Colonista.com

How to Make Sure Your Hard Work is Paying Off

You’re exercising.  You’re eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones.  You’re doing all you can to become healthier and happier.  But how can you be sure that all of your hard work is paying off?

Enter FitnessJournal, an online website devoted to tracking your exercise and diet goals. 

The site has a great tour that will show you all of the features of FitnessJournal so that you know what you’re signing up for before you sign up.

Basically, it boils down to a series of web-based applications that help you to understand how your exercise goals are shaping up.

I’ve found that by keeping a journal of what I eat and how much I exercise, I’m able to better judge where my health is headed.  With FitnessJournal, though, I’ll be able to go the extra step and actually see my results on the screen.

How do you keep track of your exercise and diet goals?

6 Places Online to Find Workouts

For some of us, it’s not enough to just go out running or go to the gym.  We’d rather enjoy exercising in the comfort of our own home, and this is where the workout video comes into play.  But I bet that you didn’t know that you could find video workouts online!  Here are six places to check for streaming video workouts.

1. Slimtree – Pilates, yoga, aerobics, and more.
2. beYOU.tv – A Bollywood workout caught my eye!
3. Target Workouts – Core workouts, total body workouts, and more.
4. Exercise TV – A wide variety of full-length workout videos.
5. Health Club TV – Core stability, circuit training, and more.
6. MyPypeline – From beginner to advanced, they have videos for everyone.

What’s your preferred method of working out?

When We Count Calories, What Are We Counting?

When we talk about diet and exercise, one term that comes up often is the calorie.  We read nutrition labels to find out how many calories are in the food we eat, and we research how many calories various exercising methods burn.

But what is this crazy thing that we call a “calorie”?

Thanks to www.dictionary.com, I was able to find out exactly what a calorie is:

“A unit of energy-producing potential equal to this amount of heat that is contained in food and released upon oxidation by the body.”

Weird.  I never realized that a calorie had to do with heat…did you?

5 Tips for Being Comfortable While Exercising

So you’re ready to start exercising…but what do you need to wear?  It may seem like a silly question to ask, but it’s not!  Wearing the appropriate clothing can have a huge impact on how successful your workout is.  Following are some tips to follow when it comes to dressing for exercise.

1. Comfort is Key!  Wear whatever feels comfortable to you.  Make sure your clothes don’t ride up or chafe, and make sure that they don’t show more of you than you’re comfortable showing.
2. There are different shoes for different activities.  You wouldn’t want to wear running shoes if you plan on playing basketball. 
3. Keep cool when exercising outdoors.  Wear light-colored clothing and plenty of sunscreen—and don’t forget your sunglasses.
4. Reflect at night.  If you’re going to be out running or exercising at night, wear reflective clothing or apply reflective stickers to your clothing.
5. Wear the right socks.  Socks are very important when it comes to working out.  You definitely don’t want blisters to ruin your workout!  Try out some different socks and see which ones work best for you.

What do you usually wear when you’re working out?

3 Ways to Exercise Those Flabby Abs

I’m on a serious exercise kick.  And after preaching to you all about how important diet is for an effective digestive system, I think it’s time that I focus more on exercise.  Because exercise is just as important to revamping your digestion as diet is!

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of my flabby tummy.  It seems that I just can’t seem to get rid of this roll.  That is, until I found the following five exercises.  If you perform these exercises religiously, you’re sure to have a firm belly soon!

1. The Bicycle

You know this one.  You lie down on your back and place your hands behind your head.  Then, bring your knees in towards your chest and lift your shoulder blades off the floor.  Next, straighten out your left leg while, at the same time, turning your upper body to the right, bringing your left elbow close to your right knee.  Switch sides and repeat!

2. The Vertical Leg Crunch

Lie down on your back and extend both of your legs straight up, knees crossed.  Using your abs, lift your shoulder blades off the ground, as if you are reaching your chest towards your feet.  Lower and repeat!

3. The Plank

Those of you who are into yoga may be familiar with the plank pose.  This one’s a little different.  Lie face down on a mat with your palms flat on the floor, resting on your forearms.  Lift off of the ground, rising up onto your toes and resting on your elbows.  Be sure to keep your back flat!  Hold this post for 30 to 60 seconds and then repeat!

What are your favorite ways to get toned abs?

Foods to Stay Away From While Colon Cleansing

When you’re participating in a colon cleanse, you may think that taking those pills are enough.  However, your diet needs to be up to par for the cleanse to be as effective as possible.  Here are some foods that you want to stay away from when you’re participating in a colon cleanse:

• Sugar – Duh.  Sugar isn’t the greatest thing for you normally, so of course it should be avoided during cleansing times.
• Wheat – including pasta.
• Dairy products
• Coffee – I know.  You can’t go through the day without a cup of coffee.  Just try not to overdo it, okay?
• Alcohol – We’re just taking away all of the fun, aren’t we?
• Chocolate – Man.  Another fun item on the list of “do not eat.”
• Fatty foods
• Yeast

You can stay away from these foods for your cleanse, right?  It’ll be easy….right?

Foods to Keep Nearby While Colon Cleansing

As I’ve said before, diet can greatly help your colon cleanse to be more efficient.  Here are some foods to keep on hand while participating in a colon cleanse:

• Fresh veggies and fruit
• Beans
• Rice
• Seeds and nuts
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Herbal tea
• Lots of water!

Another great tip—chew all of your food extremely well—25-30 times.

When Life Gives You Lemons…..Drink the Juice!

It’s come to my attention that drinking water with some lemon juice is a great way to improve your body’s natural digestion.  Not only will this practice help your body work more efficiently, but it tastes good, too!  Simply squeeze a lemon wedge into warm water and drink up!

Another great tip I came across caught me by surprise.  We all know that fiber is important with regards to digestion…but did you know that you really need to ingest fiber with a good amount of water?  If you don’t take your flaxseed or psyllium with enough water, you could potentially experience constipation.  A good way to ingest psyllium or flaxseed is to grind them up and mix one or two teaspoons with a glass of water.  Then enjoy!

Want to know what I’m up to?  Follow me at www.twitter.com/colonista

Handy Nutrients to Promote Detoxification

There are tons of things you can do to help your body maintain cleansing.  The food you eat, the exercise you get, the nutrients you ingest:  they all can help or hinder your natural detoxification ability.

Here are some tips regarding nutrients that help to promote the body’s natural cleansing cycle:

• Vitamin C is a great antioxidant that helps to support cleansing. 
• Artichokes increase the flow of bile and help your body to digest fats.
• Milk thistle has loads of positive effects on your liver.
• Beets have a fantastic effect on fat metabolism.
• Members of the brassica family such as broccoli and cauliflower help to support the liver’s detoxification enzymes.
• The liver needs protein for detoxification.  Nuts, seeds, beans, and protein powder are great sources for healthy protein.
• While onions and garlic may create stinky breath, they help the body eliminate heavy metals.

What tips do you have for promoting detoxification?

Seven Ways to Prevent Tapeworm Infection

I think I’ve sufficiently convinced you that tapeworms are gross little things, and that no one would actually want to have a tapeworm infection.  Lucky for you, I can across these tips for preventing infection.  Follow them!

1. If your dog has tapeworms, treat him or her immediately.
2. Avoid ingesting undercooked or raw fish, pork and beef.
3. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the potty and before eating or touching food.
4. To kill tapeworm eggs and larvae, freeze meat for a minimum of 12 hours and fish for a minimum of 24 hours.
5. When you are in areas where tapeworms are, wash and cook all veggies and fruits with safe water before eating them.
6. Cook meat at temperatures of at least 150 F to kill tapeworm eggs and larvae.
7. Avoid livestock exposure to tapeworm eggs by properly getting rid of animal and human poop.

Pretty easy to follow, eh?