5 Simple Tips for a Healthy Winter Season

1. Always keep healthy snacks in arms length – Convenience is key especially when it comes to our food choices. One way to make healthy diet choices is by preparing meals ahead of time. Take a couple hours on Sundays to pre-pack your lunches for the week and not only will you be saving your money but your health too — a smart investment worth making.

Here are a few lunch ideas to try out this week:

• Chicken Couscous: Prepare grilled chicken slices, pair it with couscous and a side of freshly sliced fruit and veggies.
• Chicken-Berry Salad: Cook an extra chicken breast and pair it with feta, strawberries, blueberries and sliced almonds over spinach. For an extra flavor boost, drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.
• Turkey and Cucumber Sandwich: Pack to a few slices of cooked turkey, cucumber and tomato. Drizzle with spicy or honey mustard. Tip: Bring ingredients and assemble sandwich before eating to keep the bread from getting soggy.

2. Drink Water Throughout the Day: Not only does water keep your body hydrated and flush toxins out of vital organs, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Although we have been told our whole lives to drink at least 8 oz of water daily, “The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.”

3. Portion Your Meals Correctly: Ever wonder why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? The main reason for this is because it revs up your metabolism so it is ready to work throughout the day. If you have a good, balanced breakfast, you are less likely to choose something high in fat for lunch or dinner to satisfy food cravings. Dinner should be your most light meal of the day since you have less time and energy at the end of the day to burn off the caloric intake. The majority of your calories should be consumed for breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks in the mid-morning and early afternoon. Anything you eat after 4 PM should be light like a soup and sandwich. Try to completely avoid eating any complex carbs after 6 PM.

4. Get Moving: Something is better than nothing! You do not need a lot of complicated exercise equipment to get in a proper cardiovascular workout. Whether you take a moderate 30-minute walk or do two segments of 10-15 minute aerobic exercises (dancing, jump roping, yoga, etc), getting your muscles moving and your heart pumping on a daily basis with a heart-healthy exercise is a sure way to keep the extra pounds off and de-stress at the same time.

5. Get Plenty of Sleep: It make perfect sense. If you are running on low energy from lack of a good night’s rest, you are more likely to grab an extra coffee, pick up a sugary donut or resort to other comfort foods for a quick shot of energy. If you are getting less than 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night, your waistline will pay. According to WebMD, not only will you eat more, but your metabolism will work at a slower rate when you are sleep-deprived.

Making simple, healthy changes in your daily lifestyle can lead to significant benefits for your physical and mental well-being. For more health tips and nutritional recommendations visit Dr. Will or Dr. Dan at McCray Chiropractic Health Restoration Clinic. We take pride in helping our patients lead an exceptionally nutritious and healthy lifestyle.

Call today to book a free consultation: (304)-262-0700

5 Accommodating Holiday Health Tips From Us to You

McCarren Park – Brooklyn, New York 12/10/2013
Taken by Rachel McCray

Let’s face it. It’s cold outside so most people are in hibernation mode, avoiding any contact with the outside world until the winter months pass. At McCray Chiropractic and Health Restoration Clinic, we recognize the hurdles that many face as they struggle to maintain a regular exercise routine during the winter. Here are some quick tips to help you stay active in the cold weather.

 1. Create Your Own Holiday Fitness Wish List: List some areas of your body you would like to improve or tone, set workout goals for those areas and make it a priority to commit to these exercise habits. For myself, I would like to tone up my abdominal area so I commit myself to 200 sit-ups per night for 5 days a week. No exceptions.

2. Exercise at Home: Create a home workout routine for those days you can’t make it to the gym. There a lot of great exercises you can do without gym equipment in the comfort of your own home. I like to mix my routine up with a combination of sit-ups, jumping jacks, push-ups, planks, lunges and of course stretching.

3. Combine Exercise with Family Commitments: Try mixing quality family time with fun physical activity. Take the kids sledding, build a snowman, go ice-skating, or even go for a walk around the neighborhood and check out the holiday decorations.

4. Be More Health Conscious: Making mindful decisions to be more active with your daily routine will pay off whether you notice it or not.. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car further away from your building, make a few more rounds while shopping, volunteer to run errands for others. Little things like this can make a bigger difference than you may realize.

5. Interactive Video Games: Get the whole family together for a fun night of virtual gaming.  Check out some of the latest dance games and you will have the whole family laughing and playing together in no time. Your family will be so distracted with the fun; they won’t even realize they will be getting healthy in the process.

At McCray Chiropractic and Health Restoration Clinic we care about the mental and physical well-being of each patient. Dr. Will McCray and Dr. Dan McCray offer a variety of services to help you and your family achieve optimal health with chiropractic care, massage, nutritional recommendations, and various therapies. We pride ourselves in making our patients feel welcome and comfortable so they enjoy coming in to visit one of our chiropractic offices. Feeling comfortable is a major component of the healing process and we hope you see that difference at our offices when you come in for your next visit. Visit our website to find out more on how we can help you achieve optimal health today: http://www.mccraychiropractic.com/

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5 Easy Foods To Enhance Your Daily Lifestyle

Add more raw foods to your diet and you will be surprised with the difference it will make in how you look, feel and perform in your daily routine. Here’s a list of 5 raw foods you can incorporate into your diet that will have you feeling energized and refreshed:

1.  Apples: Apples contain an insane amount of soluble fiber and immune-boosting Vitamin C and Vitamin A. An apple a day is an easy way to satisfy hunger, lower cholesterol levels, regulate blood sugar, and keep your skin in great shape. Try replacing the sugary breakfast cereal with an apple and just feel the (guilt-free) difference!
2. Spinach Leaves: Try to avoid iceberg lettuce, which contains mostly water and little nutritional value, and go with spinach leaves instead next time. Spinach leaves contains Vitamin K, Vitamin A and plenty of calcium and iron to keep you pumped like Popeye all the day long!
3. Blueberries: Contain more antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable. They are a natural brain food that strengthens your immune system and is very heart healthy. Best part? They are super convenient and you can never have too many.
4. Almonds: Natural, unsalted almonds contain high levels of Vitamin B6, magnesium and healthy unsaturated fats that are very essential to the body. They can reduce the rick of blood clots, improve the healthy lining of your arteries and even help lower the LDL cholesterol level in the blood. Just a handful a day helps to prevent weight gain and promotes good heart health.              
5. Dark Chocolate: Cocoa is very high in antioxidant content which helps fight the damaging effects of stress on the cells inside the body. Cocoa also helps trigger the brain production of neurotransmitters, sulfur and magnesium, which produces a natural ‘good’ feeling and works naturally to alleviate stress. BOOM! POW! Depression doesn’t stand a chance against chocolate! 

For more health tips and nutritional recommendations visit Dr. Will or Dr. Dan at McCray Chiropractic Health Restoration Clinic. We take pride in helping our patients lead an exceptionally nutritious and healthy lifestyle.