Making Running A Habit

Follow these 4 steps, and gradually exercise will become a no-brainer.

After a few weeks of running, you'll begin to believe that there's something to this “runner’s high” thing. Feel-good brain chemicals—like dopamine and endocannabinoids—will be released while you’re on the road, and you’ll feel so proud of what you accomplished that it will take more discipline to rest than to work out.

But until that happens, it can be hard to force yourself out the door. And relying on willpower just won’t work, experts say. “We tell ourselves we will make ourselves do it, but that puts a lot of strain on your willpower resources, and everyone’s willpower is a limited resource,” says Heidi Grant Halversorn, associate director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University’s Business School. Once your resolve gets weak—when you’re tired or stressed, and there are so many things that seem more appealing than running—willpower breaks down.

Here are some tips on how to make running a habit and make it stick from Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit. “Once exercise becomes a habit, it just feels easier,” says Duhigg, who trained for the 2012 New York City Marathon. “So when you don’t feel like doing it, it doesn’t take as much willpower.”

1. MAKE A PLAN. According to Duhigg, every habit is made up of a group of cues (e.g., time, place, mood, music, certain other people), a reward (chocolate, massage, hot shower, smoothie), and a routine (the running). So pick some cues (e.g., the most convenient time to run, the best route to take) and rewards that will incentivize you to run. Then write out a plan with the cues and rewards, and post it where you can see it. Let’s say the best time to run is morning; you’ve got an energizing music mix on your iPod; and your reward is a relaxing long, hot shower. Your plan would be: “If it’s morning, and I hear this music, I will run, because then I’ll get a long, hot shower.” Post the plan where you can see it. Try it for a week. If it doesn’t work, try changing the cues or the rewards. Get the Start Running Plan.

2. KEEP IT REGULAR. Create a prerun routine to cue your body and mind that it’s time to run, and repeat it every time you go. Always go at the same time of day. Put your workout clothes next to your bed. Put on your same workout music before you go out. “In order to make something like running into a habit, you have to have cues to trigger you, and they have to be consistent,” says Duhigg. “You’re creating neural pathways that make the activity into a habit,” he adds.

3. REWARD YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY. Right after your run, treat yourself to something you genuinely enjoy—a hot shower, a smoothie, even a small piece of dark chocolate—so your brain associates exercise with an immediate reward. “You have to get the reward right away for something to become automatic,” says Duhigg. “You can’t intellectualize your way to a reward. You have to teach the brain about reward through experience.”

4. BUILD YOUR OWN SUPPORT SYSTEM. Equip your running routine with the activities that will make you feel good about it and get you revved up to get up and go each day, says Duhigg. Meet up with friends so that the run doubles as socializing time; track your miles so that you can see the progress you’re making and the fitness improvements.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Today I headed out to the Jacksonville Forest Park trails and completed my 215th trail run/hike of 2014. Since I kind of beat myself up with yesterday's workout I didn't do much running today, but that's probably a good thing since the trails were either slick from ice or from mud where the ice had melted. So a fast paced hike was probably pushing my luck enough.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Could a fast-food dinner hurt your child's test scores?

Researchers find a link between what kids eat and their scores in reading, science and math.
Thinking about hitting the drive through to feed the kids tonight? You might want to think again. Those chicken nuggets and burgers might just be hurting your kids' test scores.

According to a new study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, the more often your child eats fast food, the more likely he will be to have poor grades in school. For the study, researchers from Ohio State University compared the fast-food consumption and grades of thousands of students from fifth through eighth grades. The more burgers and fries the students ate, the worse they did on the tests.

Researchers looked at questionnaires from 11,470 kids who reported how often they ate fast food. They found that the kids who ate fast food four to six times per week scored 20 percent lower on tests than kids who said they never ate fast food.

The study found a link, but not a cause. In other words, just because the kids who ate more fast food also had lower test scores does not mean that it was the fast food that caused the poorer grades. Still, even after the researchers controlled for factors such as socioeconomic status, family background, and daily exercise, the link between the two remained.

"There's a lot of evidence that fast-food consumption is linked to childhood obesity, but the problems don't end there,” lead author Katy Purtell, an assistant professor of human sciences at Ohio State University, told Medical News Today. “Relying too much on fast food could hurt how well children do in the classroom. We're not saying that parents should never feed their children fast food, but these results suggest fast-food consumption should be limited as much as possible."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- YEAR END TRIBUTE TO 2014
Another annual tradition is in the books!
Today I did my patented TOPFIT ~Year End Tribute to 2014~ workout.
Except for the final 14 burpees that I finished with, all exercises were done for 100 reps (not necessarily non-stop or in the following order) before moving on to another exercise. When all was said and done, I did:

burpees x 114
KB swings (20kg) x 200
chinups x 100
suspension trainer pullups x 200
pushups x 200
squats x 200
SB leg curls x 200
SB tucks x 200
SB back extensions x 200
SB crunches x 200
alternating lunges x 200

TOTAL = 2014 reps!

~Feelin' Alive!~

The High Cost of Healthcare

Time for a little rant about the high cost of healthcare, but it's not really about why the cost is so high, it's more about those people that complain about the high cost but do absolutely nothing to keep the cost down.

It seems like everyone complains that healthcare is too expensive, but they do everything in their power to plant themselves firmly in the middle of the same system that they complain so much about.

These people base their nutrition on highly processed foods full of chemical additives and artificial sweeteners with absolutely no nutritionally redeeming values.

They will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a home entertainment system so they can sit on their fat butts drinking beer and eating chips and dip for hours while they watch someone else be active. They will pay someone else to mow their lawn, do their gardening, and even walk their dog. Then they complain about their rotten health, and the cost of healthcare. When they do finally get out for some sort of activity (ahh, the weekend warrior), they are so out of shape and their bodies are so unprepared for the stresses they're put under, they inevitably end up with an injury. Of course, since their nutrition and fitness levels are so poor, their bodies don't stand a chance of healing themselves.

These people take a reactive attitude toward their healthcare rather than a proactive and preventative attitude. They abuse their bodies and then go to their doctors for the magic pill, or even surgery, to fix the damage they've done.

Time to put your time and money in perspective.

If you think you don't have time for a fitness program, think about the time you will be spending in the doctor's office (which you will undoubtedly complain about) and the time you'll spend recovering from surgery, or just laying at home miserable because of illness and injury. If you don't find time for your health and fitness now, you’ll really come up short on time at the end of your life. Find the time now to get healthy and stay healthy, and you’ll more than make up for it by living a longer and/or more functional life.

If you don't think you can afford to eat better or start a fitness program (either on your own or with the help of a trainer), think about the lost income when you have to call in sick or injured to work, or think about the cost of your medications and doctor's visits.

There are, unfortunately, too many things in life we can't control when it comes to our health, such as our genetics, accidents, etc., but so much of our health is in our hands. Start taking a more proactive and preventative approach to your health and reap the benefits.

© 2014 TOPFIT

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run and Heavy Bag
I had a partially sunny run and hike up Lower Table Rock today, but as I turned to the north to return across the plateau, I was hit by a strong freezing wind that was nailing my face with icy snow. Invigorating to say the least!
Later I spent 30 mins on the heavy bag.

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

It's been a week of fairly high volume and intensity, including:

3 heavy bag workouts
2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
2 Table Rock runs
1 pullup workout (weighted and bodyweight)
1 bench press workout (BBs and DBs)
1 patented ~TOPFIT 12/25~ workout

What did you do this past week to maintain and improve your fitness?

~No Challenge, No Change~

Keeping That Weight Loss Resolution

If you're one of the many Americans who plan to lose weight next year, there are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of success, an expert says.

"It should be clear by now that there is no one diet that works for everyone," Jill Ashbey-Pejoves, lead dietitian at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said in a hospital news release.

"The best diet is the one that works for you. Don't starve yourself or eliminate entire food groups," she advised.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, she said. Deprivation diets don't work because depriving yourself of something just makes you want to eat it even more.

Plan what you'll eat each day, so you won't be forced into a quick decision and make a poor choice. Pack your own lunch and snacks. Eliminate unhealthy snacks and desserts from your home and replace them with fruit, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Track your eating habits. Doing so keeps you focused and honest and helps you plan and see what works and what doesn't.

Any weight loss effort should include exercise. A mix of aerobics, resistance training and stretching is best. Resistance workouts build muscle and muscle burns more calories. Doing only aerobics may not help you lose weight because that type of exercise stimulates appetite, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Be sure to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of caffeine-free beverages.

Every meal should begin with a salad or broth-based vegetable soup. They help you feel full because of their high water content, but are low in calories. Many salad dressing are high in calories, so try seasoned rice vinegar instead, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

She also suggested that you use smaller plates; fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, put out a fruit bowl, and eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
Mind and body told me it was time for a rest day, so I spent time playing with Hailey and catching up on a few chores.....and even some relaxing.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Diabetes Prevention: What You Can Do

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revealed that 40% of Americans will eventually develop type 2 diabetes. That means that out of every five Americans, two will end up with type 2 diabetes. This scary statistic is shocking, but not completely unexpected given our current unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity. It seems every decade the likelihood of developing this devastating disease continues to rise at an alarming rate. This gets even more disconcerting if you happen to be in a certain minority group -- specifically black females and all Hispanics -- as these individuals have an even higher risk of developing diabetes at 50%.

However, this unfortunate trend doesn't mean that you are doomed to get this life-altering chronic disease. While it is true that your genes play a role in your chance of getting type 2 diabetes, there are steps you can take with your lifestyle habits to help ward off this chronic disease. To help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and the serious complications associated with this disease, including kidney failure, neuropathy (nerve damage), eye damage, skin problems (dry itchiness, fungal infections, and bacterial infections), stroke, heart disease, hearing impairment, high blood pressure and a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, check out the tips below.

Get Active
Staying physically active improves cardiovascular health and also helps with weight control. In fact, if you are overweight or obese, losing just 10% of your current body weight can slash your odds of getting diabetes in half. Physical inactivity increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, especially if it's in the form of television watching (for every two hours of TV-watching you rack up, you raise your diabetes risk by 20%). Setting a goal of getting a minimum of 30 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity (even brisk walking counts) a day will greatly reduce your risk, and the more you exercise, the more you cut the risk of diabetes development.

Get to a Healthy Weight
Aiming for a healthy weight can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes because those extra pounds are the biggest cause of type 2 diabetes. Having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 is protective. If you're overweight (BMI of 25-29.9), you're seven times more likely to get diabetes, and if you're obese (BMI of 30 or higher), multiply that risk by 20-40 compared to a normal-weight individual. BMI does have some limitations (it's not accurate for really muscular or athletic individuals). Further studies may instead look more closely at waist circumference.

Maintain a Healthy Diet
Certain dietary measures can help decrease diabetes risk as well. Eat plenty of colorful fruits and veggies, always try to choose whole grains over refined-grain foods (diets rich in whole grains have been associated with diabetes prevention), cut out sugar-laden beverages, consume healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil, canola oil, fatty fish), and cut back on processed meats and red meats, which are linked to an increased diabetes risk.

Don't Smoke
Smoking doubles your risk of getting diabetes.

Get Quality Sleep
Aim for a solid night's sleep void of interruptions. Disrupting your body's "internal clock" with irregular sleep patterns, nocturnal lighting (put away those smartphones, people), and unusual meal or snack times can increase your risk for diabetes because of the effects on your hormones.

Several things you can't control: Your genes and your age (getting older increases the risk). Genetics do have a big influence on your likelihood of developing diabetes, but you can certainly take steps to affect those factors that you can control, because lifestyle choices have a larger impact. Need some more good news? Research has found that those who do develop diabetes are living longer lives, likely due to improved treatment options.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
I had a fairly relaxing day today and only made time for a 30 minute heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

For some people, exercise could be an effective treatment for depression

We all know about the many magical effects of exercise: regularly breaking a sweat lowers your cardiovascular disease risk, staves off Alzheimer's, boosts your energy, and improves your sleep quality.

Now, there's a growing body of research that suggests exercise might help alleviate depression, working just as well for some people as medication. Here's what you need to know:

1) Exercise performs about the same as antidepressants — with some caveats
The data on exercise and depression is pretty consistent: exercise is better than no intervention, and seems to be at least as good as antidepressants.

Systematic reviews — syntheses of all the best-available research on a given topic — are considered the gold standard of medical evidence. The most exhaustive review on depression and exercise looked at 39 studies that involved 2,326 people.

Researchers found that exercise worked better than no therapy at reducing symptoms of depression. And studies also showed that exercise performed about the same as antidepressants and psychological therapies.

But these conclusions were based on small or limited studies. "There is a mild to moderate association between exercise and improvements to depression symptoms," said the review's lead author, Dr. Gary Cooney. "But when you look at the best-quality evidence alone, this association is weaker."

In other words, the higher quality randomized trials, for example, found less convincing results on the role exercise plays in alleviating depression. So Dr. Cooney said we know more and better data on the question.

For now, the biological mechanism by which exercise works on depressed people — if it truly works — is also unclear. Is it the changes in brain chemistry or endorphin levels from exercise that lifts depressive symptoms or the feeling that people have more control over their lives when they're exercising? "There are a variety of theories," said Dr. Cooney, "and these are speculative."

2) We may not see better evidence for exercise and depression any time soon
Exercise gets less attention and funding from the research community than drugs, which have to go through lots of study to gain FDA approval.

"The total amount of studies on exercise and depression is nowhere near how many there are on antidepressants. But antidepressants are studied by the pharmaceutical industry, which is a business," said Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a professor and researcher at UT Southwestern. "There's no comparable advocacy group for studying exercise."

To truly figure out to what exercise helps people with depression would require a big, long-term study — and lots of funding, said Dr. Trivedi.

"As a society, if we wanted to answer the question, we would need to invest in a large cohort study of people and follow them for 20 years. We'd need to find people who are at risk of depression based on family history or other risk factors, and follow them for many years." But he hasn't been able to get funding for such a study.

3) It's difficult to know how to prescribe exercise
The researchers pointed out that, while the data are promising, there are still many uncertainties in this area which make prescribing exercise tricky.

Which exercises should patients try and for how long? "Definitions of exercise can be a little controversial too. Is yoga exercise for example?" Dr. Cooney said.

Then there's the question of how you'd get depressed people to exercise. When people are depressed, they're often fatigued. Some have trouble getting out of bed. Even getting them started on a workout routine could be a challenge.

"There was a lot of skepticism about whether people who are really depressed are going to exercise," said Dr. James Blumenthal, a professor of psychiatry and researcher at Duke University. "We did two big studies at Duke and found the majority of people, at least if they thought it was going to be beneficial, would do the exercise, about three times a week for 30 to 35 minutes a session."

For now, Dr. Trivedi suggested talking to your doctor about trying exercise as a treatment option.

But, he said, "Don't do this without guidance form a physician. While sometimes effective, it doesn't work for everybody. So if you start to exercise on your own and not under guidance of a physician and it's not working, you will be in trouble."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Although I was itching to run, since I had such a high volume and high intensity day yesterday, I played it smart and had a relaxing, moderate intensity 2+ hour hike on the J-Ville Forest Park trails today.  I even stopped a few times to experience Shinrin-Yoku at its finest.

~Feelin' Alive!~