Exercise has been a hot topic in my life lately. Maybe because I’ve been running more, or maybe because this beautiful weather just makes me want to stretch my legs.

Whatever the reason is, I’ve been noticing lately that I actually enjoy my workouts. I look forward to a good long run when I get home from work. That just sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

What if I told you I’ve found a fool-proof system for getting my butt turned around and right back out the door 10 minutes after I get home from work? Starting in the afternoon, I’ve got 4 easy steps that you can use to make sure you go for that run or make it to the gym. Pay special attention to step number 4, because it makes a world of a difference.

1. Eat lunch at the right time. If you eat your lunch too early, you’ll be starving by the time you get home, which means you’ll sit on the couch and eat a snack rather than go for a run. If you eat lunch too late or have a lot of late afternoon snacks, you’ll be too full by the time you get home, and you’ll sit on the couch and digest rather than go for a run. If you eat lunch at just the right time (about 4-5 hours before you get home, with a light snack in between to keep you fueled), you’ll be ready to zip right out the door when you get home and enjoy a beautiful dinner when you get back.
2. Pump yourself up. Don’t let “I’m just not in the mood” stop you from going from a run. As soon as you leave the office, plug in your ipod and start grooving to your favorite jams. Think about how good it will feel to stretch your legs, imagine the rush of adrenaline, and rock out to your favorite beat. By the time you get home you’ll be so ready to hit the pavement!
3. Don’t make excuses. We all have a million things we could do the minute we walk through the door. Don’t do any of them. Get home, change into your workout gear, and walk right back out again. If you know there’s too much waiting for you inside, bring your workout clothes to work and change before you leave. If you drive to work, you can leave everything in the car and head right out before ever stepping inside the door. Don’t make excuses. Just go.
4. Use the right fuel. This tip here is my favorite one, because it’s what’s allowed me to actually enjoy my runs. I’ve recently become a huge fan of the Vega Sport products. My two favorites are their Pre-Workout Energizer and their Recovery Accelerator. I’ve gone on runs with and without the Pre-Workout Energizer and I couldn’t believe the difference one little packet could make. Completely plant-based and packed with things like green tea, yerba mate, organic sprouted brown rice syrup and palm syrup, ginseng and rhodiola, these little guys will help sweep away your afternoon fatigue and get you pumped up for an exhilarating workout. The more you use these products, the better your workouts will be, and the sooner you’ll be in shape and on your way to becoming a true athlete! You can get the Vega products at any health food store or online at vegasport.com. There are also some handy links at the bottom of the page that talk more about sports nutrition and why the Vega products are so kick-ass.

Exercise is such an important part of a healthy diet, and once you really get into it, it’s impossible to ignore how good it makes you feel.

So let’s start talking! What do you think of my 4 tips? Are you still having trouble getting your ass out the door? Leave me a comment below and we’ll start a conversation!

Last week I briefly mentioned that sugar cravings can be minimized by balancing your vitamins and minerals – in particular by taking an omega 3 supplement. I’ve had some questions about the difference between taking fish oil and flax oil to get your omega 3s, and today I’m going to tackle that question.

But first, why talk about omega 3′s when we’re dealing with sugar cravings?

We’ve discussed how sugar cravings are basically just our brains asking for pleasure. The dopamine receptors get happy when we eat sweets, so the more sweets that we eat, the happier our brains get. That is, until we stop eating sweets and our brains and our bodies get cranky.

As it turns out, deficiencies in omega 3s actually decrease our perception of pleasure. Just like we talked about last week with people who have fewer dopamine D2 receptors, when your body doesn’t get as much pleasure from the “regular” dose of sugar, it needs a bigger dose in order to feel good. To put it in scientific terms, “a given level of perception of a sweet taste requires a larger quantity of sugar in subjects with alpha-linolenic acid deficiency.” It would seem that the less omega 3s that a person eats, the more sugar they would need to eat in order to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Clearly, it’s important to make sure we’re getting the proper intake of omega 3s.

Doctors say that fish oil is a superior source of omega 3. If that’s true, what’s a vegetarian to do?

The reason that doctors advocate for fish over flax oil is pretty simple. Fish oils contain two very important long-chain omega 3′s known as EPA and DHA. Flax oil contains ALA, which is an omega 3 that the body can use to turn into EPA and DHA. However, the process by which the body converts ALA into EPA and DHA is highly inefficient, and only about 5-15% is actually converted into EPA and DHA. In order to get the same amount of EPA and DHA that is found in fish oil, we would need to consume 5-6 times the amount of ALA from flax oil. Do you really want to take that much flax oil every day? It’s starting to sound inefficient, isn’t it?

But there’s a catch. Fish aren’t naturally high in EPA and DHA…just like us, they get it from what they eat! Fish eat microalgae, particularly zooplankton and phytoplankton, and then store the EPA and DHA in their fat. So why not skip the fish and go directly to the source? Spirulina and astaxanthin are two wonderful microalgaes that are excellent sources of DHA. By eating more algae in addition to omega 3-rich foods like walnuts and chia seeds, our bodies can take in enough DHA and ALA to optimize our levels of DHA, ALA and EPA.

Conclusion?

Control your cravings for sugar by eating algae, walnuts and chia seeds, or by taking a high-quality fish oil from brands like New Chapter, Carlson or Nordic Naturals. Sounds like a pretty good plan of attack, doesn’t it?

If you’re interested, I’m a distributor of Simplexity Health algae products, which are basically the best algae products that you can get on the market. Leave me a comment or contact me if you’re interested in purchasing some or learning more!

¹Bourre JM. Roles of unsaturated fatty acids (especially omega-3 fatty acids) in the brain at various ages and during ageing. J Nutr Health Aging. 2004;8(3):163-74. Review.