrates (i.e. sweet potatoes, beans, brown rice, oatmeal, apples, oranges, grapes, rye and wheat bread etc.).  Avoid eating bad carbohydrates and sugars.  Bad carbohydrates and sugars (i.e. table sugar, white bagels, white rice, white bread cookies, candy, or anything processed and refined) cause an excessive release of insulin.  This promotes the storage of body fat.

When you do not have fat in your food intake, your body becomes less efficient at using your own body fat for energy production.  Do not allow your fat intake to drop below 10%.  Stick to unsaturated fats like olive oil, safflower oil, and flaxseed oil.  Limit saturated fats that come from animal sources.  Saturated fats are linked to the fat-induced diseases (i.e. cancer, heart disease and obesity).

Our bodies are 70% water and when we are dehydrated it not only gives us a false sense of hunger, but also retards our fat burning potential.  Try to drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water throughout your day. We come into this world 70% water. The average American adult over 40 is lucky to be at 60% while the majority of hospitalized elderly are less than 50%. We have 50 trillion cells operating our bodies and at the center of each cell is a column of water that transmits signals in and out of cells. The hydration of these cells determines the health of these cells and thus the overall function of the body. Being dehydrated lowers energy levels and can cause a host of other health issues!

Considering most people don’t eat 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, many of us are vitamin and mineral deficient.  Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are largely responsible for the origin of many diseases and malfunctions within the human body.

Between thought and action there is a choice. Leading a healthy and fitness conscious lifestyle will bring a deeper meaning and passion behind all that you do. Spend five minutes each day pausing to get in touch with your life’s direction. Fitness is a choice.