Top 5 Tips to Make Exercise a Priority

Exercise has been a priority for me since beginning middle school and feeling self-conscious about how I looked.  I was an overweight child and had an abrupt awakening to that fact when I began middle school and had a “real” PE class.  Over the years my goals and motivations have changed.  Through my teenage years, I exercised just to stay slim and feel like I fit in with everyone else.  Through college and pharmacy school, exercise became my tool to help relieve stress, keep my mind focused and have the energy to power through the hardest 7 years of my life.  
Now my priority for exercise has evolved because of my strong desire to feel as good as possible and prevent as much disease as possible by protecting my heart and body.  Each day I’m motivated to exercise because it’s a mini therapy session for me, it helps me relax, helps me focus and keeps my energy high.  

And now on to the tips that I use each day to keep me motivated to make exercise one of my top priorities each day. 

1.  Do what you LOVE.  Find exercise that you ENJOY and LOVE.  Exercise should make you feel accomplished, not defeated.  Find something that makes you feel GOOD, not disappointed in yourself because you didn’t do as well as the person in the video or beside you in the gym.  This may require trying multiple types of workouts.  But trust me, it’s worth it.  When you find your soul mate workout, you’ll feel so good!

2.  This tip for motivation is one of the most important to me as a pharmacist.  PREVENTING disease is a top priority for me and motivated me each day to exercise.  Remember that exercise keeps your heart healthy, keeps our brains healthy, keeps our joints and bones strong, keeps our muscles strong, helps blood flow, helps with blood pressure, helps with blood sugar…and the list goes on and on.  

3.  Think about how good you feel when you’re finished.  Exercise literally releases endorphins and makes us FEEL amazing.

4.  Exercise helps to keep our hormones in check – either by decreasing or increasing to have a positive impact.  Dopamine and serotonin are affected by exercise.  Keeping the stress hormone cortisol as low as possible is especially motivating to me!

And my last tip to stay motivated to exercise is a fun one! 

5.  REWARDS!  Make an exercise schedule for the week or even better, for the month.  And for each week you complete, reward yourself with a non-food related treat.  For example, a new book, new workout gear (cute clothes make workouts more fun!), manicure, massage or spa day.

Healthy Homemade Tortilla Chips

This is a super simple homemade baked tortilla chip recipe that's quick and tasty!  You can easily change the flavor of the chips with any spices.

** Please do warn your people that these chips won't taste the same as, and aren't as crunchy as, doritos OR fried tortilla chips that you might have at a restaurant.  
-- But they DO taste great and are a much healthier alternative!

Ingredients:
8 to 12 corn tortillas
coconut oil spray
salt
**Any spice or seasoning that you like
- I used paprika to coordinate with the taco salad

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line baking pan with aluminum foil & spray with coconut oil spray (for easy clean up!)
3. On cutting board, lay 1 toritilla flat, spray lightly with coconut oil spray.
4. Continue to stack & spray tortillas on cutting board.
5. Cut tortilla stack into wedges
6. Lay wedges flat on baking pan and sprinkle with chosen spices & salt.
7. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until they start to brown slightly

Is Pain Preventing You From Exercising?

We all know that exercise is important.  We all know that there are tremendous health benefits when we exercise.  But we also know that it is difficult to exercise when we hurt or have a condition that causes pain or limits mobility.

But you can exercise with pain or debilitating diseases.  Exercise is good for everyone!
Every day at the pharmacy I have a patient who is dealing with a pain syndrome, such as fibromyalgia or pain from an injury, or dealing with a debilitating disease, such as arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis.  Any of these conditions can limit mobility and complicate everyday tasks.  We use medications to treat each of these conditions but there is another treatment that is often overlooked.  Exercise.  This is the simplest treatment, is very effective and is very inexpensive.  The right type of exercise can help you decrease pain levels, have more energy, improve sleep and have better day-to-day functioning. 

The stronger the muscles and tissues are around your joints, the better they will be able to support and protect the joints.  Without exercise, our muscles become smaller and weaker and our bones can become more brittle.  Exercise helps to keep our joints flexible and able to move easier.  
Benefits of exercise in patients with arthritis or pain syndromes (these are benefits to any and everyone!)

- Reduced symptoms (less pain)
- Improved joint motion, function and flexibility
- Improvement in coordination and balance
- Helps maintain bone mass
- Reduced body weight (less strain on joints)
- Reduced stress
- Improved sleep
-       Improved blood circulation

There are 3 types of exercise that should be included in everyone’s exercise regimen each week.
- Flexibility exercises – range of motion exercises and stretching exercises help to maintain or improve flexibility in joints and muscles.
- Strengthening exercises – designed to work muscles harder to maintain or increase muscle strength.  As muscles become stronger, they provide greater joint support and reduced stress through the joints.  Strong muscles contribute to better function and reduce bone loss related to inactivity.
- Aerobic exercise – improves heart, lung and muscle function and endurance.  Types of aerobic exercises are walking, jogging, water exercises, bicycling, etc.  

The hardest part of beginning any exercise program is figuring out where to start.  Find someone to help you get started and to keep you motivated.  Having someone who understands what you are going through makes the entire process easier.  Exercise can become part of your daily life, something that you do every day, without a doubt and without even thinking about it.  Make a plan for your day and schedule time for exercise. 

I do not have any type of arthritis or pain syndromes, but as a pharmacist, I work 12 hour shifts and I stand all day.  This causes pain in my feet, ankles, knees, back and hips.  I would wake up each morning and have a hard time getting out of bed because my knees and ankles would be stiff and actually hurt to put weight on.  It felt like I could wake up and crack every bone in my body and all of my muscles would ache each morning.  Throughout the day, anytime I squatted my knees would crack and ache.  Anytime I sat for long periods of time, my entire body would be stiff and hurt when I moved.  My chiropractor would tell me that I needed to stretch more and loosen my hip flexors because my tight hip flexors were causing my hips and back to stay out of alignment.  This is when I discovered the HUGE benefits of flexibility exercises and the importance of a balanced exercise routine.  Once I began working on my flexibility and improving my strength, I started to see tremendous changes in how I felt physically.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Sometimes we ALL just need a chicken nugget!  Am I right??
This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart and I changed a couple ingredients to make these nuggets healthier.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Coarse salt

1 tbsp olive oil (or melted coconut oil)

½ cup almond flour (or whole wheat flour)

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line baking sheet with foil and spread panko evenly onto pan.  Bake until golden brown, 6-8 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cut chicken into 2 inch pieces

4. Let panko cool slightly then transfer to shallow dish.  Then add parmesan and salt, drizzle with olive oil and stir to combine.

5. Place flour and eggs into separate shallow dishes.

6. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees

7. Set wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet, lightly coat with cooking spray.

8. In batches, coat chicken pieces with flour (shaking off excess), then dip in egg, then coat with panko.  Place pieces on rack.

9. Bake chicken for about 15 minutes, turning pieces halfway through.

The Truth About My Hammer & Chisel Results

Sometimes the truth stings a little, right?  I’ve been contemplating how to share what’s been going on over the last 2 months.  And today I decided to just share it.  I’m sharing my results from Hammer & Chisel, along with a little bit of truth.  

I’ll begin with a discussion of this fun and effective program.  It’s an innovative 60 day program of 12 different workouts that incorporate all 3 methods of SSP Training.  SSP Training incorporates 2 muscle-sculpting phases - Stabilization, Strength and Power.  The co-creators of this program are expert trainers with a wealth of knowledge on effective training methods.  This program will build muscle, sculpt defined muscles and help you lose weight, depending on your goals.  The nutrition portion of this program is easy to follow and makes eating for your goals simple.

I began this program with goals to tone, build muscle and increase muscle definition.  I did not have a weight loss goal with this one.  With each workout, I enjoyed the program more and more.  It’s tough, but FUN.  And when a workout is fun, it’s easy to push play each day.  I did achieve my goals of building muscle, toning and increasing strength.  As I progressed through the program, I was able to increase weights to push myself harder.  My biceps are a little bigger, my shoulders have more definition and my legs definitely have more muscle and definition.  I DID lose 2 inches off my waist and 2 inches off my hips also!

Now, on to the truth – the truth that stings just a little.  My nutrition during these 60 days was NOT on point.  I guess you could say that I slacked a little, had a few too many “treats” and dinners out.  Burney and I were talking the other night and I realized that I haven’t been cooking much at all, hence the lack of focus on nutrition.  I’ve been dealing with a few major decisions regarding work and the pharmacy.  As well as not sleeping enough and not dealing with stress very well.    We all know that we can’t out exercise a bad diet.  And that combined with stress & lack of sleep leads to a bit of a problem.  Basically I was just going through the motions of the day the best that I could.  And throughout the 2 months, I wasn’t thinking about how little I was cooking because of everything else that was going on around me.

Now, before I make it seem like I fell off the wagon, I’ll clarify what I mean.  I most definitely didn’t fall off the wagon, I still ate relatively clean but had too many EXTRA treats and added sugars…I call it comfort eating.  I guess you could say that I was stuck in a funk.  Exercise is always a non-negotiable for me so that wasn’t a problem – just the nutrition!

Once I realized what was happening, I realized that I most definitely had to get myself out of this crazy funk.  My solution was simple.  Personal development.  Making time to improve myself and shift my mindset.  Every spare minute that I can find is spent reading or listening to motivational content that keeps me focused and aware of my own thoughts.  Our own thoughts and how we speak to ourselves are SO powerful and can lift us or bring us down.  I’ve said before that I didn’t believe in personal development until about 2 years ago.  Now, with this being one of my daily habits, my life continues to improve.

So I did have good results with Hammer & Chisel – and I will most definitely be completing another round of this program very soon!  Completing a program from start to finish is SO satisfying!  

Today I began 22 Hard Corp and my nutrition will be on point as I stay focused on my goals!  Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted on the blog and social media!