The Lazy Girl’s Step Guide to Getting Healthy

 

Step 1: Sleep More to Protect Your Heart

Next time you feel guilty about sleeping in, just remember you’re doing your heart a favor. If you can’t get 2 hours of continuous sleep, it means you’re not completing the restorative sleep cycle over the course of the night, which can have a harmful effect on your health. In fact, studies show that people who struggle to stay asleep had a 30% higher risk of heart attack. This is because insomnia can lead to excess production of the hormone cortisol; levels rise depending on the amount of stress you feel, causing your blood pressure to rise in turn. Your heart is equipped to handle a normal level of cortisol, but excess levels at night can lead to arterial damage, aneurysm, and eventual heart failure.

 

Step 2: Order In and Eat Right

Take-out and delivery restaurants can provide the laziest of us with delicious and healthy meals, so long as you know what to order. Here are three suggestions, all of which are under 500 calories, low in carbs, and provide 30 or more grams of protein so you can feel full longer.

 

Pizza: Chicken and cheese pie. Be sure to order whole wheat or thin crust, add as many veggies as you’d like, and ask them to go light on the cheese to cut back on the fat.

 

Mexican: Black bean burrito. It’s important to incorporate plant sources of proteins, like beans, into your diet. Order this bean burrito with corn and spinach to add extra protein, brown rice for extra nutrients, and go light on the cheese. This option is so healthy, you can even get a side of guacamole and salsa.

 

Chinese: Beef and oyster sauce with mixed vegetables. Oyster sauce is a great option in any Asian meal, as it’s the lowest calorie Asian sauce. Be sure mixed vegetables make up half the meal.

Step 3: Indulge in Chocolate and Fight Cancer

You may already know that dark chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure, decrease cholesterol, and even improve blood flow to your brain. Now, a new animal study suggests that eating cocoa, the raw material in chocolate, may help prevent colon cancer. Apoptosis is natural process in which your body eliminates unhealthy cells. Compounds in cocoa known as flavonoids may assist in the apoptosis process, destroying cancer cells.

 

You can get your cocoa in two forms. One option is to eat no more than 20 grams, or about one-fifth of a chocolate bar, twice a week. Be sure it’s dark chocolate that’s 70% cocoa content or more. The other option is to take Cocoawell, a supplement that contains the antioxidant equivalent of 8 bars of dark chocolate, without any of the sugar, fat or calories.

 

Step 4: Burn Calorie Without Stepping Foot in a Gym

There are two simple things you can do to burn calories without going anywhere near a gym. First: Take a stand! Next time you’re on the bus, at work, waiting for an appointment, or folding laundry, try standing up instead of sitting. You’ll burn an extra 50 calories an hour.

And here’s a fun one: try using someone else’s bathroom. Of course, nobody likes sitting on a stranger’s toilet, so by squatting, you’ll not only be working important core and leg muscles, you’ll also burn up to 140 calories a day.

The Lazy Girl’s Step Guide to Getting Healthy