New Weekly Health & Fitness Tips! Your health is the foundation that everything in your life is built on. Do not sacrifice it for anything else. It’s very common these days to find those that sacrifice their health for fitness gains and vanity. This can only last for so long without paying a price. If you want to look better, feel better or live longer then take good care of your health first and always. Begin with what I call the “big 3”. #1) Hydration. #2) 30 minutes of brisk, yet relaxed, daily walking. #3) A regular sleep schedule that allows you to get between 7-9 hours of sleep without the aide of drugs and alcohol during the waking hours.

New Health & Fitness Tips! This week I want to talk about a common occurrence, the obsession of counting calories. Things such as how many calories we eat and drink, how many calories we burn while exercising or meeting our daily step quotas. I’ve been there. Many of us have. Some of us, for medical reasons, may always need to count such numbers. And that’s ok. Health is most important. I’m talking more about vanity, which is also important to many people. It’s not that I think counting calories is completely pointless for making improvements in body composition, it’s more to do with the disregard for everything else that often accompanies. Common sense things like quality of sleep, reduction in stress, quality of food, quality of exercise and how each of these can make or break the hormone balance that controls everything you’re probably wanting to do. For those that may be in the middle of your own battle with calories, remember this important detail. Counting calories is not a long term solution. Do the right things most of the time and eventually you shouldn’t have to worry so much about all the numbers.

New Health & Fitness Video! Today starts the new year. Figure out what you want, then figure out your plan. Lastly, put it into motion, starting today. Ask for help if needed. Happy New Year!

“Guilt Free & Moderation” 12/19/16 Carlton Cullins-BLUE SKY STRONGBOX-Personal Trainer-AustinTX

Mike Tyson

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

New weekly Health & Fitness Tipz! This week my video is shorter (less than 3 minutes). I talk briefly about the benefits of starting each day off on the “good foot”, regardless of what time of day we get up or how well we wake up. I do have a concern for caffeine addiction, especially if that caffeine must contain cream &/or sugar. Sorry but that sh*t ain’t good for you. That’s just a dessert drink that is probably doing nothing but making you fatter, unhealthier and less likely to sleep better each day. Many of the “energy” drinks also have similar issues. I’d recommend drinking a full glass of clean water first thing in the morning and then maybe one cup of black coffee or one sugar-free energy drink if you must. Beyond that, i’d highly recommend getting better rest each night. Moving more if you sit down most of your day. Possibly moving less if you exercise and work “hard” every day. Eat healthier foods. Manage stress daily. Write down (in your mind or on paper) a plan for each day. Don’t just be a robot, a slave. Be an arrow aimed at the bullseye of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. This starts by setting the tone as soon as you wake :)

We all love simple, short answers to the questions we have. But unfortunately, when it comes to many Fitness/Health/Medical questions, there are rarely simple, short, definitive, one-size-fits-all answers. I wish there were but such is life. The main reason for this is that we are all uniquely different. What works for one of us might not work for all of us. And what seems to work right this moment, might not continue to work so well down the line. Things change, especially our bodies and even more, our lives. The key is to focus on where each of us finds ourselves at any point in time. There are answers to most of our questions but are likely to be found only through patience, perseverance and putting in some serious work. And that work typically makes most of us better than we were before, anyhow.