STAY BALANCED THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND
By: Madison Wright
Blog Coordinator + Core Fusion Teacher
Labor Day Weekend is here and we all know what that means; hightailing it to a relaxing warm place where we can soak up the last few rays of the summer sun and let loose with a bit of carefree over indulgence before we have to get back to the “real world.”
In our fast-paced, information overload society, let loose weekends like Labor Day are incredibly important for a properly balanced mind, body and spirit. But just because you’re kicking back, doesn’t mean you have to go AWOL on your healthy habits. Doing just a few health conscience things each day can really make a big difference. Let me explain…
You might be saying to yourself, what’s the big deal, it’s just one weekend…. And trust me, I totally get that. But let me break it down into more practical terms. Let’s say you over indulge each day on vacation by about 1,200 calories (that’s not hard to do, it’s the equivalent to about 3 margaritas and 1 REAL serving of chips, salsa and guac) and you’re the typical American who overindulges on most of the national holiday weekends. If you add that up (there are about nine “holiday” weekends depending on your religion) that’s about 21,600 extra calories per year. In pounds, were talking about an extra 6 pounds of weight gain each year. That’s a lot!
So here are a few tips from exhale to help you stay on track this Labor Day Weekend…
1. Stay hydrated: This is especially important when you’re out in the hot sun, losing more water as sweat. Your body’s need for water is deep-seated and complex. It plays a role in essentially every metabolic function and cell in your body. So it’s not shocking that with just a two percent loss, we can start to feel tired, weak and confused. Eating and drinking go hand-in-hand, so when your even slightly dehydrated confusion of the mind and cells starts to kick in and your body can easily misunderstand thirst for hunger, leading to over consumption of calories. Moral of the story: pack your water bottle and fill up often to ensure you stay hydrated and avoid the unnecessary snacking!
2. Pass on TWO temptations a day: Vacation inevitably offers you many food and beverage temptations and let’s get real, we wouldn’t call it vacation if we weren’t going to give into some of them.. duhh! But if you choose the veggie platter instead of the chips and dip and water instead of just ONE of the frozen daiquiris, you can save yourself almost 700 calories! This one can be hard, but, you will DEFINITELY reap the benefits later.
3. Table Tennis, Lawn Bowl and Cornhole It UP!: Use the fun activities normally played on a relaxing holiday weekend as a form of exercise. Yep, even cornhole counts! Lawn bowling and cornhole will help you burn about 200 calories an hour and table tennis will help you get up to the 300 calorie mark! Gets some quality friends and family time while helping yourself stay in shape!
4. Take an exhale DVD with you!: We all know there’s 10, 20 and possibly even 30 minutes each day you can sneak away to get in a workout. It just takes that “mind-over-matter” motto sometimes to get yourself to do it. Even if you think you’re not going to make time, pack your exhale DVD anyway. If it’s in your bag, I promise you, you’re likely going to use it!
