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Blog, Healthy Lifestyle
April 6, 2021

10 tips for a healthy lifestyle

There is no doubt that the pandemic has taken a toll over our lives, but that does not mean that we stop living our lives to the fullest.  Let’s not constrain ourselves to the downfalls of 2020, let’s think big, open our mind to hope & stand stronger for 2021. Now is the perfect time to make a commitment to getting healthy, physically and mentally. Even small changes can lead to a refreshing change over time. You don’t have to overhaul your entire life to start living healthier, you can begin with small steps, here are 10 tips to help you feel your best and healthiest this year!

1. Focus on self-care
Motivating yourself to be productive every day requires you to care for yourself first. It’s not limited to just how you look but also how you feel. Focus on your mental well-being as much as your physical well-being.

2. Drink at least three litres of water every day
Hydration is extremely important at all times! Make it a point to drink at least eight to 10 glasses of water daily—your body will thank you! And remember Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.

3. Make time for exercise
Invest in yourself and make time for exercise, we all know how important regular exercise is for our physical, mental health and well-being. But if you struggle to make exercise a part of your life, it’s okay, don’t be too hard on yourself! Building new healthy habits can take time, but the benefits are definitely worth it. Remember why you started, and use that as your motivation to keep on going, even when you feel like giving up.

4. Sleep for at least eight hours
Regardless of how busy your schedule is, make sure you catch good sleep at night. Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well-being. Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day.Getting adequate rest may also help prevent excess weight gain, heart disease, and increased illness duration.

5. Respect the environment
We owe a lot to our environment for everything it has given us and still does. Let’s do our share of conserving it by saying no to single-use plastic, planting more trees, and every little thing we can.

6. Do things you enjoy
This often gets overlooked as an essential element of healthy living—doing things each day that you enjoy! Whether that’s exercise, baking, crafting, reading a book or watching TV, or catching up with family, reserve time each day to spend doing activities you personally enjoy.

7. Eat more colour
Junk food once in a while is okay, after all it’s all about balance. But, don’t forget to add colour to your plate, the best way get all of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need is to eat a variety of colourful fruits and veggies. This will boost not just your heart health but also improve other organ functions.

8. Learn something new
Explore things you never knew about!  How about learning a new language, exploring pottery, freestyle dance, gardening, reading your favourite authors again, time for video games, painting or sketching. Try to learn more and grow as an individual. Don’t stop yourself from what you know already, but put yourself in challenging situations.

9. Cultivate a positive mindset
“The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.” It’s true—mindset is everything! Cultivate a positive mindset by recognizing negative thought patterns and countering them with positive thoughts or affirmations.

10. Practise mindfulness
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present at the moment and is seeing positive results in their daily lifestyles, like reduced stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Try incorporating this technique into your lifestyle.

 

Remember you’re more likely to do things you actually enjoy. So take note of which of these healthy living tips sound most enjoyable to you and start from there!

Blog, Healthy Lifestyle, Nutrition
March 26, 2018

Spring into Nutrition

Spring is officially here, and although the weather doesn’t match just yet, it is a great reminder of a law that governs life, everything evolves in a cycle. It brings hope and positivity, a reminder of rebirth where nature comes back to life and the entire cycle starts all over again. Spring is often seen as a good time to regroup, reprioritize and improve areas in their life and find a balance. We couldn’t agree more that this is a great time to set new goals, to get rid of old things, and to consciously work on improvement.

That’s why we’ve partnered up with Culinary Nutritionist & Health Coach Gorete Almeida, together, we’ll be hosting a facebook live stream on April 8th at 11am, where she’ll be answering your top questions and providing you with great tips and tricks to get you to the healthy and balanced life you deserve, just in time to get you ready for summer!

Do you have a health and/or nutrition question that’s been on your mind lately? Submit your top 3 questions around nutrition here, so we can be sure to answer them during our live stream!

 

Quick tip: A daily green smoothie does the body some serious good! Why not start the Spring season with this healthy green smoothie to keep you energized throughout you day. Super green, check, super delicious, check and check.

 

SUPER GREEN SMOOTHIE

 

1 ¼ Cup chopped kale, stems and tough rib remove

1 ¼ cup frozen cubed mango

2 medium ribs celery, chopped

1 Cup chilled fresh tangerine or orange juice

¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

 

Instructions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in blender.
  2. Puree until smooth
  3. Pour mixture into 2 chilled glasses

Per serving:

Calories 160, Protein 3.5g, Carbohydrates 39g (5 g fiber), Fat 1 g (0g sat), Sodium 56g

 

We clearly had some help along the way…

 

We hope you enjoy this! Take a picture of your smoothie and perhaps little helpers, and tag us on instagram #EAFitness!

Blog post about osteoporosis
Blog, Fitness, Healthy Lifestyle, Motivation
March 13, 2018

Osteoporosis – why so important?

Article by: Stephanie Tsotsos- MscPT Candidate Year 1

 

According to Osteoporosis Canada, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will suffer from an osteoporosis related fracture in their lifetime. Osteoporosis related fractures are more common than heart attack, stroke and breast cancer combined.

 

So what is osteoporosis exactly?

Osteoporosis is a progressive skeletal disease caused by low bone mass (decreased bone density) as well as abnormal bone quality which together cause decreased bone strength. This decreased bone strength puts a person at an increased risk of fractures, which in turn can result in disability, pain, deformity and even death, as 30-40 % of people who sustain a hip fracture die within a year. Fractures due to osteoporosis can be caused by everyday activities like lifting a heavy object or even coughing or sneezing if the bones are weak enough.

 

How do you get osteoporosis?

There are two main types of osteoporosis- primary and secondary. Primary osteoporosis is caused post menopause as estrogen prevents new bone formation and instead promotes bone loss. The most rapid bone loss occurs 5 years after menopause due to decreased estrogen, and women lose up to 5% of bone mass each year post menopause. Secondary osteoporosis is caused by diseases that affect bone metabolism for example anorexia. Overall, our risk of osteoporosis depends on: peak bone mass during adolescence+ maintaining bone mass during adulthood+ rate of bone mass during menopause. These three factors are influenced by genetics, which makes up 70% of risk of getting osteoporosis, hormones, calcium, vitamin D and exercise.

 

Can we prevent osteoporosis?

We can help to slow down the progression of bone loss post menopause (but not prevent it) by making sure we get enough calcium, vitamin D and exercising, which promote bone health. Health Canada’s Recommended daily amount of calcium is 1000mg for those aged 19-50 and 1200 mg for those over 50 years of age. Similarly, Osteoporosis Canada’s recommended daily intake for vitamin D is 400-1000 IU for those less than 50 years and 800- 2000 IU for those over 50 years of age. It is important to note that vitamin D cannot be absorbed in the body without calcium so both need to be taken in adequate amounts to maintain bone mass. The types of exercises that help to maintain or possibly increase bone mass are those that are high intensity in nature with high loads and high strain rates. This includes activities with jumping and changing of directions such as dance, volleyball, tennis and weight lifting. Activities that have been shown not to have a large effect on bone mass include non-weight bearing exercises such as swimming and cycling.

Blog post about keeping heart healthy
Blog, Fitness, Healthy Lifestyle
March 5, 2018

Your Heart

We often concentrate on toning and strengthening our arms, legs and abs, amongst other muscles that make us look and feel better, but forget about one of most important one.

Your heart is the most important muscle in your body and like any muscle; it needs exercise to make it stronger. A strong heart can pump more efficiently.

When you add exercise into your daily schedule, you are helping to control or reduce your risk for stroke and heart disease.

 

One of the best exercises you can do for your heart is aerobic exercise or cardio and it uses oxygen to meet energy demands.

Aerobic exercise doesn’t mean you need to do a five or ten mile run every day, but you do a type of continuous exercise that increases your heart and breathing rate and uses large muscles such as your arms and/or legs. Try:

  • Going for a walk
  • Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Going on a leisurely bicycle ride
  • Going for a swim
  • Going for fitness clasess (Spining, Zumba,Bootcamp,cardio Kickboxing)

 

Studies have shown exercise provides the following benefits for your heart:

  • Control or reduce blood pressure
  • Prevent or control diabetes
  • Reduce cholesterol
  • Increase the good cholesterol
  • Reduce stress and anxiety
  • Reduce or control weight

It is recommended that you exercise most days of the week for a minimum of 10 minutes at a time, but try to dedicate 25-30 minutes for yourself to exercise (and 50 minutes for people who need to lose a significant amount of weight). It does not have to be a vigorous exercise; any slight to moderate movement will show results.

We’re now in the beginning of March,  how have you done so far in maintaining your new years resolutions?

Here are 12 quotes, one for each month, to help keep you motivated to maintain your goals, or simply to have a positive attitude and focus on what you would like to accomplish this year.

1. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” -Ralph Marston

2. “Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace.” -Dalai Lama

3. “Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from an indomitable will.” –Gandhi

4. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” -Jim Ryun

5. To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. ~ Buddha

6. “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential: these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” –Confucius

7. “Do or do not. There is no try.” –Yoda

8. “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

9. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

10. “Slow progress is better than no progress.”

11. “Fitness is not about being better than someone else, it’s about being better than you used to be.”

12. “It doesn’t matter what others are doing. It matters what you are doing.”

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