The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
5 easy fitness and nutrition fixes for beach season
Arcadia Weekly May 31, 2018
James Speranta’s younger brother Andrew designed a T-shirt on which a child’s name can be printed so schools and individuals can champion a fellow student who may be diagnosed with leukemia. – Courtesy photo / MUSD
by
share with
Now that your fitness and nutrition is completely out the door, you’re probably starting to regret not touching that gym membership since February. But with beach season just around the corner, you’re probably starting to wonder just how much progress you can make with such little time left. Fear not, despite not having months of time to prepare, you’ve still got a fair shot to get your body moving in the right direction, and start developing fitness and nutrition behaviors that will give you that Summer confidence all year round.
Topics covered today (click link to jump to section):
- Preparing your body for training
- Pump up your water intake
- Start crafting your green smoothie
- Learn to better manage your stress
- Begin more physical activity
- Learn to make nutrition work for you
-Courtesy Photo
Preparing your body for training
Before you dive headfirst into the best workout or diet program that crosses your eye, take a few days to sit down and figure out what supplemental behaviors can help increase your chance of success. The majority of the people, who eventually hit all of their fitness and nutrition goals, share a couple common traits. These people are very mindful about how their bodies operate, and make sure to take care of those needs first, before running into the gym. If you’re looking to step up your game this Summer, figure out how you can apply these tips to boost your results.
Pump up your water intake
Water is a simple, yet often overlooked, element in a healthy lifestyle.Many of our bodies’ internal processes rely greatly on us staying hydrated. To really point out just how important that is, a mere 2% decrease in overall water weight can cause significant changes in blood flow and blood volume, which then can cause loss of focus, low energy, and decreased physical performance.
To keep yourself more hydrated throughout the day, make sure you keep water readily available. This might mean carrying a water bottle with you throughout the day, or leaving a large cup at your desk during work. Personally, I enjoy using a cup much more, because I don’t have to remove a cap every time I want to take a drink.
– Courtesy Photo
Start crafting your green smoothie
The benefits of incorporating a green smoothie, in your daily routine, are truly amazing. For starters, it’s a super easy way to help you meet your daily nutrient needs. You can compress a whole lot of vitamins, minerals, and fiber into just a couple ounces of liquid. On top of that, it also acts as a great way to help you meet your hydration needs early on in the day.
If you’re interested in trying to make my favorite nutrition boost, check out my green smoothie recipe and guide.
Learn to better manage your stress
There aren’t many people who account for stress in their fitness and nutrition behaviors. The reality is that we’re more stressed today than ever before and that can seriously impact the quality of your workouts and overall physical well being. Interestingly enough, exercise is amazing for close to all groups of individuals, but when it comes to people who face highly stressful lifestyles higher intensity exercise can actually worsen the amount of stress that they face.
If stress is something that you’ve noticed getting in the way of your quality of life, step back for a minute and try to determine what factors are causing you the most stress and how you can possibly change them. In addition to that, I personally like to try and incorporate stress-relieving activities in my life to help my body and my mind relax for a minute. If you’re looking for great activities to help you catch a breather, try heading outdoors and taking a hike. Time spent in the outdoors has shown to greatly reduce the amount of stress people experience in a matter of minutes.
– Courtesy Photo
Increase your physical activity
Once you’ve taken the time to prepare your body for a physical transformation, exercise will play a huge role in your results. I recommend that you take a few weeks to really work on creating a habit of exercise that you can stick to. This might be as simple as doing 50 jumping jacks when you wake up every morning or taking a 20 to 60 minute walk at the start or end of your day. The purpose of these exercises is to get you up and moving more frequently, but also to create a very welcoming environment that you’ll be able to then build off of.
Once you’ve developed a routine habit of exercise, I recommend starting out with a full body strength training routine to help build up some extra strength and fix any potential imbalances that may exist. For the sake of simplicity, I would recommend starting out in a gym, because having the right tools can really make this much easier. If you’re new to exercise or strength training, it’s always helpful to seek the advice of a professional to help you accelerate your results and minimize any potential risks.
Learn to make nutrition work for you
As easy as nutrition can be, the wrong approach can really make it tough to want to see it completely through. My own approach to nutrition is simple. Make sure to develop a diet that is suitable to your taste preferences and lifestyle, and then find a balance that will allow you to still enough those treats and pleasures that help make you smile. If you’re not sure where to start out with your nutrition changes, check out the recipe for my breakfast that I eat 365 days a year.
