It seems like our favorite excuse: "There just aren't enough hours in the
day." It gets us out of workouts, concocting nutritious homemade meals, sleeping
enough. But does health have to be a trade-off with time? A new study examined the
time American adults spend on beneficial behavior and found that many of us are
sacrificing one health-promoting activity for another. Among health-minded folk,
a 10-minute increase in meal prep time meant a 10-minute shorter workout,
MyHealthNewsDaily
reported. "If we assume, for example, that adults have 45 minutes of free time to
allocate to health-promoting behaviors, maybe we need to look at that
holistically and determine the optimal way to use that time," Rachel Tumin, lead
author of the study and epidemiology student at The Ohio State University's
College of Public Health, said in a statement.Rachel
Tumin, If we only have 45 proverbial minutes, we plan to make the most of them.
Luckily, there are easy (and cheap) ways to be healthier in just minutes. Below,
some of our favorite ways to improve our bodies and minds in 10 minutes or less.
Let us know in the comments which quick-and-easy health-boosting methods you
swear
by. In One Minute: Laugh A 60-second chuckle is all it takes to release stress-busting endorphins and
relax the muscles. And if you make laughing a regular practice, you can look
forward to more stable blood sugar, healthier blood flow and even a longer
life. In Two Minutes: Say Thanks It doesn't take long to say those two little words, but they can make a big
difference. Not only will giving thanks make the person on the receiving end
feel good, a little gratitude can boost your health,
too. Appreciation can protect the heart, according to a 1995 study, not to mention
bolster the immune system and even lead to better
sleep. In Three Minutes: Make A Three-Minute Egg Eggs get a bad rap for being high in dietary cholesterol. But these
easy-to-prepare eats actually have a number of properties that improve health.
They're loaded with choline, a B vitamin essential to brain function, and may
stave off heart
problems. An egg-centric breakfast has also been shown to aid weight loss and, as part
of a high-protein breakfast, could help you stay away from the less nutritious
snacks later on in the day. In Four Minutes: Take Some Deep Breaths You don't have to be a seasoned yogi or master of meditation to reap the
calming benefits of a deep breath. Wherever you are, you can take a few minutes
to breathe in through the nose to a count of three, pause briefly, then exhale
to a count of three or longer. Try thinking to yourself while you breathe:
"Breathing in, I am peace, breathing out, I am
peace". In Five Minutes: Try A Mini-Circuit It won't make up for a 45-minute Spinning class or a long walk in the woods,
but even just a five-minute workout is enough to rev your metabolism. Try this
five-minute
circuit: 20 crunches 15 slow, controlled squats 10 slow, controlled pushups 10 burpees (squat-thrust-jumps) In Six Minutes: Take The Stairs Do you really need to get up to the office right now? With a few minutes to
spare, take the stairs instead. Adding even just a little movement to your day
can help fight the adverse effects sitting too much. And adding three to five
sets of stairs a day instead of zooming up in that elevator can burn enough
calories to negate the average adult's yearly one to two-pound weight
gain. In Seven Minutes: Read The Labels Turns out, even the health-minded among us claim we read nutrition labels
more than we actually do. Take a little time to peruse not just calories, but
fat content, trans fat, sugar, serving size and maybe even fiber for everything
you put in your
cart. In Eight Minutes: Schedule That
Appointment Yes, you're busy. But even if you factor in a few extra minutes to be on
hold, making the call won't take that long. And should you find yourself facing
a true health problem, won't you feel silly saying, "I was just too busy to call
the
doctor!" In Nine Minutes: Pack A Lunch If you wait to think about lunch until you're ravenous between meetings,
you'll be tempted to grab something packaged or processed to quell your midday
hunger. With a little foresight, you can squash those lunch cravings the morning
(or night) before with a nutritious, homemade meal. Not only will you have
control over things like sodium and fat content, you'll likely save some money,
too. In 10 Minutes: Take A Nap Feeling sleepy? There's no shame in squeezing in a little shut-eye during the
day, especially when you consider the benefits. Not only will you feel more
awake and alert after a short nap, research suggests a siesta can improve
memory, creativity and productivity. The best part of all? Just 10 minutes will
do the trick. Too much more than that and you might just feel more sluggish when
you wake
up. |
|