chiropractic

Are Toxins Making You Fat?

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Are Toxins Making You Fat?

Every day we are bombarded by thousands of chemicals in our environments and lifestyles that have the potential to accumulate in our bodies.

From the cosmetics that are loaded with chemicals that you use on a daily basis, to the pesticides on our produce, various preservatives and lab created additives in any processed food you consume, toxins you are exposed to at work, environmental smog and car fumes on your way to work, cleaning chemicals used at your office or you choose to use at home, the laundry detergent residue touching you all day, and finally the smelly candle you light in the evening to relax after a hectic toxin-filled day can all contribute to weight gain.

How on earth can toxins affect your weight?

Our bodies are brilliant. Every single thing about them is designed to survive. No matter what we put in or on our bodies, the stress we put them under and the activities we motor through in a day, our bodies are continually evolving and adapting to keep us alive.

When toxins find their way into our bodies, we deal with them very systematically. We process them through our liver, kidneys and intestines and move them out! But those that can not be moved out so easily, or if there is a back up in our detox systems, these toxins can be swiftly moved to the outer regions of our body, simply to protect our organs. And these toxins are stored in fat cells.

So, in a way, we can thank our bodies for moving these potentially life-threatening toxins to our hips instead of letting them build up in our hearts. However, those toxins shouldn’t be allowed to stay there forever, so we have to safely move them out, without detoxifying and recycling the toxins through our bodies.

How do we safely detoxify?

1. The first thing to start to detoxify is to stop toxifying yourself in the first place!
• buy organic produce
• swap your cosmetics for natural options from health food store
use vinegar and baking soda to clean (no more harsh chemicals! Really, how dirty can we be?)
• avoid processed foods
• stop using products with lots of fragrance

2. Drink warm water with lemon every morning when you wake up.
This helps to gently stimulate your detox organs and start the detox process of the toxins that built up overnight.

3. Drink more water throughout the day. This loosens up the cells and moves digestion through – a major detox system.

4. Exercise daily! Movement helps everything move. Especially your lymph system which can not move by itself. It needs gravity and our movement to help things run.

5. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables – as organically as possible
These foods contain immense quantities of antioxidants to help fight against free radicals and other toxins that build up.

6. Talk to your natural health practitioner about herbs, tinctures and essential oils that would be helpful for your personal situation. There are wonderful, natural options to help to gently support your detoxification protocols without releasing all of the toxins at once and causing a RE-toxification situation.

What’s in your chicken sandwich? DNA test shows Subway sandwiches contain just 50% chicken

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What's in your chicken sandwich? DNA test shows Subway sandwiches contain just 50% chicken

What are you eating? Do you really have any idea what you are buying when you whip into a fast food restaurant?

CBC’s Marketplace recently had chicken from 5 fast food restaurants DNA tested to see what is actually in their chicken.

If you can believe it, DNA tests on Subway’s Oven Roasted Chicken show that just 53.6 per cent was chicken! The majority of the remaining DNA was soy.

Two major red flags are waving here.

1. What else is the company hiding in their products?
2. What if someone was allergic to soy and unknowingly eating it in a piece of chicken?! Additionally, regular consumption of soy can wreak havoc on the hormonal system.

Subway states that “Our recipe calls for one per cent or less of soy protein in our chicken products.” This is still quite concerning for those of us who like to know what we are actually consuming.

• A&W Chicken Grill Deluxe averaged 89.4 per cent chicken DNA
• McDonald’s Country Chicken – Grilled averaged 84.9 per cent chicken DNA
• Tim Hortons Chipotle Chicken Grilled Wrap averaged 86.5 per cent chicken DNA
Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich averaged 88.5 per cent chicken DNA

Each restaurant’s chicken actually averaged approximately 15 ingredients per piece of chicken.

How is this even possible? Isn’t chicken supposed to be just chicken?

These restaurant chains are actually serving meat that has been “restructured”.

Restructured products are smaller pieces of meat or ground meat that are bound together with other ingredients to make them last longer, taste better and ‘add value’ – i.e. – to make them cheaper.

The ingredients can include simple items like salt, honey or onion powder, as well as shocking industrial ingredients. They most likely also contain transglutaminase, which is meat glue. Yes – glue to hold together scraps of meat to bind them into a new form for consumption.

What is the Solution?

Plan ahead and bring your own food when you’re on the road, or when you go to work. It’s much cheaper to eat food that you prepare yourself, and you will also have a better idea as to what you are eating! Here is a quick recipe to make your own delicious chicken wrap that is actually 100% chicken, instead of just half!!

RECIPE: Savoury 100% Chicken Wrap – Great for Lunches

Slice 3 organic chicken breasts into strips and bake or fry ahead of time. (this will make several lunches for a few days for yourself or a day of lunches for your family)

Grab a whole wheat wrap and spread hummus onto it.
Place a large lettuce leaf in the middle.
Add sliced tomato, cucumber and onions.
Add your chicken slices.
Sprinkle with pepper and wrap it up!
Hold it together with a tooth pick and you’re out the door!

Whenever possible, avoid fast food by planning ahead and bringing your own food. Take control of your health and empower yourself by being proactive about your meal choices!

With Sources from:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/meat-glue-an-ingredient-to-fear-or-cheer-1.855985

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-chicken-fast-food-1.3993967

How Processed Sugar Destroys Your Body

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How Processed Sugar Destroys Your Body

How much processed sugar sneaks into your diet in a day? You may be surprised at how many grams of sugar you are consuming without even realizing it.

For example, a quick visit to Tim Hortons for breakfast, lunch or snack with a fairly routine order can tip the scales of sugar content at over 30 grams!! That is a lot of sugar for your body to process all at once, especially when the sugars are all processed, accompanied by equally processed foods around it.

A Tim Hortons Cinnamon Raisin bagel (11 grams) with plain cream cheese (2 grams), Double-Double Coffee (18 grams) = 31 grams of sugar

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre advises that women should consume no more than 25 grams of sugar per day, and men should consume no more than 37 grams of sugar per day.

So after one stop at Tim Horton’s you’ve maxed your entire daily recommended sugar intake in just one blow! Think about the rest of your day… how will that look? A sandwich for lunch? A granola bar for snack? Pasta for dinner? Your processed sugar intake is adding up to look mountainous.

So what is the problem with sugar?

Sugar is an anti-nutrient. It causes your body to leach nutrients in its attempt to clean up the damage that sugar leaves behind. It also directly feeds cancer cells, and causes serious inflammation.

Inflammation is the cause behind almost every single illness and condition, and sugar continues to fuel inflammation rather effectively once it has started. Because of its oxidative effect on the body, it can contribute to a whole host of conditions and issues that may be misdiagnosed as other illnesses or causes, but in actuality, the cause is actually the over consumption of processed sugar.

How can processed sugar affect your body?

According to Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., there are over 146 reasons that sugar is ruining your health. Here are the worst offenders, and if you’d like the full list and references, head over to http://www.rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

• Sugar can suppress the immune system.
• High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
• Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
• Sugar can cause heart disease.
• Sugar can cause appendicitis.
• Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.
• Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
• Sugar causes food allergies.
• Sugar can cause cataracts.
• Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
• Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
• Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
• Sugar can cause depression.
• Sugar can adversely affect school children’s grades and cause learning disorders..
• Sugar feeds cancer.
• Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
• Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
• Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
• Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
• High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.

These are very serious conditions and illnesses that are completely preventable! Reduce your processed sugar and processed foods intake by increasing your whole foods intake. Crowd out the bad foods with lots of delicious, colourful produce! Focus your diet on lots of leafy green vegetables, smoothies with berries and healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, legumes and if you choose to eat meat or eggs, be sure they are from organic / grass fed / free range / wild sources.

With Sources from:

https://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/pdf/TH_Nutrition_Guide_CE_2013_-_FINAL.pdf

https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/may-2015/FOH-cancer-love-sugar.html

http://www.rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

Are you poisoning your family?

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Are you poisoning your family?

What are you cleaning with? What soap do you wash dishes with? Run the dishwasher with? Do the laundry with? What about your windows? toilets? sinks? floors? How do you control odours? Manage the dust collection? Are you inadvertently poisoning your family?

You probably have a giant bucket of cleaning supplies, solutions, soaps, detergents, sprays and poisons to combat the dirt, grime, dust and bacteria that tries to call your home their home too.

This bucket is filled with hundreds of chemicals and can cause very serious health problems for your entire family.

The worst part is that there are no regulations in this industry that states they must label their products with warnings about the health problems these products can cause from not only extended use, but even to use them once.

So, here is your warning label!

When we use these chemicals in our homes, they stick around for a very long time.
• They linger in the air and we breathe them in
• They stay on the dishes and cutlery until they combine with our food and find their way into our bodies
• They stick in the clothes we wash in the toxic detergents and cause our skin to absorb the chemicals
• They stay on the floor until our feet or our babies’ crawling tummies have absorbed the chemicals into their skin
• They go down the drain to further poison our aquatic life and then circle back around to the drinking water supply

Once these chemicals are used, they are with our planet forever. And they can cause serious health complications, such as:

• cancer
• allergies
• migraines
• hormone mimicking
• chemical burns
• kidney damage
• endocrine disruption
• skin and eye irritation
• throat and lung problems – breathing problems, asthma
• and many more serious health issues.

How to Avoid Toxic Chemicals?

Make your own cleaning supplies!!! You can clean 99% of your entire home with vinegar in a spray bottle, some baking soda and your favourite essential oils.

Toilets and sinks – spray them down with vinegar, sprinkle around some baking soda, add 3-4 drops of essential oil (lemon is great), leave it for 5 minutes and clean as usual.

For laundry detergents, dish soap, etc, begin shopping at your local health food store for non-toxic products. Speak with the staff to hear about their favourite options and try them out.

How to identify toxic chemicals?

These are some of the worst offenders, found in a variety of your household cleaning supplies. Avoid them like it’s your job!

• Ammonia
• Coal Tar Dyes
• MEA (monoethanalomine)
• DEA (diethanolamine)
• TEA (triethanolamine)
• Fragrance (can be a mixture of the more than 3000 chemicals existing that create fragrance)
• Pthalates
• Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs)
• Phosphates
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
• Silica Powder
• Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate
• Triclosan
• Trisodium nitrilotriacetate

These chemicals are found in dish soaps, disinfectants, laundry detergents, cleaning towelettes, toilet bowl cleaners, deodorizers, surface cleaners, abrasive cleaning powders, all purpose cleaners, fabric softeners, degreasers, dishwasher detergents, stain removers, car wash products, air fresheners, floor cleaners, oven cleaners, glass cleaners, window cleaners, drain cleaners, stainless steel cleaners, rust removers, and automobile cleaners.

With Sources from:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/the-dirt-on-toxic-chemicals-in-household-cleaning-products/

Do You Want to Kill Your Stress Once and For All? Do This.

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Kill Stress Once and For All

Stress has become an epidemic in our society. When someone asks “How are you?” the majority of people now answer “stressed”.

This is now a normal, accepted answer to which the reply is a nod in understanding, “Yes, me too.” It’s like we’re keeping up with the Jones’ to see who can be busier and more stressed out.

This has got to stop!!!!

There are obviously major reasons why we would feel stress, and this is our body’s way to kick on our adrenaline processes and potentially our fight or flight so that we can get through a trauma, injury, major life change or passing of a loved one.

But the daily stresses that are climbing and adding up need to be seriously revised.

The first problem is not having enough time to get everything done that life demands. The answer is that you need to ask for help.

Your children can be a great source of your home stress, so ask them to help you. Depending on their ages, give them special tasks to complete to help out around the house.

There is no reason your teenagers should hit the couch when they get home from school. They can help to start dinner, get their lunches ready for the next day and help to care for their siblings.

This is not taking away their freedom and childhood, it is giving them life skills and responsibilities that I promise, they will thank you for in the future. (What student wants to get to college or university, away from home for the first time and have absolutely no idea how to feed themselves? Let’s give them a chance!)

The most important thing you can do is to live in the present moment.

Right here in this moment (the only moment we actually have) there is no stress. We are consciously present. We are just working on this one task. There is no worrying about getting it done in time, ohh I only have 2 more hours, etc. because that is not living in the present moment. The stress arrives when we think about the future and think about how something will affect us when it arrives. But if we try to stay just in the moment we have, your stress will diminish drastically.

The other important thing you need to do is to detach from outcomes.

Put no weight or importance on the outcome of any event. This is again, living in the present moment. For many things, we literally have no control over many situations and worrying about them can make us crazy. The outcome will unfold over time and we will deal with whatever happens at the time. Because we will be practicing being present in each moment and taking things minute by minute.

We must begin to consciously decide how our lives want to look and feel.

I’m sure that you are in agreement with me, we’ve all experienced enough stress for the rest of our lives just in the past few years. It’s time to let go of the panic of worrying about the future and fretting about the past and choose, decide today, to make every moment one of joy and contentment.

It’s so much nicer to live in a mindset that you actively choose, rather than to be sucked into the societal pressure of being stressed all the time. Your health will be so much better, and your personal and family life will be much happier. Share this new mindset with your family and friends to help them reduce their stress. Obviously it takes some time to train your mind to stay present but over time it will get easier and you will have a much more serene life.

Could Your Boy Belly Cause a Heart Attack?

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Could Your Boy Belly Cause a Heart Attack?

Do you carry extra weight around your abdominal area? Research is telling us that people of normal weight who have extra central body fat are at an elevated risk of dying of heart disease.

Central obesity it extra fat around your midsection, and there is an easy way to calculate if you may fall into this category.

1. Measure your waist at your belly button.
2. Measure your hips at the widest part of your buttocks.
3. Divide the first number by the second number.

For men, your waist-to-hip ratio should be no greater than 1.0 and for women it should be no greater than 0.9.

If your numbers are higher than the suggested ratio, there are simple changes that you can implement to reduce your ratio and improve your health.

The first thing that you need to do is to add more fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet. It’s very difficult to make a massive diet and lifestyle change all at once and be able to sustain it long term. So the most important thing you can do is eat more fruit and veggies and these foods will begin to crowd out the bad foods.

I also want you to moderate your meat intake. A serving of meat is the size of a card deck. Which does not mean 8 decks stacked on top of each other!! When was the last time you ate a steak that fit in your hand? I bet it’s been awhile.

Over the years, our portion sizes have grown and grown into rather ridiculous quantities of food. Our bodies don’t need that much food and literally can not digest that much protein in one sitting. This extra protein ends up being stored as fat and can contribute to central obesity, putting you at risk for heart disease.

Avoid fast food, processed food and packaged food.

Eat real food!! Learn to make a few delicious recipes that you enjoy. Check out our blog of recipe ideas here.

And of course, move your body more often. Add some gentle cardio to your routine, go for a power walk at lunch, hit the gym and sweat it out.

The very first sign of heart disease is erectile dysfunction. Your arteries and capillaries are very active and sensitive in that area, and can be the first to indicate that there is hardening of the arteries or plaque building up in your blood vessels.

Obviously not a topic that you want on your radar, but heading to the doctor for a prescription to help in this area is one of the worst things you can do. It puts added stress on your cardiovascular system and masks an important symptom that is telling you that your body is in distress.

This is the time to make healthy diet and lifestyle changes to let your body naturally heal and return to abundant health.

With Sources from:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/research-were-watching-belly-fat-boosts-risk-of-dying-of-heart-disease

Is Eating Healthy More Expensive Than Junk Food?

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Many people think that eating healthy is more expensive than eating junk food.

While this argument could be proven true by eating very inexpensive, very bad for you junk foods, there are several tricks that you can use to eat healthy on a budget.

If you have perused the junk food aisle at the grocery store lately, a bag of potato chips can run upwards of three or four dollars. Just imagine reallocating those three dollars to the produce department to buy a bag of oranges, grapes, or even a full pineapple. Now that is a healthy (and inexpensive) snack!

If you’ve turned on the TV lately, then it’s probably safe to say that you’ve seen Tim Horton’s latest commercial introducing their “Perfect Pairings” menu which allows consumers to pick and choose what “convenience” they are craving for a quick meal.  While this concept is probably enticing to many customers with a price of only $5.99 for a lunch on the go, by the time you add a beverage and tax you are likely breaking the eight dollar mark for ‘fast food’ that is not going to fuel your body for greatness.

I’m going to show you how you can spend less than $25 at the grocery store and make five healthy and delicious lunches for the entire week.

WHICH IS DEFINITELY CHEAPER THAN SWINGING INTO TIM HORTON’S EVERY DAY!

Packing a lunch doesn’t have to be time consuming or exhausting. It is as easy as adding a few items to your weekly shopping list to have fresh vegetables and fruit on hand. If you find that you run short on time in the mornings, you could prepare your lunch the night before or even on Sunday afternoon so lunches are ready in the fridge to grab and go in the morning.

Shopping List

1 large container of organic mixed lettuce $5.99
1 bag of 5 avocados               $2.49
2 bell peppers                        $2.00
1 cucumber                            $1.49
1 sweet onion                         $0.75
1 bag of carrots                      $1.99
4 limes                                  $1.00
3 bananas                              $1.00
3 apples                                 $2.00
1 bag of clementines               $3.00
1 bag of raw sunflower seeds   $3.00

  $24.71

Using the lettuce, bell peppers, cucumber and onion, prepare 5 garden salads.
For a very basic dressing, place half a lime in your salad container to squeeze over your salad when you are ready to eat it.

Or a homemade salad dressing could also be made using extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and your favourite herbs and spices. Just mix up the dressing at home and store it in your fridge at work. Add one avocado to each salad when you are ready to eat it (otherwise it will turn brown if exposed to the air).

Cut up carrots into carrot sticks for an afternoon snack.  Grab two pieces of fruit each day and carry the bag of sunflower seeds for snacking if you feel like your energy is dropping or you are having a craving for something crunchy.

There you have it! Five quick and easy lunches that are so easy you won’t even have to think about it! There are a plethora of healthy lunch options out there that are easy on the wallet, but more importantly, they will provide you with the nutrients and energy that you need to fuel your day.

Are you Addicted to Caffeine? How to Detox without Withdrawals

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Are You Addicted to Caffeine?

Do you stumble out of bed and head straight to your coffee pot? Do you even have a timer set so it’s ready and waiting for you?

Do you need a little pick-me-up mid morning and hit the Tim Hortons drive thru?

Or mid-afternoon, do you find yourself reaching for a soda (or worse, an energy drink) to give you enough energy to get you through the rest of your day?

These are some not-too-subtle signs that your body is relying on caffeine as an energy source – both physically and mentally.

Caffeine can wreak havoc on your adrenal system and depending on the source of your caffeine, can affect your cardiovascular system and digestion, not to mention your sleep habits.

You may also know it’s time to curb your intake of caffeine if you notice…

• you need more and more to feel its effects
• your consumption levels are ever increasing
• you are starting to notice that your nerves are jumpy or you are not feeling like yourself
• you feel fluttering in your chest or differences in your breathing
• extra urination and symptoms of dehydration
• if you have a headache or other uncomfortable symptoms if you don’t have caffeine

So how do you reduce or eliminate your intake of caffeine without serious withdrawals?

Everyone’s body reacts differently when they come off of caffeine. As it is classified as a drug,  it is important to treat this as a serious issue and make sure your withdrawal is limited and your transition out of its clutches is gentle.

Some people may decide to go cold turkey, but that definitely tends to cause headaches and other terrible symptoms that may leave you out of commission for up to 3 or 4 days.

It would be best to slowly reduce your intake until you either bring it back down to a more controllable level or remove it from your life altogether.

For the first week, reduce your consumption by 25%. So if you’re having 4 coffees (or whatever your caffeine source is) per day, try to have just 3. Do this for a week and notice any changes.

For the second week, again reduce your consumption by 25% – so just have 2 coffees per day.

And for the third week, reduce another 25% and have just 1 coffee per day.

For the fourth week, you can continue to reduce your intake by having a coffee every other day or if you feel like you are back in control, one per day is a much better amount.

Be sure to supplement your eliminated cup of coffee with another liquid – either warm water with cinnamon and lemon squeezed into it or a caffeine-free tea, so you do not feel deprived of the relaxation of enjoying something warm in your hands that tastes lovely and feels comforting.

While you are making this major life change, it is incredibly important to support your body with added vitamins and nutrients during this time.

Load up on the plant based meals and add as many extra fruit and vegetables into your day as you can. This will help to rebuild your body and support your reduced caffeine intake by offering a real energy source. If your body is fed properly with abundant sources of real nutrition, it will stop craving external energy sources, such as caffeine to get your through the day.

If you have any questions about reducing your caffeine intake and supporting your body through this change, talk to your natural health practitioner.

Toxins in Plastics are Putting Your Family at Risk

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Avoiding plastic isn’t just good for your family, it is also good for the environment. According to a report by the United Nations, in every square mile of ocean, there are on average, 46,000 pieces of plastic.

That’s a plastic state of emergency!

Toxins in those plastics then leach out into the water and affect marine life, or they pose a risk to marine life by getting tangled in the plastics or ingesting them.

Why is plastic bad for your health?

• It disrupts the endocrine system and can have negative effect on reproductive systems, growth and metabolism
• Studies have linked plastic exposure to breast, prostate and colon cancer
• It leaches into food and drinks (especially when heated …never microwave anything in plastic!) (Actually, never microwave anything! But that is a topic for another day).

Studies have actually shown that it doesn’t even take repeated exposure to BPA, a common toxin in plastics, to cause health issues. One particular study compared two groups of people:

Group A: drank a beverage from BPA-lined cans.
-within two hours, they had a rise in BPA found in their urine and a rise in blood pressure during the same period. The BPA was 16 times higher in Group A’s urine than in Group B.

Group B: drank the same beverage from a glass container.
-no heightened BPA in urine.

(Hidden) Sources of Plastic:

• inside lining of canned foods and pop cans
• plastic lunch boxes
• water bottles
• receipts
• plastic wrap
• plastic and paper cups
• kitchen storage containers

How can you eliminate the use of plastic?

While in recent years many stores have encouraged the use of reusable bags instead of plastic bags, it is still not enough to to reduce the plastic waste that ends up in landfills every year. The Bulk Barn has recently announced that they will be allowing the use of reusable containers instead of plastic bags. Consumers are encouraged to bring their own clean, glass jars to the store to fill up rather than using the traditional plastic bags. This concept is a huge step in the right direction to reduce the environmental impact we are placing on the Earth.

• Store leftovers in mason jars or glass containers
• Use silicone lids rather than plastic wrap to keep foods fresh in the fridge
• Use a glass or stainless steel water bottle
• Use a stainless steel travel mug of coffee or tea
• Avoid the use of plastic disposable cutlery and plates for parties
• Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and avoid buying processed foods that are packaged in plastic

• Recycle!! Teach your children to reduce their use of plastic products and to recycle. Now more than ever we need to take good care of our planet.

With Sources from:

http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/avoiding-toxins-in-plastic
http://www.citynews.ca/2016/09/27/toronto-bulk-barn-trading-in-plastic-bags-for-reusable-containers/
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/avoiding-toxins-in-plastic

Why and How to Pass on Plastic


https://wellnessmama.com/54748/hidden-sources-of-bpa/
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/sya-bpa/
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/bpa-crosses-placenta-is-active-form-in-fetus/

Sitting Too Much is the New Smoking

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sitting

The amount of sitting that we do in a day has quickly become a concern for our health and longevity.  Studies reveal that the health impact of sitting for too many hours a day can be compared to the effects that smoking has on our health.

A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to;
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Weakened immune system.

Let’s explore some ways to ensure that you don’t fall symptom to these diseases.

Shocking!  How Many Hours Of Sitting We Do In A Day

There is the time in the car on the way to and from work.  The 8 hours at the office.  All in addition to spending time each night on the couch in front of the television, computer or on your phone.

The winter months in Canada can be particularly difficult to get motivated to work out or to be more active.  But there are some simple things that you can add to your daily routine to increase your activity level without having to brave the elements of winter.

Set A Goal To Be Active 10 Minutes Each Hour That You Are Awake!

If you wake up at 6 am and go to bed at 10 pm, then you have 160 minutes to fill with activity.  Don’t panic.  Activity doesn’t mean that you have to be actively exercising.

Activity could be as simple as;
  • Standing at your desk while you make phone calls
  • Tidying your house
  • Preparing dinner
  • Walking to the car (I suggest parking at the far end of the parking lot at work and the grocery store to increase your activity) 
  • Taking a walk on your lunch break
  • Taking a yoga or pilates class, or any other form of exercise that you enjoy

Click here to read, “10 Desk Exercises You Should Be Doing Every Day”.

If you are pressed for time to fit in exercise, try multitasking.

When you drop the kids off at their extracurricular activities, rather than sitting and waiting for them to be finished, use this time to do an impromptu workout.  Walk around the block or if the weather isn’t nice, go to a nearby shopping centre and do a quick lap around the store.

If you are prone to watching a lot of television during the winter, then during the commercial breaks, get up and do a small work out.

Do three reps of 15 squats, lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, or go through a quick yoga flow of stretches.

Get a fitness tracker and aim to hit around 10,000 steps per day.

Especially if you are the type of person that needs to visually see your progress throughout the day.

The benefits of an active lifestyle are far reaching and include;
  • Higher energy levels
  • More restful sleep
  • Lower body mass index
  • Detoxification
  • Better mental clarity

By bringing awareness to our level of activity we can easily make adjustments to our lifestyle.  All this to ensure that we are taking care good of our health and maximizing our longevity.

With Sources From:

http://www.nchpad.org/403/2216/Sedentary~Lifestyle~is~Dangerous~to~Your~Health