From healthy recipes to proper exercise techniques and meal prep tips, there are a lot of phenomenal reads out there in the fitness world that’ll help you stay on track with your fitness journey and really crank out the results you want. I know your days are super crazy so I’m bringing you only the best of the best articles each week to get you the biggest bang for your buck. Remember, we’re all in this together. Feel free to hit me up in the comments section below or on any of my social media profiles.
This week we take a look at how working out makes your mind stronger, some healthy alternatives for your summer barbecue, staying fit while you’re on the go with healthy road trip snacks, how beans may help you reach the coveted centenarian club, and how to do that perfect push-up for shredded arms and shoulders.
The Best Health & Fitness Articles from Last Week
How Exercise Can Help You Deal With Anxiety
Studies have shown exercise can boost mood, alleviate symptoms of depression, and improve your memory. That’s right, it can even make you smarter.
We all know that working out makes our bodies stronger, boosts our energy, and improves our overall health. You don’t have to be a genius to figure that one out, but did you know that regular exercise boosts your mental health as well?
Your brain produces endorphins and proteins throughout your workout that make your body better at handling anxiety and dealing with stressful situations as well as “resetting” your brain and memory which is what causes that rush of positivity after your workout. Being active for at least 60 minutes a week can reprogram your brain to make this your baseline and give you a strong mind to go with your rockin’ body.
10 Recipes for Your Healthy Summer Barbecue
Summer’s here folks and that means it’s barbecue season! It’s time to show off all that hard work you’ve put in over the last few months now that it’s shorts and sandals weather, and what better way to celebrate than cooking out with a few friends and some good tunes. Whether you’re the grillmaster extraordinaire or just along for the ride for some good eats, it’s super easy to lose track of your diet with all the beer, burgers, and bratwursts flying around.
Kristen put together these healthy barbecue recipes to keep your diet on track without sacrificing that tasty goodness we all crave for our summer get togethers.
15 Great Road Trip Foods Under 200 Calories
If you’re anything like me, you love to travel. Road trips, family getaways, we do it all. One of the toughest parts of traveling isn’t wrangling the kids and getting everyone in the car, it isn’t making sure you didn’t forget anything, and it definitely isn’t keeping the kids entertained. It’s eating. How crazy is that?
When you’re on the road, your choices are fast-food joints, greasy spoons, or gas stations. That’s a nightmare for those of us trying to shed a few pounds or keep the weight off.
Pack these scrumptious, low calorie snacks for your road trip so you don’t lose your way on your weight loss journey.
Are Beans the Secret to Longevity?
The Wall Street Journal recently released a study on the people of Sardinia, a little island off the coast of Italy, where they found that the Sardinians have nearly 4 times as many citizens of 100 years old than the U.S. These villages are one of the many “Blue Zones” throughout the world which are places with citizens that have incredibly long life spans with little to no chronic disease.
Geneticists have theorized that genetics have a great deal to do with their uncharacteristic health, but we’re finding that diet is playing a role too.
And the food item that surfaced more often than any other? The bean.
With a diet that’s low in meat and high in complex carbohydrates, these Blue Zones boast the highest concentrations of older, healthier people.
Read the full article…
How to Do the Perfect Push-Up
Push ups are a killer workout for basically your entire upper body, but they’re a lot like cardio. You either love them or you hate them.
Either way, this weight-bearing exercise is fantastic at sculpting your shoulders and arms, making your back look just incredible, and building up your pecs.
Even though they’re not the easiest thing in the world (hint: they’re not supposed to be), they’re one of the best workouts you can do for your arms and shoulders. You just have to make sure you’re using proper technique to get the most out of each rep.
However, once you’ve mastered the perfect push-up, you can move on to more advanced techniques that bump up the weight and target different muscle groups.