“three things in life: your health, your mission, and the people you love. that’s it.” - Naval ravikant
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK
Challenge this week!
Lunges! I challenge you to start out with 20 lunges, then add 20 each day. By day 7, you should be up to 140 lunges. Why lunges? Lunges are a popular strength training exercise if you are looking to strengthen, sculpt, and tone your body, while also improving overall fitness and enhancing athletic performance. This resistance exercise is popular for its ability to strengthen your back, hips, and legs, while improving mobility and stability.
Benefits of Lunges:
1. Weight loss
Lunges work the large muscle groups in your lower body, which builds leans muscle and reduces body fat. This can increase your resting metabolism, which allows you to burn more calories and trim excess weight. If you’re looking to lose weight, push yourself to your outer limits by including lunges in a high-intensity circuit training routine using heavy weights.
2. Balance and stability
Lunges are a lower body unilateral exercise since you work on each side of your body independently. The single-leg movements activate your stabilizing muscles to develop balance, coordination, and stability. Working one leg at a time causes your body to be less stable, which forces your spine and core to work harder to stay balanced.
3. Alignment and symmetry
Lunges are better than bilateral exercises for rehabilitation since they can correct imbalances and misalignments in your body to make it more symmetrical. If you have one side that’s less strong or flexible, spend a bit of extra time working on this side so you don’t overcompensate or overuse the dominant side.
4. Stand taller
Lunges strengthen your back and core muscles without putting too much stress or strain on your spine. A strong, stable core reduces your chance of injury and improves your posture, making common movements easier.
TIP OF THE WEEK
TIP OF THE WEEK
In the TIP this week, I am challenging you to reach out to three people and tell them how much you appreciate them. Let’s face it, 2020 has been a pretty challenging year. We all need some encouragement. The simple act of letting someone know they are important to you, means a heck of a lot.
Here are ten benefits of sharing your appreciation.
1. Your mindset changes. It’s not natural for many of us to actively look for the great work, brilliant ideas, and extra effort given by our coworkers and teams. That’s probably due to the fact that when we start our careers we’re simply focused on looking out for ourselves. But when you change your mindset to look for the good instead of the bad in the people around you, you begin to notice just how fantastic they are.
2. Your mood improves. Psychologists have long touted how our mood and daily outlooks change when we focus on positive things rather than negative. In fact, Michael “Dr. Woody” Woodward, PhD suggests that simply removing negative words from your vocabulary can have a tremendous effect on your mood. Imagine the impact using positive words to appreciate another person could have on your mood.
3. You engage at a higher level. While the whole corporate world is frantically trying to figure out how to engage employees, not many of us are asking how to further increase our own engagement. We should. A recent study shows that when employees (at any level) give recognition, their engagement score increases by 26%. That’s a sizable increase considering how easy and enjoyable it is to recognize someone at the office.
4. Your ability to innovate improves. While you may not see your role as an innovator, your leaders are trying to figure out how to get you to bring your brilliance to work — to improve a product or process, discover ways to cut expenses, and generate new ideas. Again, research shows that employees (at any level) who recognize their team members experience a 33% increase in innovation.
5. You build trust in relationships. Even the neuroscientists are proving that recognition builds trust. According to Paul J. Zak, professor at Claremont Graduate University, “The neuroscience shows that recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it comes from peers, and when it’s tangible, unexpected, personal, and public.”
6. You’ll actually want to stay longer. While it would make logical sense that those of us who feel appreciated stay with an organization longer, research from a global study shows we stay quite a bit longer. In fact, companies that that recognize their people for a years of service anniversary keep employees an average of two years longer than companies that don’t. And while that’s impressive, as you celebrate the service anniversaries of teammates you build a bond as if they’re your family.
7. You increase your effectiveness. Does giving recognition have a direct impact on results? You better believe it. Research shows that employees (at any level) who give recognition experience a 22% increase in work results.
8. You smile more…and apparently cry more. There’s something intrinsically nice, and good, about recognition and appreciation that just screams, “it’s the right thing to do.” People bring their heart and souls to work. You will see the emotional impact appreciation has on people — often decades after the recognition moment happened. So give it a try. Appreciate, and you’ll inspire some smiles and tears.
9. You inspire greatness in others. We all would love to be the person who inspires someone else. It turns out it’s not that difficult when you actively give recognition. A study by the O.C. Tanner Institute shows that 88% of employees who receive recognition feel inspired to do great work. Why wouldn’t they? They just got praised for a job well done.
10. You create a story with a future. Whether you’re a manager or an employee, giving recognition tells the recipient, and all of the people witnessing the recognition moment, what kind of work you admire. And, when everyone is clear about what great work looks like to you, they’re likely to produce more of it for you and with you. In fact, they’ll likely even try to do it better than the last time.
MEAL OF THE WEEK + SNACK IDEAS
Honey-Ginger Cedar Plank Salmon
Ingredients:
1 lb. lemon, plus slices for garnish
2 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
1 large piece skin-on wild Alaskan salmon (about 2 lbs.)
3 tbsp. lower-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed with press
4 c. packed arugula, plus more for garnish
4 miniature seedless cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 1/4 c. cooked corn kernels (from 2 ears)
1/2 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves
Soak large cedar grilling plank (about 15-inches-by-7-inches) in water 1 to 2 hours. Heat grill on medium.
From lemon, grate 1 teaspoon zest and squeeze 1/4 cup juice; set juice aside. Combine zest with ginger and 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper; rub all over flesh side of salmon.
Place salmon on soaked plank skin side down; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Grill 20 to 25 minutes, covered, or until desired doneness.
Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk soy sauce, honey and Sriracha; set aside half. To remaining soy mixture, add garlic, reserved lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss with arugula, cucumbers, corn and cilantro. Brush salmon with reserved soy mixture. Garnish with arugula and lemon slices.
EVERYDAY MEDITERRANEAN SALAD
Salad Ingredients:
5 ounces baby arugula (or whatever salad greens you prefer)
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
half of a small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
half of an English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Greek Vinaigrette Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
1 small clove garlic, pressed or minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
To Make The Vinaigrette: Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl (or shake together in a mason jar) until combined. Taste and add additional sweetener if desired. Use immediately or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
To Make The Salad: Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl, drizzle evenly with the vinaigrette, and toss until evenly combined. Serve immediately, topped with extra feta cheese and black pepper if desired.
grilled carrots
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. harissa paste
1/4 c. plain 2% Greek yogurt
2 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and pepper
2 tbsp. pistachios, toasted and finely chopped
Heat grill to low. Halve any large carrots lengthwise if needed to ensure that all carrots are of similar width. In large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, and harissa. Add carrots and toss to coat.
Place carrots on grill (perpendicular to grates) and grill, covered, rolling or turning carrots halfway through, until charred and tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to platter.
Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Gradually drizzle in 2 tablespoons warm water, adding more if mixture seems too thick. Drizzle over carrots and sprinkle with pistachios.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Trainer to Hollywood's biggest stars Harley Pasternak reveals how to get an A-list body
By Zoe Nauman
He’s trained half of Hollywood and is rumoured to be the man behind Adele’s incredible seven stone weight loss.
And today, personal trainer Harley Pasternak reveals how Sunday Mirror readers can get an A-list body, without the need for an A-list bank account.
Harley has designed a special plan for readers which revolves around one core principle – you have to walk at least 12,000 steps a day.
Canadian-born Harley, 45, has worked with some of the biggest and best names in showbiz, including Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Rihanna.
He has also trained the likes of Robert Pattinson on Hollywood blockbusters such as the Twilight series, created bespoke gyms for hotels and written a series of bestselling books on diet, cooking and exercise.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror while locked down with his family at his Hollywood home, Harley shared his five goals to achieving better fitness and weight loss.
He told how structure was key, and revealed that during the pandemic he has been doing FaceTime workouts with some of his famous clients.
“Celebrities can struggle managing their time but it’s important,” he said. “Go to bed at a certain time, set an alarm and wake up at a certain time.”
Harley, who advises everyone to invest in a Fitbit fitness tracker, added: “All my clients have a daily step goal. The first is 12,000 steps.
Harley, who has also coached Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, said the second goal is sleep.
“Get at least seven hours of quality sleep a night,” he said.
“It’s important, but hard, not to have alcohol at night and to avoid caffeine in the afternoon.
“Tackling screen time is the third important aim – I recommend turning off the phone, tablet or laptop for at least one hour a day and not to use them an hour before bed.”
After steps, sleep and screen time, Harley said the fourth most important factor for getting fit is food.
“Most of my clients are on my Body Reset programme,” he revealed. “I wrote a book on this several years ago and it has just gone back up to being the No1 bestseller for the fourth time in eight years. It gets people to reset the way they eat.
“Use a blender to have one blended meal a day such as a smoothie or soup but never, ever have fruit juice because of the amount of natural sugars they contain.
“What we should be doing is reducing the amount of added sugar in our diet so after a blended meal, eat salad, scrambles, stir fries and sandwiches.
“As a guide, a main meal should have – most importantly – protein, approximately the mass of your hand. The second is unlimited vegetables.
"Third is fibre such as beans, lentils, a high-fibre fruit or whole grains, and fourth is healthy fat – the same amount, if you can imagine it, as your thumb.
“And lastly, the final aim is to challenge our muscles so pull something, push something or lift something for at least five minutes a day. You don’t need to have expensive gym equipment – anyone can do this, and it can be done with kids.”
HEALTH & WELLNESS
5 Science-Approved Ways to Break a Bad Habit
By: John Anderer
Having habits can often be a good thing. When you drive to work for example, you don’t need to wonder whether you should turn left or right; the route becomes habit.
“We want the brain to learn how to do those things without energy and effort,” says Russell Poldrack, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. “Habits are an adaptive feature of how the brain works.”
But sometimes, habits can lead us astray—whether it’s turning to comfort food when we’re sad, or taking a cigarette break when stressed.
Since habits take practice and repetition to form, the same is true when it comes to breaking them, says Elliot Berkman, director of the University of Oregon’s Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab. In order to eliminate those
Sink your stress levels
Many habits—including smoking or excess sugar consumption—involve the brain’s dopamine (or reward) system. Dopamine is a “feel-good” chemical that transmits signals between neurons in the brain. The first time you engage in a new, “rewarding” behavior, you get a euphoric feeling from doing it as a result of a dopamine release, notes Poldrack. This leads to changes in both the connections between neurons and the brain systems responsible for actions—and can largely account for why we start to form bad habits in the first place.
Many of these rewarding stimuli—like sugar or substances—are powerful, too. And our physiological reaction to them in present day can be linked all the way back to evolution, says Poldrack. In the cavemen days, meat wasn’t salted, dry-rubbed or grilled to perfection. “Our brains aren’t well-equipped to deal with the big rush one gets from these sorts of things,” Poldrack says. As a result, the frontal lobe, the brain’s “control center,” gets overwhelmed, he says.
“You’re more likely to do the thing you don’t want to do when you’re stressed out,” Poldrack says.
There are however, ways to address the root cause of these seemingly detrimental habits.
Some solutions? Try to get more sleep, exercise regularly and opt for stress reduction techniques like meditation, which can all work to increase willpower and overall brain health, says Poldrack.
Know your cues
Habits, Berkman says, have three main parts: a cue, a routine and a reward.
Cues are the context where you tend to engage in the behavior. If you’re a smoker for example, the cue might be work breaks. If you’re a dessert aficionado, it might be simply scouring the dessert menu. “You’re most likely to relapse in the context of when you’ve done it before,” Berkman says.
Knowing your triggers can help you avoid them. Berkman suggests that smokers dispose of items like ashtrays that might remind them of their habit or people who are trying to cut back on drinking should avoid walking by the bar they always pop into for happy hour.
Capitalizing on major life changes can also help break an unhealthy habit. While you might think a cross-country move or a new job is no time to introduce even more changes into your life, Berkman notes that shifts in lifestyle can actually be the ideal opportunity for eliminating a vice. “You’re going into new contexts and situations, so you don’t have those same cues—it’s a chance to form new habits,” he says.
If you’re used to lighting up on your way to work for instance, moving to a new city gives you a chance to take public transportation or to dig into a new podcast instead of a pack of cigarettes, because you are in a new environment, says Berkman.
Replace a bad habit with a good one
Instead of trying to stop doing something—“It’s hard to stop a behavior,” says Berkman—start doing something else.
“We are action-oriented creatures,” says Berkman. Some studies have shown that the more you suppress your thoughts, the more likely you are to think about that thought or even revert back to that bad habit. A 2008 study in Appetite, found that those who suppressed their thoughts about eating chocolate exhibited a behavioral rebound effect, where they consumed significantly more chocolate than those who didn’t. Similarly, a 2010 study published in Psychological Science found that smokers who tried to restrain their thoughts about smoking wound up thinking about it even more.
If you’re a smoker and you tell yourself not to smoke, your brain still hears “smoke,” Berkman says. Conversely, if you tell yourself to chew gum every time you want a cigarette, your brain has a more positive, concrete action to do, he notes. Similarly, if 5 p.m. has been linked with a glass of wine for years, use it as a time to, instead, double down on hydration and make sure the fridge is stocked with seltzers, cold water and lemon, Berkman says.
But forming a new habit takes time and commitment, so don’t be discouraged if it takes longer than you might expect. A 2010 study published in The European Journal of Social Psychology found it took an average of 66 days for a behavior to change (though time varied from 18 to 254 days).
Have a better reason for quitting
Even if you replace a “bad” habit with a better one, sometimes the original vice will have a stronger biological “reward” than its substitute, Berkman says. For example, your brain knows that gum is not nicotine and therefore won’t produce the same euphoric feeling that smoking a cigarette would, he says. This is where the importance of having an intrinsic motivation comes into play.
Intellectually, we know that quitting smoking is good for our health and limiting how many burgers we eat might help us lose weight. But rooting habit changes in specific and personal reasons—giving up smoking for good may mean spending more years with your family or eating healthier may give you more energy for those outdoor adventures you used to enjoy—provides a stronger dose of motivation, says Berkman.
Set better goals
Rather than focusing on a more general goal—like I will not grab a cookie on the way out of the cafeteria—Poldrack suggests imagining more specifically how you’ll implement this goal into your daily life.
Examining how you’ve responded to the situation in the past and determining what you can do to avoid the cookies in the future, might be all it takes to break the habit, says Poldrack. This may mean simply not walking by the rack of sweets itself.
“It’s always going to be easier to react based on something you’ve already planned out in the past versus trying to come up with a new plan on the fly,” Poldrack says.
Plus, thinking about how exactly you’re going to do something helps you develop the mindset that you can do something, he notes. And that’s half the battle.
