Are you taking care of you? You have been exercising and eating right, but you aren't getting the results you think you should. Sound familiar? You need some extra self care. Here are 5 steps to better results.
1. De-stress Stress makes you fat. Fat makes you unhappy. Being unhappy sucks. Stop being unhappy and get rid of your stress. When you are too stressed out you can't lose weight or build the lean muscle that keeps you looking good.
2. Foam roll I am like the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (yes I saw it) who thinks Windex solves everything. I think foam rolling solves everything. Brain tumor? Foam roll it. Compound fracture? Roll it. Foam rolling improves the tissue quality and helps you avoid a lot of the nagging, overuse type injuries that keep you from progressing.
3. Stretch Let's face it, we all sit too much. In the car, at work, at home, when you're on the basketball team. Maybe the basketball one was just me. We all have tight muscles that hold us back from reaching our potential. So try this.Every hour, stretch a different muscle group for 5 minutes. For instance, at 8 AM you stretch, your shoulders, 9 AM your neck, etc... Simple way to feel a lot better.
4. Get enough sleep-Simply put, sleep less get fatter. Sleep is nature's reset button. That is when your body repairs the muscles you tore down exercising. Also, the less you sleep the more it stimulates the hormones that make you want to eat and turns off the hormones that make you stop eating. Shoot for at least 7, but the goal is 8. For realz.
5. Post workout nutrition-If you have been skipping this step you can really benefit by doing this one. This is the time you can help start the healing process of those damages muscles and bounce back quicker for your next workout. The easiest and most convenient way is to drink a protein shake within 30 minutes after your workout. A simple rule of thumb is to have a shake made of 1 part protein and 2 parts carbs (for example 20 grams of protein and 40 grams of carbs).