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First, choose 2-4 sources of protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables. Buy a large quantity of everything. Enough for about 7 meals each. chicken breast, lean steak, lean pork, and fish make great protein sources. Mashed sweet potatoes, wild rice, and black beans make great high fiber carbohydrates. Asparagus, brocoli, and sweet peppers make good vegetables.
Second, cook all of it. Grill it, bake it, steam it... Cook the food however is necessary, just do so in a healthy way. Use spices and healthy oils to add flavor instead of sauces.
Third, chop up all the food. You can weigh the food or just eyeball a reasonable amount and place that into a small plastic bag or container.
Fourth, freeze all your bags/containers. The day before take out a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables and place it in the fridge for the next day. Take your food to work or wherever and microwave. Now you have a healthy, proportioned meal for lunch and dinner that tastes pretty good.
To add simplicity place all three items into a single container so you only have one thing to worry about.
If you like mixing foods then keep all the items separate and everyday choose a different combination.
You can take this a step farther and do the same for breakfast, but I haven't found anything that tastes good and freezes well. If you do let me know. My yogurt and granola are getting pretty boring.
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Exercise for Seniors
Incorporating resistance training into your life will allow you to maintain and possibly increase muscle strength and endurance, as well as improve balance, coordination, and flexibility. Improving in these areas will allow you to complete simple tasks like getting out of a chair, tying your shoes, or walking down stairs without risk of injury. In addition to improving the function of your body you will help prevent or slow the effects of osteoporosis. Weight barring exercise, resistance training, is the only form of exercise that will strengthen the bones, preventing bone loss which leads to breaks and fractures of wrists, hips, and other bones.
Working with a personal trainer experienced in training with seniors is highly recommended, at the least to get you started. Chances are you have some form of chronic pain, lack range of motion in a joint or two, and/or a variety of health concerns. He/she can help address the specific needs you may have and set up a program that is tailored for you. Regardless of the specific weight barring exercise program you do, there are 3 things that should be included in all resistance workouts designed for seniors. These are: balance training, functional training, and flexibility training.
Balance training will allow you to improve your stability and help prevent falls. It needs to involve both dynamic and static exercises to improve stability and coordination. Most falls occur when you are stepping on/off curbs or walking down stairs, so doing exercises that improve your balance while you are moving is most beneficial. Everyone will lose their balance from time to time, but those who can regain it will stay off the ground and out of the hospital. The progression for balance training is to start with a very stable platform (both feet on the ground) and then gradually make the platform more unstable (1 leg on a Bosu ball). It is important to gradually progress the difficulty otherwise you increase the chance for injury and will not be able to perform the exercises properly.
Functional training involves doing exercises that mimic everyday tasks, like bending over to pick up a box and putting it on a shelf, or getting up off the ground or out of a chair. Functional training will allow you to improve these tasks in a safe and controlled environment. Think of something you may struggle to do and there are exercises that will help you to improve it. The difference between traditional weight training and functional training is the incorporation of all three planes of motion whereas traditional weight training usually only uses one plane at a time. Often it will include an active balance component for an added benefit. Moving in all three planes of motion in the same exercise allows your body to use a lot of muscles together to complete a task, similar to when you are doing something at home.
A lot of people underestimate the importance of flexibility training. Keeping your muscles properly balanced and loose will help improve posture and allow more muscle functionality. If you have poor range of motion then that will affect your ability to perform daily tasks. Improving flexibility will help to correct poor posture, which will result in reduced pain in the lower back, neck, and other body parts. When muscles get tight they pull on your skeletal system causing you to be out of alignment. This causes you to have bad functional posture, which can lead to acute injuries or chronic pain. It takes time to correct but with patience and hard work you can relieve a lot of problems that have been keeping you from feeling great.
Eating a healthy well balanced diet will keep you feeling better and give you an increase in energy. Start by increasing your protein intake. As you become older your body will not absorb protein as well, and in order to insure you get enough, you need to consume more. This doesn't mean to go out and start ordering huge steaks with every meal. The saturated fats will have negative health consequences like increasing cholesterol and risk for heart attack or stroke, and I don't want this to happen to you. Instead stick with lean proteins like eggs, chicken, and fish. Also remember to spread your protein intake throughout the day to ensure maximal absorption.
Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat will ensure you get most the vitamins, minerals, and fiber you need. In addition, it will help you lose some of that excess body fat that puts extra stress on your joints and requires more energy to move around. Fruits and vegetables are also great at lowering blood pressure and cholesterol as well as helping with some other potentially serious ailments that seem to plague our lives.
Being more proactive in your life will allow you to improve or maintain the quality of your life. There are a lot of things that you can't do anything about in this world. Take control of your health and do something about the things you can influence. Remember, it's never too late to start but the earlier you start the better.
When beginning an exercise program make sure to get your doctor's clearance and follow any restrictions or guidelines set for you.
6 Ways to Increase Your Metabolism Today
Whether you want to lose those last 10 pounds or have a larger goal in mind, you will need to begin to increase your metabolism. Most diets cause you to lose weight by severely restricting your Calories and do not address the underlying reasons for weight gain and slower metabolism. I'm going to teach you how to increase your metabolism through resistance training, cardio training, sleep, water, and nutrition. These simple steps are not a short-term fix, but rather a larger investment in your health and well being. Following the advice in this article will help you become healthier and lead a more active and productive life. Now you can't just pick and choose one or two of the ways to increase your metabolism; they all need to be done in conjunction to be successful.
1. Know Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
2. Increase Resistance Training
3. Increase Cardiovascular Training
4. Get More Sleep
5. Drink More Water
6. Eat Small, Frequent Meals
1. Know Your BMR
It is important to get a baseline of what your metabolism is now. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the amount of Calories you use per day while at rest; so if you laid in bed all day, it is the number of Calories your body would use to maintain its most basic functions; breathing, blood circulation, etc. There are several websites that will calculate your BMR, like http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php. These are not going to give your exact metabolism, but they will be able to give you a good estimate. Here is a manual calculation that you can also use…
Women: 655 + (4.35 x wt in pounds) + (4.7 x ht in inches) - (4.7 x age)
Men: 66 + (6.23 x wt in pounds) + (12.7 x ht in inches) - (6.8 x age)
2. Increase Resistance Training
Resistance training increases your metabolism by causing you to develop muscle. Muscle is what uses up the majority of your Calories. Did you know that one pound of muscle burns 35-50 Calories per day? If you were to put on 10 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra 400 Calories per day. In about 9 days you will burn an extra pound of fat (3500 Calories equals one pound of body fat) assuming nothing else changed. (400 Calories x 9 Days=3600 Calories)
Another reason why resistance training is a great way to improve your metabolism has to do with a complicated term called Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC. EPOC basically means the amount of Calories you burn following your workout. The rate and duration your metabolism is increased depends largely on exercise intensity. After a resistance workout your metabolism can be raised around 10-15% for 10-15 hours, with some studies claiming up to 48 hours of increased metabolism. This is in addition to the hundreds of Calories you burned during your workout. The reason for this increase in metabolism following a workout is due to the fact your body needs to recover. A lot of Calories are needed to recover all of you major systems including your cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal, nervous, and respiratory systems. A certified personal trainer will show you how too safely and efficiently workout by designing a program specifically tailored to your needs and ability level.
Resistance training will help to improve insulin resistance by making muscles more sensitive to Insulin, thus allowing more glucose (blood sugar) into cells to be used as energy instead of being stored as fat. Resistance training positively influences the hormones Leptin, Cortisol, and Growth Hormone. The balancing of your hormones from resistance training helps to reduce cravings, sleep deeper, and decrease stress.
3. Increase Cardiovascular Training
Cardiovascular training is also another way to increase your metabolism. As with resistance training, cardio will also increase your metabolism after you finish your workout. The difference is it will only increase your metabolism for 2-3 hours. The length of time your metabolism is increased and the amount is dependent on your intensity levels. With cardio exercise your body does not have to recover to the same extent as when you are doing resistance training. Cardio also helps to regulate hormones and improve Insulin resistance.
4. Get More Sleep
The next thing you can do is to get some rest. 7-8 hours is still the recommended amount of sleep that adults need. Yet you say "I can function fine off of 5 hours, why would I need more?" Good question, the reason has to do with how sleep helps to regulate your hormones. Cortisol is a hormone commonly associated with stress. Cortisol levels should normally decrease in the evening as you begin to prepare for bed. People with chronic sleep deprivation have elevated evening Cortisol levels, leading to Insulin resistance.
Another hormone, Leptin, signals your brain when you are full. Here is how getting 8 hours is essential; Leptin gets released primarily during the REM stage of sleep. The majority of REM occurs after 3 complete cycles of sleep, each taking about 2 hours (6 hours total). Sleep deprivation leads to lower levels of circulating Leptin, causing you to be hungrier in the morning. Studies have shown an increase in cravings for carbohydrates when Leptin levels are lowered due to sleep deprivation; so if you constantly crave carbs then take a closer look at the amount of sleep you get.
Lastly, when you do not get enough sleep your body will not metabolize glucose as effectively and eventually will become Insulin resistant. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose enter into the cells to be used as energy. When you become Insulin resistant your body no longer uses the insulin and your glucose levels stay elevated. Insulin resistance is extremely important because people who are Insulin resistant are more likely to develop Type II diabetes. They also tend to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and excess fat around the waist. Getting more sleep is one way to prevent or reverse the damage done to your metabolism.
5. Drink More Water
The majority of people are chronically dehydrated. Improving your hydration status will help boost your metabolism, reduce joint pain, and even reduce daytime fatigue. Proper hydration can improve your metabolism by as much as 5%. A 5% increase can yield almost 10 pounds of weight loss per year. Drinking the standard eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day is a good place to start. As you become more active it may be necessary to add an additional 4 glasses. Do not count the water you drink while working out. Also as you become properly hydrated you will begin to lose water weight because your body will no longer have to retain water.
6. Eat Small, Frequent Meals
Learning how to eat and what to eat will also improve your metabolism and correct many health problems people have, for example, indigestion. So you have heard you are supposed to eat small, frequent meals, but why? Part of it has to do with the absorption of food. Your body can only properly digest and absorb small amounts of food at a time. This is necessary in order to get all of the nutrients out of the food you eat and to minimize any deficiencies. Eating regularly allows your body to maintain energy levels and will prevent your metabolism from slowing down in order to conserve energy. Every time you skip a meal your metabolism will slow down. This is done as a precaution to prevent starvation. Also you will keep from getting hungry and eating anything and everything in sight.
Now depending on your daily life; when you wake up, go to bed, your workout routine and your goals; you may need to eat 5-7 times per day. For most people eating 5 times a day will be sufficient. Talk to a nutritionist or another qualified expert to find out what is best for you. You are going to want to structure your meals around when you plan on working out in order to maximize your nutrition pre-workout. In a future article we will discuss more about this.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it jump starts your metabolism by breaking the fast that your body has been going through while you have been sleeping. Make sure breakfast and lunch are your biggest meals of the day, with dinner being very light. Also only eat complex carbs (rice, bread, pasta, potatoes) for breakfast and lunch and leave them out for dinner. Carbs are your primary source for energy, and at night your energy demands are low. Make sure you are eating complete meals, consisting of fats, protein, and carbohydrates. Doing so will insure proper digestion, absorption, and nutrition. Stay away from processed carbohydrate, saturated and trans fats. These will cause hormone imbalances and increase Insulin resistance which you are trying to correct.
By working out, sleeping more, drinking water, and eating better you will increase your metabolism, boost your energy, and decrease your waistline. None of the tips have told you to buy crazy supplements or drugs that stimulate your thyroid in order to increase your metabolism. These are natural, safe ways to increase your metabolism. And like I said at the beginning, you can do all of these things today.
Here's how to get started… begin with breakfast then go for a run, have a snack after and then lunch. Then have another snack and do some resistance training. Follow that with a good dinner and a good nights rest, and all day long keep drinking water. Before you know it, your metabolism has increased and so has your self-confidence.
