Tag Archives: health

Bryce Romig, Uncategorized

Columnist shares tips on getting fit

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By Bryce Romig

With prom season coming up, high schoolers are trying to increase their fitness fast to help them feel and look their best. With all of the weight loss and fitness myths, it can be confusing on where to start. Use these tips to help you get healthy and prom ready in no time.

Tip #1: Drink water consistently throughout the day. Not only will you feel better, but staying hydrated also helps you push harder through your workouts. Although this may sound gross, make sure your urine is a clear or light yellow color. This helps you decide whether you’re properly hydrated or not. Avoid sugary carbonated drinks; instead replace them with tea. Tea is a healthier alternative to soft drinks, and is great for people who don’t like the taste of water. Tea also provides antioxidants that can help get rid of toxins in the body.

Tip #2: Make small changes. Instead of quitting junk food cold turkey, try to make minor changes in your diet. For the first couple of days, slowly get rid of unhealthy snacks and drinks. Limit them to once a day the first week, and slowly cut them out of your diet. Just because you are trying to shed a few pounds doesn’t mean you can’t indulge every now and again. Save your favorite treats and snacks for one day a week, and savor every bite of it when you finally get to eat it. Not only will this make your favorite foods taste even better, but it helps keep you on track and avoid bingeing in the future.

Tip #3: Have a quick and easy workout routine. It’s no secret that exercising isn’t the most enjoyable activity, and is put on the back burner on most people’s agendas. Avoid this by keeping your workouts fast and intense, allowing you to still have free time in your daily schedule. This will also help keep you motivated by limiting the amount of excuses you have to avoid your daily workout. Choose at least one day at week to avoid intense exercising and do something you enjoy. Try going for a walk in the park or going to a local swimming pool. Anything that boosts your mood and gets you somewhat active is never a bad thing. Learn to enjoy exercising; your body will thank you in the future.

Tip #4: Keep track of your progress. Recording your progress with pictures will allow you to see the small changes in your body. Take a picture at the end of each week starting with Week 1, and place them side by side to see how rapidly your body is changing. Not only will this give you a confidence boost, but it will also boost your motivation even more when you see that all of your effort is making an impact. Ditch the scale, though, as muscle mass can sometimes be confused with fat weight and may actually trick you into thinking your gaining weight. Scales are misleading because they aren’t very accurate.

Tip #5: Have fun with it. If you hate lifting weights, don’t do it so often. If you hate cardio, try attending a Zumba or Turbo Kick class instead. Many gyms offer alternatives to traditional exercise, many of which are more entertaining and even fun. Don’t be embarrassed to get your sweat on dancing, either; everyone is in the class for the same reason as you. These classes are still tough, so don’t trick yourself into thinking you’re taking the easy way out. Check your local gym’s schedule to see when the next classes are.

Tip #6: Pile on the veggies. Vegetables are filling foods that provide you with a full stomach with a low amount of calories. Try vegetables rich in iron and vitamins such as kale or spinach. These power foods will also provide more energy to your body, allowing you to increase the intensity of your workouts even more. Your skin will also benefit, thanks to the many vitamins found within the vegetables. If you don’t like chewing your vegetables, try making a green smoothie. Put kale,spinach, and any fruit in a blender and blend until smooth. Try adding agave nectar for added sweetness with limited calories. Green smoothies are a great post workout fuel.

Blake Dykes, Columns, Forum

Fitness Friday: What not to do over break

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By Blake Dykes

Fall break. Alas, I know I am in desperate need for some time off, which I’m sure you all are as well. Although you’re going to be free from school during your break, you do still have to workout. Sorry if that ruins your fantasy of laying in bed all day and then staying up all night eating ice cream from the carton.

Remember all the thing we have talked about in the past, I’m sure most of you will be spending every living second with friends, but remember not to fall into the hypnosis of splitting a “Little Caeser” with them every night. Instead, try to encourage your friends to workout with you. If your friends happen to be as lazy as some of mine (love them anyway), you may need to rethink how you word your proposal. Maybe say, “Hey, want to get toned lean legs?  Great, come do this workout with me and you will!” Opposed to saying, “Hey come run five miles with me until you throw up.” It’s all about the wording. It’s ok to make it sound better than it is, afterall, it is for a good cause, right?

Another thing that you have to be conscious of, if you take one day off (which is okay every once in awhile) it makes it hard to want to workout the next day, so you take just one more day off, then two turns in to three, and three into four. It’s a vicious cycle. Sometimes our best workouts happen when we don’t feel like doing them. To avoid letting yourself slip into becoming a couch potato, make a list of things you will get done everyday before hanging out with friends or your evening plans. You are more likely to actually follow through with these plans if you do them in the morning. Get up before anyone else, that way you don’t have to miss out on anything. You don’t get a six pack by sleeping until one every day.

I’m sure you all will do great over the break though, but sadly, this is my last “Fitness Friday” and Monday was my last “Motivational Monday.” There are only so many articles I can write about nutrition and how to be fit.  If you ever have requests on an article you would like to see written or have any questions on health you can leave a comment or email The Bagpiper and I will give you feedback.

But don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you completely empty handed. I find a lot of my motivation and some great workouts on various fitness accounts on Instagram and Twitter.

Twitter accounts: @BeFitMOTIVATION, @HealthTips, @TheGymClown, @sugar_nation

Instagram accounts: WORKOUTS_DAILY, GETFITFORYOU, MOTIVATIONWALL, GETFIT_, HEALTHYRECIPES, HEALTHYANDCLEAN

With all that being said, I’ll leave you with this quote.

“Loser’s quit when they’re tired. Winner’s quit when they’ve won.” -Unknown

Blake Dykes, Columns, Forum

Motivational Monday: Death by cardio

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By Blake Dykes

Well, I hope all of you had a great weekend and managed to eat better than I did. Friday I found myself eating handfuls of puppy chow and the following night, I resulted to eating chocolate cake from the pan. Now, I’m not justifying the poor eating choices, but I think it’s pretty much obvious  that every once in awhile you just can’t cure a craving with low-fat Greek yogurt. What is most important about these unhealthy binges we all occasionally encounter is that we don’t let that one time affect how we eat after that. Sometimes people will make one unhealthy eating choices and think, “Well, I ruined my diet so I might as well quit,” and then proceed to eat a bag of Cheetos. This is not ok. Recognize what you did wrong, forget about it, next meal eat your healthy food, and go work it off. I’m not saying this is a free pass to eat a gallon of ice cream, I’m just saying if the inevitable happens, move on and don’t let it get in the way of your goal you’ve worked so hard on.

With all of this being said, I find it appropriate that we talk about how to control these random cravings as much as possible.

  1. Wait 20 minutes before going to the kitchen. This gives you time to actually think through all that you are going to eat and the affects of it. Try to find something else to do to preoccupy your mind, and maybe you’ll forget about the urge to all the donuts.

  2. After you’ve waited it out, and unfortunately just know that you will end up eating donuts, see if there is any healthier alternative recipe, or other snack that could satisfy your needs.

  3. If not, set out a reasonable about of food you wish to consume. Don’t let this be a free pass to eat a whole pack of Oreos. Remember portion control. Never just eat out of the bag, or like me, the pan or package. (In all fairness I only had like three bites.) You’ll lose track of how much you’ve eaten and overeat, probably leaving you with one huge stomach ache.

  4. Never eat dessert when hungry. It shouldn’t be considered a snack or a meal. If you’re hungry eat something wholesome and healthy, and then if you still want the dessert you can have it.

Those are just a few things you can do to limit the amount of calories you take in on those nights that your sweet tooth is really calling for some sugar. But here is a nice little workout that you can do later to not feel so guilty.

Death by cardio

  • 100 jumping jacks

  • 30 frog jumps

  • 75 mountain climbers

  • 25 jumping lunges (one each leg)

  • 100 jumping jacks

  • 20 push ups

  • 75 squats

  • two minute plank

  • 60 high knees

  • one minute wall sit

  • 60 butt kickers

  • 50 crunches

  • 100 jumping jacks

  • 50 mountain climbers

Now go get off the computer and get started on this workout.

Blake Dykes, Columns, Forum

Fitness Friday: Tips on how to eat and toned arm workout

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By Blake Dykes

As the weekend approaches, I want to give you a few things to think about when choosing meals and eating.

  1. Savor your food. Often times I will scarf down my food in a matter of two minutes and don’t even taste what I just ate. By taking time to eat slower you will consume less food, because it provides time for your brain to register when you are full and you are less likely to overeat. This method of savoring food also can leave you feeling much more satisfied.

  2. Use a smaller plate. Ever since a young age we’ve been told, “Eat everything on your plate.” That rule eventually expires once you’re old enough to determine when you’re full or not. People often times are caught up in the illusion that they haven’t gotten enough to eat they finish off every last crumb. If you start using smaller plates, opposed to plates the size of your placemat, you will consume less than half the calories, while still obeying the old rule of eating all the food on your plate.

  3. Drink a glass of water before each meal. Drinking water before every time you eat can help fill you up, resulting in less of an appetite, which equals less calories consumed. This is especially helpful in the sense that often times we trick ourselves into thinking we are hungry when surprisingly we are dehydrated. Make sure you drink, drink, drink.

  4. Measure your portions. I know I’ve said this before, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to know your portion sizes. With technology becoming such a big part of our lives, it’s easy to get out a bag of pretzels and scroll on Twitter, eating, tweeting, eating, and eating some more. Before you know it, you look at the clock and realize you’ve been on Twitter for an hour and unknowingly consumed an entire bag of Snyder’s.

  5. Get the good fats. Often times people pick up a foot they thought was healthy, read the label,see the fat content, and instantly put the product back on the shelf. News flash, just because peanut butter has more fat than those  “low fat” barbecue chips does not make them a better choice. Our bodies need fat to survive, but it’ all about finding the healthy fats, such as peanut butter, almond butter, low fat cheeses, beans, nuts, guacamole. So don’t let those “low-fat” Oreo’s your feasting on fool you.

With this being said, time for a good workout to kick off to your weekend.

Toned arm workout

  • 15 push ups

  • 25 bench dips (can use a chair)

  • 15 bicep curls (each arm)

  • 25 wide- arm push ups

  • 50 alternating shoulder touches (in a pushup position, alternate touching your arm to the opposite shoulder)

  • 10 Hersey Kiss push ups (your index fingers and thumbs should be touching, resembling a Hershey Kiss)

Keep in my mind you don’t want to lift weights too heavy for you, they will hurt your back.

Weekend Challenge: Get three meals a day. Often times people think fasting will help them lose weight, when in reality skipping meals leads to bingeing on the next meal, supporting weight gain.

Blake Dykes, Columns

Motivational Monday: Workout playlist and almond butter muffin recipe

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By Blake Dykes

Well, one more weekend has come and went. Hopefully you were able to successfully complete your weekend challenge. As you improve your health it should be easier for you to turn down the foods that we know are bad for us, and your workouts become increasingly easier.

First thing I want to talk about is having a workout playlist. If you workout without music you are doing it wrong. Running or lifting to a good song will increase your productivity. Not to mention when you are running that last mile, a pump-up song will drive you to the finish line that much easier and faster. But it’s all about having the right type of music. As much as I love country music, running to “Boy’s Round Here” isn’t very motivational. Here’s a sample of some of my favorite songs to workout to:

  1. “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

  2. “‘Till I Collapse” by Eminem

  3. “Berzerk” by Eminem

  4. “Lose Yourself” by Eminen

  5. “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” by Daft Punk

Those are just a few of my favorites, I will try and post some other good recommendations soon. But as you can tell Eminem is one of my favorite artists, if you don’t listen to at least one of his songs while you’re working out you’re doing it wrong.

Now time for a little recipe. This weekend I was really craving some muffins, so I made up this creation.

Pumpkin Almond Butter Muffins

– one cup whole wheat flour

– ½ cup white flour

– one tsp baking powder

– ¼ tsp baking soda

– ½ tsp salt

-one tbsp cinnamon

– ¼ tbsp nutmeg

-¼ tbsp

– one cup pumpkin puree

– ⅓ cup almond butter

– two eggs

– 1/3 to 1/2 cup honey

Bake for 20 minutes on 350 degrees. This batch made about 14.

Your workout assignment of the day: Take 10 pieces of scrap paper and write down a different cardio/ strength training exercise on each sheet. Fold it and put it in a jar. Randomly draw the paper and do you exercise for one minute, then draw again. Do this until you have been through each exercise three times for an intense 30- minute cardio workout.

Examples may include burpees, jumping jacks, plank, mountain climbers, frog jumps, high knees, wall sit, push ups, sit ups, russian twists.