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A Smarter Way To Achieve Your Fitness Goals

New Year resolutions almost always revolve around weight loss, but there’s a simple way to get ahead on your fitness goals – start two months before Christmas.

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The holiday season plays a big role in our weight calculations, with many of us – often already packing extra weight – overeating in the final week of the year before resolving to lose all the excess weight in the new year.

The smarter decision is to start your weight loss journey a couple of months before the holiday season – allowing you to take in a cheat day or two over the holidays.

The best part of this strategy? You will start the new year with your fitness goals already achieved, and that locked-in success will give you the confidence to tackle all your other goals with focus and the certainty that comes from achieving success.

In the rest of this article, we look at a few simple steps you can take to gradually, safely and successfully lose weight over a period of two months. This is a much better approach than trying to force yourself to lose a lot of weight over a small period of time.

And the holiday season is the built-in reward that will make it worthwhile.

So let’s start with a quick review – what are you doing less of?

Before you start, it’s important to understand that while there are some basic principles that apply across the board, everyone is unique in terms of how well they are doing certain things.

You need to evaluate where you are on the following metrics.

Sleep & Recovery
Are you getting enough good-quality sleep? If it is consistently less than six hours a day, you need to push this to a minimum of seven hours. Losing sleep will put all your other efforts (calorie restriction, exercise) to waste. It’s a good idea to invest in a sleep monitor like the Fitbit Charge 5 that helps you track your sleep relatively accurately.

The same applies to stress reduction – if your work is stressful, work in a couple of five-minute de-stress breaks during your day to practice mindfulness.

If you are already training hard, look at how to master your breathing in your post-workout cooldown (you are warming up before and cooling down after working out, yes?) to optimise recovery.

Eating Habits
The single most important factor after recovery (sleep, stress, training) is how much you eat (and what you eat).

Whatever diet you want to follow –paleo, OMAD (one meal a day), intermittent fasting, keto, low-carb, flexible macros or anything else – you will need to master two things:

Consistency
Follow the protocol to 90% accuracy for the duration of the next two months. For example, if you are practicing intermittent fasting, I would want you to spend the first week practicing IF at a 16:8 protocol before switching to 18:6 in the second week.

From the third week onwards, I would ask you to experiment with a 24 hour fast once a week with a weekly cheat meal thrown in to build on the discipline as well as allow for periodic rewards and opportunities to jolt the metabolism.

In short – start simple, build discipline and then iterate the complexity.

Meal Selection
Speaking of simplicity, the secret to losing weight is replacing choice with satisfaction. The surest way to lose weight is remove the decision-making process in what you eat. Pick a few healthy meals (per meal time) from what you really like to eat and just replicate them week in, week out. No need to decide between options you don’t like – pick foods you could eat three/four times a week.

A few repeatable meals could be the difference this year in meeting your goals or losing out to paralysis by analysis.

Caloric Deficit

And in all of this, the underlying principle will be maintaining a caloric deficit.

For a gradual two-month program I usually recommend starting off with a slight deficit – maybe 250 calories/day at most – to allow your body to easily stick to it in the beginning. A higher deficit is possible (and we will move to it later on) but starting small will help you build discipline.

After the first few weeks, you can increase the deficit to 500 calories/day (depending on whether you’re seeing results or not) but the key is always going to be maintaining consistency throughout the two-month period.

Caloric restriction is a lot easier than you think. For example:

· If you take two cappuccinos a day, switch to black coffee for a 200+ caloric deficit.

· If you enjoy two 16 oz cans of soda, switching to sugar-free soda will take you to a 300-calorie deficit.

· A regular snacker? Dropping your snacks will often give you a 200-400 calorie deficit depending on how heavy a snacker you are.

· Reducing a meal by 25% could give you an easy 100-200 caloric deficit.

As you go further – you’ll understand that a 250-500 caloric deficit can be really easy to build into your eating habits without making things very difficult for yourself.

And after the first few weeks, you can practice moving from a 250-calorie deficit to a 500-calorie deficit, but play with this number within that range to see what suits you best.

Exercise
If you are already exercising, that’s great – we can look at ways to improve on it.

If you are sedentary, adding 15-30 minutes of movement daily, coupled with the caloric deficit prescribed above, will give you a great boost in helping your weight loss journey.

With exercise, consistency and simplicity matter – do activities you enjoy and that you can do regularly (preferably daily) for a minimum of 15 mins (and upto 30/60/120 minutes a day). There’s no real upper limit except for what you have time for. And you really don’t need to run two hours a day unless you’re training for a sport.

Here’s a handy list of exercises that burn a lot of calories per minute – pick a few you like (and can learn/handle) and you can alternate them or do them together on a daily basis.

At this stage, don’t fall into the trap of taking ‘off’ days in exercise – you can change the activity but you will rarely need to take a ‘break’. If all else fails, a 30-minute walk will work just as well as 5-10 minutes of jumping rope – if only in terms of helping you stay consistent.

What you will notice from reading the calories burned by exercises above is that exercise will only help you burn an extra 150-300 calories in most cases, or maybe 400-600 if you are going all out for an hour.

In contrast, eating 300 or 600 calories doesn’t take that much time or effort.

Use exercise as a boost, not as a replacement for your weight loss.

What To Expect

Following the principles listed above, you could easily lose half a pound to a full pound per week. Weight loss may be quicker early on before tapering off, or it may be slow in the beginning and then accelerate later on.

What matters is that you are consistent in working towards your goal – and pretty soon you’ll be able to enjoy the holidays and end up in the new year much closer to, or having hit, your fitness goals.

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The basics of taking care of your teeth and mouth.

Oral healthcare products represent a $50 billion industry. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the choices, but it can benefit your health and wallet to master the basics and establish a good dental health routine. In this article I advise to get an understanding of how to brush and floss as well as other important points that contribute to the health of your mouth.

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Why take care of your mouth?

The health of our mouth plays a large role in maintaining overall well-being and quality of life. The importance of dental health cannot be overstated, as it directly affects various aspects of our daily functioning. A healthy mouth allows us to chew our food effectively, promoting proper digestion and nutrient absorption. A healthy mouth allows us to speak clearly and effectively, influencing our communication with others and boosting self-confidence. In addition, good dental hygiene contributes to preventing severe issues like gum disease(periodontitis) and cavities. By creating a consistent oral care routine, individuals can minimize the risk of infections and painful conditions, preserving their natural teeth for a lifetime.

Neglecting oral care can have consequences for both oral health and well-being. Without proper dental hygiene, plaque builds up on the teeth along the gumline, leading to calcification and tartar and the start of gum disease. These conditions cause discomfort, pain, and, if left untreated, can result in loss of teeth. Beyond the physical implications, neglected oral health can also affect a person’s confidence and social interactions. Research has shown that poor oral health is associated with an increased risk of systemic health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory infections. Poor oral care can, therefore, have far-reaching consequences beyond the mouth, highlighting the importance of maintaining a proper dental hygiene routine.

Daily Oral Care Routine
Brushing
It is currently recommended by dentists to brush twice a day for two minutes with proper technique. We refer to the Modified Bass method as proper brushing. The Modified Bass technique is to angle the bristles of a manual toothbrush at 45 degrees to the gums and brush in a gentle circular motion making sure to touch the buccal(cheek side) and lingual(tongue side) as well as the biting surface of every tooth. It is important to avoid side to side and aggressive brushing to prevent excessive wear of the enamel. Using this technique, you can safely remove plaque and bacteria while preserving tooth structure.

Flossing
Flossing is still recommended as daily basic care for oral hygiene. It is the best way to clean in between teeth. Toothbrush bristles do not effectively clean in between teeth. To floss correctly, use a piece that is about 2 feet long. Long enough to wrap it around your hands to get a nice firm and controlled grip. Pinch the floss between your thumb and forefinger with about one to two inches of floss between your hands. Push the floss between the contact of the teeth popping all the way through. Slide the floss across each surface of the contacting teeth with a C shape all the way down into the gums. Move the floss up and down to scrub the interproximal surfaces. We recommend flossing once per day to keep the gums healthy.

Mouthwash

Rinsing your mouth with mouthwash is a nice addition to brushing and flossing but is not as essential. Focus on mastering the first two and you will have very good oral health. Mouthwash helps reduce the overall bacteria load in the mouth. Preferably use a rinse that doesn’t include alcohol.

Choosing Your Oral Hygiene Products
There is an overwhelming number of toothbrushes, toothpastes, mouthrinses, floss, and other oral healthcare products available. It seems like every year there is a new 9 out of 10 dentist recommended toothpaste that is supposed to whiten your teeth while preventing gingivitis and cavities. To be effective in your oral hygiene recommend just focusing on the basics. Search for a soft bristled toothbrush and change it out whenever the bristles become bent and frayed. You should expect to replace your toothbrush about every 3 to 4 months. For toothpaste, we currently recommend a fluoride containing toothpaste as it helps strengthen and remineralize enamel. It is a safe bet to use a toothpaste with an ADA recommendation label on it. Some toothpastes have a desensitizing agent like Sensodyne which can help if you are experiencing any sensitivity, but consider seeing a dentist regarding the sensitivity in case it is caused by a cavity or other problems.

Maintain a Balanced Diet
One of the best things you can do for your overall health and oral health is to drink enough water and stay hydrated. Drinking water throughout the day helps cleanse the teeth. It contributes to your dental health without having to put much thought into it. Fibrous vegetables help with clean teeth too. Make sure to consume vitamin rich foods too as deficiencies can show up in the mouth. Avoid sugar rich foods such as candy and sugar filled beverages. Acidic beverages such as soda and energy drinks also contribute to breakdown of enamel. Make sure to reduce your consumption of carbohydrate rich foods such as chips and crackers as they break down into simple sugars and stick to your teeth.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly for Checkups

Unfortunately, our teeth require some professional routine checkups. We only get one set of adult teeth and they can’t heal themselves, so it is up to us to take care of them if we want to keep them. It is recommended to see your dentist every six months. This allows the dentist to assess the condition of your mouth and catch problems early. We look for cavities, gum disease, infections, and possible signs of oral cancer. Things happen and it is best to catch it early. Your dental hygienist will professionally clean your teeth and make sure the calcified build up is removed to reduce your risk of periodontal disease.

Conclusion
These are the basic principles in maintaining your oral health. It is easy to get caught up in products and marketing, especially when there are millions of dollars being spent to get their products into your hands. Understanding the basics of keeping your mouth healthy and why will get you far ahead in your oral health journey. There are a lot of other factors that determine the health of your teeth, some we can control and some we cannot. We can mitigate most of those issues with the good oral health habits I described.

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4 Financial Concepts to Consider When Choosing Tooth Replacements

When you replace missing teeth, you need to think about more than just present finances. Here are concepts that will guide you to the right solution for your smile and your wallet.

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When approaching a significant financial purchase, many people do their research. For instance, when buying a car, diligent shoppers often learn about fuel efficiency, horsepower and torque, and other amenities they prioritize until they find the perfect one. Unfortunately, not everyone is as thorough when it comes to replacing their missing teeth.

Often people think that traditional dentures or bridges are the best deal in terms of savings, but are they? Consider these four money-related concepts about dental implants, and you’ll see why you should approach them as you would any other important decision.

You Get What You Pay For.
You can’t expect to get a Porsche for the price of an old Honda Civic. In some industries, the more a product or service costs, the higher quality it is. In tooth replacement, this is certainly the case.

Implants may cost more initially, but they offer unmatched benefits. Unlike traditional dentures, implants are much more secure because they are bonded directly to the jawbone. As a result, these replacement teeth won’t slip out of position.

In addition, because of their stability, implants restore a much higher percentage of your original biting power, which allows you to eat nutritious foods and enjoy a healthier, happier quality of life. When you consider the quality of what you’re getting for the price you pay, dental implants are the smarter financial choice.

The Cost of Replacements Adds Up.
Traditional dentures last only about five years because the jawbone weakens without stimulation as time passes. As a result, you would need to pay for a new set frequently. At least every five years, you would spend more and more money. At a certain point, your total for dentures costs more than dental implants would have in the first place!

Although implants have a higher upfront cost, you don’t have to worry about replacements. They can last for decades, potentially saving you on your oral healthcare costs.

Dental Implants Are a Long-Term Investment.

Sometimes, it’s challenging to think of anything but the present. However, if you take a longer approach to your oral health, implants are the obvious choice for tooth replacement.

Decades from now, would you rather have a weak bite or a strong bite? Would you rather have a sunken, older looking face or a more youthful profile? Would you rather feel self-conscious and worried when you eat or talk or feel confident? Would you rather keep paying for your replacement teeth or be done with that expense?

When you envision the future you, dental implants can clearly become the best solution.

You Can Pay for Dental Implants Over Time.

Like any other dental expense, paying for dental implants doesn’t have to be a large one-lump sum. You can set up low-interest financing and pay for your tooth replacements on a monthly basis. As a result, the overall cost seems much more manageable and feasible within your budget.

In the end, when you consider all these facts, you can make a more informed decision. If you want a more temporary solution to your tooth loss, dentures are a great way to fill in the gaps in your smile. However, for most, dental implants are well worth the extra upfront cost, not only for the present but also for the future.

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