Balancing a healthy lifestyle can be challenging, switching things up is key
Juggling healthier eating habits and making time for exercise can be a bit challenging in the midst of a pandemic, but switching things up with your fruits and veggies and incorporating seated exercises can go a long way.
April Kelton, registered licensed dietician with AdventHealth, said swapping out those not-so-healthy snack options for healthier foods can help keep your blood sugar leveled during the day.
“A healthier snack would be almonds paired with a healthy choice like carbs,” said Kelton. She suggested pairing almonds with a dairy product, such as yogurt or milk. “Pairing that protein with the carbohydrate helps to keep your blood sugar stable. Some other options to consider are pairing your heavorite vegetable with a healthy yogurt, hummus or Greek yogurt.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers “Choose My Plate” as a friendly resource that presents a guide to healthier eating by suggesting serving sizes and proportions for the five major food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins and dairy.
Kelton said using Choose My Plate as a guide is a great way to keep things in perspective. “It offers tips on how to balance a little bit of everything,” said Kelton. “Healthy proteins come from low-fat dairy, lean meat or even eggs. Pairing that with a carbohydrate or adding some veggies to your eggs offers a little bit of everything.”
Breakfast, she said, can be whatever you make of it. “If you’re not a breakfast person, consider the veggies left over from the night before. I’ve had patients that will have a sandwich with turkey, cheese and some whole grain bread and they’ll pair it with carrots or if they’ve got leftover veggies from the night before, that’s a great one too, she said.
Smoothies are popular, but don’t forget to add in important nutrients, she said. Peanut butter and yogurt are good for protein and even flaxseed will provide the needed amount of protein, as well as omega and fiber. Fruits and vegetables are a healthy addition, as is avocado, which is a healthy fat.
“If you’re really struggling for protein, it’s OK to use protein powder” in a smoothie, she said. There’s a variety of protein powders on the market, so go with whatever fits your budget.
Teddy Savage, head of fitness and health excellence with Planet Fitness, said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it shouldn’t be the biggest meal of the day. “I would suggest lunch being where you intake the most calories,” he said. “Either you’re replenishing what you’ve burned off, you’re also fueling your body with the energy needed to sustain a high level of activity. Breakfast is moderate, lunch is your highest and dinner, you want to eat it before 7 p.m. If it possible, should be a lighter meal. Dinner shouldn’t be very big. After dinner you’re typically in relaxation mode. That’s not the time to be holding on to a lot of calories.”
Keeping a food log can help you keep track of how certain foods affect you, Kelton said. That way you can see the difference in tolerances and notice a trend with certain foods.
Getting outside also has its benefits for health. “Just being outside for a few minutes can boost vitamin D and serotonin levels. Take advantage of living in the sunshine state. Make sure to get a little bit each day,” Kelton said.
Choose My Plate can help in determining and being mindful of food portions. For example, Kelton said, she wouldn’t tell anyone to give up chocolate, but she would recommend thinking about portion sizes. “How much of that Snickers do you need versus a healthy snack?”
Food and exercise
Savage said paying attention to what you eat before a workout is important. “You want to eat foods that are going to give you the energy you need to sustain a high level of performance throughout your routine,” he said. “You don’t want to eat a large meal before you work out, and you also don’t want to go in on an empty stomach as well.” And he added that this rule applies whether you’re working out for 30 minutes or an hour.
“Your body needs fuel,” he said. “You want to eat one to three hours before you go. Some of the best things that you can eat are carbohydrates, because carbohydrates actually produce energy. So that’s oatmeal, brown rice, you can eat some bananas, maybe a peanut butter sandwich or a bagel and honey on it. Apples with peanut butter and raisins are actually some of my favorite things because they’re quick and easy. They’re packed full of those essential nutrients that generate the energy your body needs.”
But you need to replenish your body after a workout as well. “After you work out your muscles break down,” said Savage. “They need repair and recovery time. You want to eat within a 45-minute window because that’s the window when those nutrients will be able to translate over to the recovery that you need to build strength. Protein is really the building block of that recovery.”
For a recovery meal, Savage said quinoa with chicken or a fruit smoothie with an added protein source are great options. “Whey protein is what I particularly use in my smoothies,” he said. And for meals, he recommended eggs, salmon or tuna as healthy fats. “I know a lot of people think the word fat is a very unattractive kind of thing. But avocado, coconut oil, flaxseeds, nut butters and nut medley — these things are important for healthy fats in the body as well,” he said.
Savage said your day should start with some form of dynamic exercise. “Dynamic stretching is really limbering up your body through stretching and movement,” he said. “This is completely different from static stretching, which is what you would want to do after a workout routine or before you go to bed at night.”
A good dynamic movement to start the day, according to Savage, is marching in place or doing a couple of three-quarter squats or maybe some walking lunges.
“These exercises engage the posterior chain, which is really important for your erector muscles that keep your posture nice. Also throw in some jumping jacks. It’s an oldie but goodie, but it gets your heart rate up, it gets blood flow to the muscles and also lubricates your joints,” he said.
Whether you’re going in to work or working from home, he recommended some simple exercises to keep active. “While sitting in your chair, think of weights as simply added resistance,” said Savage. “You don’t need dumbbells, kettlebells, a barbell or bench press. To add resistance, you can use a milk jug or two canned goods, laundry detergent, whatever you have at your disposal that adds slight resistance to your movement will work.”
Even a few minutes of activity will make a difference, he said. “If you move your body 10 to 20 minutes, that’s enough. It’s actually more than sufficient, not just for your physical fitness, but also your mental wellness as well. When you move your body, even for 10 minutes at a time, your brain releases chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins that are responsible for your mental disposition. If you’re feeling stressed or anxious just remember 10 to 15 minutes not only do you well physically but also do you well mentally.”
