Want to live longer and maintain a good quality of life?
Exercise!
Studies have shown consistent exercise (150-300min/week) decreases risk of death by any cause by 22% compared to the norm. This number improves, up to 31% lower risk of death, with increased levels of exercise.

Parent's dietary habits don't only affect their health, but the health of their children as well. "Various studies found a great influence of parental dietary habits on dietary behaviors of their children regardless of demographic characteristics such as gender, age, socioeconomic status and country." Habits are created in around 30-60 days (depending on what the habit is), so in 18 years living as a dependent of parents can create and solidify any number of habits. Children also tend to follow and mirror their parents, so it would make sense that they also mirror their dietary habits. If you want to give your children the best chance at living a healthy lifestyle full of nutritious food and good dietary choices, these steps are a great start to help you create an environment in your household that promotes those habits. 

"Try this new pill and you'll shed the weight almost instantly!"

This new challenge will make you drop 30lbs in 30 days!"

Sound familiar?

Fad diets, "heatlh gurus", and crazy program challenges are everywhere in the fitness world these days. While they differ in their approach, they all have on thing in common: they promise a shortcut to that healthy life you've always wanted. While this may sound tempting, these "shortcuts" are actually making your road to success much, much longer.

Take the fad diets and "30lbs in 30 days" challenges for example. These are both extreme methods of losing weight. While I don't doubt that you may lose a ton of weight in a short time with them, it's not sustainable. Can you eat under 800 calories/day the rest of your life, or exercise twice a day forever? It's just not realistic. The most likely outcome of one of these options is that you do really, really well for a month or two, don't feel great, stop doing it, and then end up losing all your...

"Mind over matter" may be a saying that's overused, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

We've seen it time and time again, our bodies are capable of much more than we believe. When you're getting to your last few reps in an exercise and feel like you can't move your arms, just try! I'd be willing to bet that if you really give it your best effort, you can get another rep or two. 

Similarly, even if you're doing everything right exercise-wise but have poor nutritional habits, you probably won't do as well as you want. For example if you want to quit sugar, you're probably going to struggle right away. Your body won't feel great, because you're depriving it of something it has become accustomed to using for energy. You'll feel slow, sluggish, maybe some headaches, and you'll definitely have a lot of cravings. But, if you make it throught that initial rough patch staying mentally strong and avoiding that sugar, you'll come out far stronger. Your body will be fine, it can adjust...

Ingredients
Ingredients scaled to: 1 serving
3/16 cup, sliced Onions (Diced) (19.2 grams)
1 1/3 oz Ground turkey (38 grams)
3 1/3 tbsp Chicken broth (50 grams)
2 2/3 tbsp Brown rice (10-minute rice) (30.8 grams)
2 2/3 tbsp Pace, Picante Sauce (1 cup) (42.7 grams)
3/16 cup, chopped or sliced Tomatoes (Diced) (37.5 grams)
1/3 tsp Dry taco seasoning mix (0.29 grams)
1/8 cup Corn (17.4 grams)
5/16 cup Canned black beans (75.8 grams)
1/16 tsp Salt (Or sea) (0.25 grams)
1/16 tsp Pepper (0.087 grams)
2/3 oz Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese (18.9 grams)
2/3 tbsp chopped Chives (2 grams)
Directions
Directions are based on the original recipe of 6 servings
1. Over medium heat, in a skillet, cook the onion and ground turkey, until turkey is no longer pink. Drain
off any fat, then push the turkey to one side of the skillet. Add the rice and toast for about 1 minute.
2. Add the broth, rice, 1 cup salsa, 1 cup diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, corn, and the beans. Bring to a
boil then lower the heat and simmer for about...

What does "later" mean?
Sometimes it means the same day. Sometimes it means next week. Sometimes, we look up and "later" has become years.

2 things to always make sure to ask yourself if you're going to put something off until later. 

1. Why can't you do it now? Sometimes, things are unavoidable and we have to move our exercise to accomodate that. However, catching the latest episode of your favorite show is not one of those. Neither is "not feeling like it". Odds are, if you don't want to exercise when you have the time, you'll rarely find a time that you do want to. Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult, but just getting out of the chair and getting the work done is a huge accomplishment. You don't have to do your hardest workout ever or set a new personal record, but as the common saying goes, "showing up is half the battle". Take the time to get the workout in, and you'll be proud of yourself, your mood will improve, you'll physically feel great, and it will lead to more...

Portion sizes in America have increased 2-3x in the past 20 years. It's important to keep this in mind as it can hold you back from the results your looking for, even if you're eating nutritious foods like chicken and almonds.

As you may know, the basic equation for weight gain or loss is calories in - calories out. So if you eat chicken and almonds (two very healthy and nutritious foods), but have a large portion size or multiple servings, the weight won't come off. 

One way to stay on top of portion sizes is to track food. When you do so, be very specific. Instead of "chicken", put "4oz of chicken breast". Apps like myfitnesspal do the calculations for your calories, as well as protein/fat/carbs, so all you need to worry about is inputting the right quantity. Do this for a week without changing your diet, and you may be surprised at what you find.

Once you have a week down you can identify areas to improve!

Yes, it is true that artificial sweeteners are better than natural sugars in the calorie department.
They also lack the vitamins, minerals, and fiber provided by real sugar. Since they are artificial and thus foreign objects in your body, they can upset its natural balance and cause problems in liver/pancreas function, gut microbiome, sometimes even as serious as cancer.

All in all, your best bet is to stick to natural sugars. Of course, you want to keep it in moderation. The calorie increase compared to artificial sugars, in most cases, isn't large enough to justify increasing risk in all of those other areas.

If you've recently injured your ankle or have been struggling with pain in the area, you know how frustrating it can be. The ankle is a tough spot to have an injury because it's very difficult to avoid using it.

When an injury happens, common thinking and our instincts tell us to stop using it, ice it, and let it rest. While these are the correct actions immediately following the injury, before long they can become a detriment to your ability to recover. 

Our body's process for dealing with an injury is to cause inflammation and tighten up the surrounding musculature, because immobilizing the area is the best way to avoid hurting it more. However, the longer you allow the area to stay that way, the harder it will be to get back to full strength. 

Even a day after the injury, the best course of action is to actually start moving. You don't need to go out and run a marathon, but just doing the simple exercises in the video will go a long way to increasing blood flow and...

If you're ever lacking motivation to go out and exercise, just fill in this blank.
In other words, what's your "why"?
Everybody's "why" is different but it's crucial to find it and remember it if you want to stay successful, not only in an exercise program but life in general.