by Guest Author, Teresa Fullerton<\/p>\n

When it comes to your diet and daily exercise, wow, it\u2019s amazing the plethora of choices available on both topics.\u00a0 How does a person choose the right path for their own life?\u00a0 And, it really is a personal choice, a personal decision.\u00a0 Think about all the diets, or lifestyle options we\u2019ve been exposed to over the last 20-25 years.\u00a0 We can be vegetarian, vegan, a \u2018Weight-Watcher,\u201d a \u2018South-Beach-er,\u2019 an \u2018Atkins\u2019 advocate, a \u2018Master Cleanser,\u2019 a \u2018Cabbage patch-er,\u2019 or, we can just eat \u2018grapefruit.\u2019\u00a0 Or was it lemons?\u00a0 For whatever reason, when my brain hears \u2018diet,\u2019 I think of suffering and extremes.\u00a0 And, the amount of exercise options available, as the kids would text, \u201cOMG,\u201d there\u2019s Zumba, Yoga, Jazzercise, running, walking, cardio, strength training, bicycling, swimming, and gardening, etc., etc.\u00a0 There is so much to choose from.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, a friend of mine asked me, \u201cWhat are doing to eat healthy and how much do you exercise?\u201d\u00a0 (I\u2019m glad she asked me about eating healthy versus \u2018do you diet?\u2019\u00a0 I hate dieting, it\u2019s so depressing).\u00a0 So, what is it that I do?<\/p>\n

For starters, years ago, knew I needed to drink more water, which have you ever noticed that most medical doctors never ask you about your water consumption, or explain the benefits of water for your body.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the easiest things we can do to improve our health and longevity.\u00a0 I hear people say all the time, \u201cI hate water, can\u2019t drink it.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, you can!\u00a0 Start small and build on it.\u00a0 I enjoy a 22 oz. bottle first thing every morning, before coffee or breakfast and then consume another two bottles (22 oz. each) throughout the morning and afternoon.\u00a0 Your body will crave it once you\u2019ve developed the habit.<\/p>\n

Food, I like all things God has created and my aim is for balance.\u00a0 My goal is to incorporate protein (lean meats, nuts, beans, cheese, or eggs), vegetables, fruit, some whole grain, and good fat into each meal.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not perfect at it, but it\u2019s what I aim for.\u00a0 I try to avoid pre-processed foods as much as possible and try to stay away from \u2018bad\u2019 carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, pasta, cookies, crackers\u2026blah, blah, blah).\u00a0 Making my own salad dressings has become the \u2018norm\u2019 at our house.\u00a0 My favorites are a blue cheese dressing, compliments of Ina Garden, and whole-mustard vinaigrette, compliments of Rachel Ray, to name just a couple.\u00a0 Some of the simplest dishes are the best, like the vegetable dish we had with last night\u2019s dinner:\u00a0 take one fennel bulb, sliced in \u00bd inch strips, two medium sized red-skinned potatoes, cut in wedges, three carrots, cleaned and cut in 1 \u00bd inch pieces, season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, then coat with extra virgin olive oil.\u00a0 Spread out on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees.\u00a0 This is an excellent accompaniment with a pork dish.<\/p>\n

Exercise, where the \u2018rubber meets the road,\u2019 if you will.\u00a0 Again, this is such a personal choice but unless you have some type of physical limitation that prohibits you from exercising, there\u2019s something you can do.\u00a0 I enjoy a variety.\u00a0 We don\u2019t really have the extra money for a gym membership, or ability to join exercise classes, but have found maintaining a variety of exercise DVD\u2019s works well.\u00a0 There are so many styles of DVD\u2019s available and it really doesn\u2019t require much room at home.\u00a0 Even my husband has been incorporating them into his exercise routine.\u00a0 My personal goal is to exercise at least 5-6 times a week, for 30-45 minutes, two to three days are strength building, a couple are cardio, and I end the week with Yoga.\u00a0 Not real ambitious as some but find it\u2019s a good balance.\u00a0 My friends think I\u2019m a little crazy since my typical work out time is 4:30 a.m. (during the work week), but after work, or during work, I don\u2019t have to worry about having to fit in a work out.<\/p>\n

Enjoy making healthy choices that will improve your life!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Guest Author, Teresa Fullerton When it comes to your diet and daily exercise, wow, it\u2019s amazing the plethora of choices available on both topics.\u00a0 How does a person choose the right path for their own life?\u00a0 And, it really is a personal choice, a personal decision.\u00a0 Think about all the diets, or lifestyle options […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medicineshoppenorton.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}