8 Small Changes for a Healthier You

Today I want to go over eight small things you can do to improve your health and fitness in 2018.

1. Skip the coffee creamer. A single serving of creamer is 35 calories. I would guess that most people don't use just one serving, either. So if a person has even just one cup of coffee per day and uses two servings of creamer, which equates to 70 calories, that amounts to 25,550 calories over the course of a year. This is roughly 7.3 pounds.

2. Don't skip meals. This advice seems easy to follow, so why do so many of us ignore it? It's important to provide your body with sufficient fuel. If you don't, your body will begin conserving calories and your metabolism will slow. In other words: eat!

3. Don't skip weights at the gym. The higher your muscle mass, the faster your metabolism. Not only do you burn more calories lifting weights than doing cardio alone, but you also continue to burn calories throughout the day.

4. Lift heavy. Unless you are challenging your muscles when you lift, you will not see any physical changes.

5. Stop hitting snooze. Studies have shown that even just 30 minutes of extra sleep after your initial alarm can cause the hunger-stimulating hormone known as ghrelin to go into overdrive. This simulates hunger, even when you may actually be full.

6. Be aware of how you snack. A single serving of french fries ranges from 300 to 400 calories per serving. Simply swapping out fries for a cup of broccoli can save you roughly 270 to 370 calories.

7. Start drinking tea. Tea is full of fat-burning compounds called catechins.

8. Climb more stairs. Climbing up stairs requires eight to nine times more energy than sitting, and burns about seven times more calories than lifting. You burn about .17 calories for every step you climb, so you burn roughly a calorie and a half for every 10 upward steps.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.