The beet

With increasing demands in work and the home, tending to kids and/or aging parents, seemingly endless chores and other responsibilities, the last thing many people even think about are healthful eating and exercise habits. Couple this with the Information Age and a sedentary addiction to electronics, and it’s no surprise that Americans are becoming less active, softer, weaker and posturally incorrect. Here are some tips to help stay in shape in this busy world:

• Make exercise a regular part of your life, on par with other physical hygiene practices -bathing, doctor’s visits, handwashing and flossing! If you want to remain strong and healthy, you must pencil in time to exercise. You might need to cut down on phone calls, social media and TV binge watching, but in the end it’s worth it! Shoot for five hours total of physical activity per week. If you simply can’t schedule this much, aim for three at the bare minimum.
• Make most exercise strenuous. There’s nothing wrong with including some leisurely strolls and bike rides in your exercise schedule, but make sure that half or more of it consists of vigorous, strenuous activity such as weight training, jogging, ice skating, sprinting, martial arts and/or recreational sports games at the park. Being on (my) feet all day doesn’t count! Running around all day doing errands doesn’t count! Get active!
• Improve or maintain your posture with the right exercises. Constantly sitting, lying down and hunching over oftentimes causes weakening of the gluteus, hamstring and upper back muscles, resulting in poor posture and unnecessary difficulty in everyday activities and exercise. In addition to standard biceps curls and bench presses, include exercises such as bent-over raises, regular and stiff-legged deadlifts, lat pulldowns, rows, hamstring curls, step-ups and lunges for the back and legs.
• Prepare! Eat healthful meals, snacks and shakes at work or bring them with you when out and about. Become aware of the healthful options available where you eat. Meal prepping once a week helps many families to stay on track and lessens the burden of figuring out what to eat every day of the week!