Health and Exercise Tips

So you’ve been working out to the best exercise videos but still don’t see much results. You even try to eat the right foods and go on a diet. But you seem to have reached a plateau. What’s stopping you from getting leaner? Maybe it’s the amount of sleep you get. The lack of sleep can make you fat. Remember, cortisol is one of the hormones that stimulates fat storage and revs up your appetite to make sure you have energy for all the stressful challenges that you face. When you are sleep deprived, however, your body interprets this as a stressor—after all, it takes a lot of extra energy to go without sleep—so your cortisol levels remain elevated, and so does your appetite for carbohydrates.

One of the most crucial parts of your workout is the cool-down stretches. Stretching keeps your connective tissues elastic. It also helps your body flush out the lactic acid that accumulates in your muscles after exercise—the same lactic acid that contributes to achiness. Finally, stretching improves the range of motion in your joints and muscles and helps relieve stress and prevent injuries.

Stretching is especially important as we get older. As we age, our joints tend to lose some of their flexibility, but this tendency can be combated by regular stretching. The younger you are when you start stretching, the more flexible you’ll be as you get older. If you’re over age fifty and just starting to stretch, though, don’t worry. It’s never too late to benefit from slow, luxurious stretches!

So you just bought some of the best exercise videos but can’t seem to find the time to work out? What should you do? Well, the important thing is to start realigning your concept of yourself and what you deserve. What happens if you say to yourself, “I’m going to look at my schedule, and somewhere in there I’m going to make twenty minutes or half an hour for myself”—whether that “self” time is working out or taking a bath? We know it’s not easy to claim that kind of time for yourself—but we are saying that it’s important, So let’s talk about scheduling some time for your workout.