Dr. Stacy Irvine, Bsc. Kin, M.Sc., D.C., C.S.C.S is a Health and Exercise Specialist and Chiropractor in Toronto and owner of Totum Life Sciences a leader in fitness and rehabilitation in Toronto. Totum will be opening a fitness centre at our Medisys Toronto Offices on the 15th floor of 333 Bay Street in October.
I asked Stacy to suggest ways now that summer is over, to help us get back into a healthy routine. Here are her top suggestions.
That’s it! Summer is officially over. As sad as this sounds, for most of us, there is a small part of our brain that will welcome the return to a more structured routine. We will all miss the wonderful freedoms of summer, but those late nights, delicious cocktails, dockside burgers, and adventure-filled travel can disrupt many of our healthy habits. During the summer months, our sleep patterns are often altered, we usually eat a bit more and drink a bit more, and we skip our usual workouts because we are travelling. All of these changes to our routine may even add to our emotional stress.
The time has come to get back on track and set ourselves up for the success that comes with starting out the fall on a great plan. Here are five simple steps to get you started on the right path.
- This fall, make your exercise time a priority by booking it into your schedule now and putting it on repeat. Too often we book all of our family and work activities first and then leave our workouts to last. This is not as effective. Carve out the time and the activities right now and let everyone know that you are booked during these times.
- Set up your training program to get you the BEST results possible. A great exercise program contains areas that develop your physical strength, your cardiovascular fitness, and your overall mobility. Too often we find one activity we like and then we just repeat that activity over and over and over and over. Then we get an “overuse” injury and wonder why that happened! This fall I want you to include a variety of activities that help you work on all of these areas. Lifting weights is a wonderful way to build your strength. Cardiovascular activity is usually easy to figure out because any sport or movement that elevates your heart rate for approximately 45 minutes will qualify. Mobility training can be a challenge for many people. You could sign up for a class that focuses on mobility such as Yoga, Pilates or the new trend of Kin Stretch. Another option for mobility would be to spend approximately 15 to 20 minutes working on this after your cardio workout. However, you want to sort this out, do it now and make it a priority in your schedule.
- Eliminate two unhealthy foods from your regular diet and add two new healthy items. Small changes to our usual eating patterns are easier to manage and will result in long-term successful changes. If you are unsure about how to do this or if you do not feel comfortable making these types of choices, fall is a great time to book a session with a nutritionist to see what you can improve.
- Make sleep a priority. Get back on a regular sleep schedule and practice the best sleep hygiene you can. This means getting your screens out of your bedroom, making sure your sleeping area is dark and cool, and giving yourself enough time to regularly get 8 hours of sleep per night. Without proper sleep, you will have an extremely difficult time meeting your other health goals.
- Pick your top three health related goals and write them down in an email and send them to yourself. You should re-visit and re-read these goals often. This is easily done by hitting forward on that email and sending it to your mailbox again and again. You could also add an inspirational quote or photograph to this email. Whenever you are feeling frustrated about a lack of time for training, or a bad night of sleep, search up this email and re-read it to get back on track.
These five steps are so simple and they do not require a ton of time. Do them now before your fall schedule gets completely out of hand and you find yourself preparing for Christmas.
Thank you, Stacy, all useful and practical suggestions.
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