Tag: hospitality


Feeling the Energy!

Eating and exercise go hand in hand. When and what you eat can be important to how you feel when you exercise, whether it’s a casual workout or training for a competition. Consider these eating and exercise tips.

1. Eat a healthy breakfast

Breakfast

If you exercise in the morning, get up early enough to finish breakfast at least one hour before your workout. Be well fueled going into a workout. Studies suggest that eating or drinking carbohydrates before exercise can improve workout performance and may allow you to work out for a longer time or at a higher intensity. If you don’t eat, you might feel sluggish or lightheaded when you exercise, visit laweekly.com.

If you plan to exercise within an hour after breakfast, eat a light breakfast or drink something such as a sports drink. Focus on carbohydrates for maximum energy.

Good breakfast options include:

  • Whole-grain cereals or bread
  • Low-fat milk
  • Juice
  • A banana
  • Yogurt
  • A pancake

And remember, if you normally have coffee in the mornings, a cup before your workout is probably OK. Also know that anytime you try a food or drink for the first time before a workout, you risk an upset stomach, improve your workout results with resurge pills.

2. Watch the portion size

Be careful not to overdo it when it comes to how much you eat before exercise. The general guidelines suggest:

  • Large meals. Eat these at least three to four hours before exercising.
  • Small meals or snacks. Eat these about one to three hours before exercising.

Eating too much before you exercise can leave you feeling sluggish. Eating too little might not give you the energy you need to keep feeling strong throughout your workout, check more about fit after 50 mark mcilyar.

3. Snack well

Smoothie

Most people can eat small snacks right before and during exercise. The key is how you feel. Do what works best for you. Snacks eaten soon before exercise probably won’t give you added energy if your workout lasts less than 60 minutes, but they may prevent distracting hunger pangs. If your workout is longer than 60 minutes, you may benefit by including a carbohydrate-rich food or beverage during the workout. Good snack options include:

  • An energy bar
  • A banana, an apple or other fresh fruit
  • Yogurt
  • A fruit smoothie
  • A whole-grain bagel or crackers
  • A low-fat granola bar
  • A peanut butter sandwich
  • Sports drink or diluted juice

A healthy snack is especially important if you plan a workout several hours after a meal.

4. Eat after you exercise

Fuel your body for everyday performance

Click here for an infographic to learn more

To help your muscles recover and to replace their glycogen stores, eat a meal that contains both carbohydrates and protein within two hours of your exercise session if possible. Good post-workout food choices include:

  • Yogurt and fruit.
  • Dietary supplements, like leptoconnect.
  • Peanut butter sandwich
  • Low-fat chocolate milk and pretzels
  • Post-workout recovery smoothie
  • Turkey on whole-grain bread with vegetables

5. Drink up

Don’t forget to drink fluids. You need adequate fluids before, during and after exercise to help prevent dehydration.

To stay well hydrated for exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you:

  • Drink roughly 2 to 3 cups (473 to 710 milliliters) of water during the two to three hours before your workout.
  • Drink about 1/2 to 1 cup (118 to 237 milliliters) of water every 15 to 20 minutes during your workout. Adjust amounts related to your body size and the weather.
  • Drink roughly 2 to 3 cups (473 to 710 milliliters) of water after your workout for every pound (0.5 kilogram) of weight you lose during the workout.

Water is generally the best way to replace lost fluids. But if you’re exercising for more than 60 minutes, use a sports drink. Sports drinks can help maintain your body’s electrolyte balance and give you a bit more energy because they contain carbohydrates


Need of One Thing Only

Attentiveness can be challenging sometimes. As an older sister trying to finish a term paper my little sister kept pestering me to play. Or I am out to dinner with friends trying to catch up on news and one keeps answering  her cell phone. The dog keeps barking to be let out while my brother-in-law is playing solitaire games on his tablet. To be attentive—especially to be attentive to another person—means that we focus, that we eliminate distractions, that we allow one thing to command our full attention.

This Sunday’s Gospel is about attentiveness. Martha is attentive about getting food prepared and serving; Mary is attentive about listening to her Guest. Both are doing good things. However, one is choosing the “better part.”

Jesus tells Martha in this gospel that there “is need of only one thing.” What is it? On the surface, the answer would seem to be “listening to him speak,” as Mary is doing. Even this is not enough, however. We must also heed how Jesus judges Martha: “you are anxious and worried about many things.” The “one thing” is to be single-minded, single-hearted, open-minded, open-hearted. The “one thing” is to surrender ourselves to Jesus’ Presence, whether sitting or standing, resting or working, receiving or giving. [Living Liturgy 2013]

The gospel is about hosts and guest and hospitality, but Jesus puts an unparalleled twist on the notion of hospitality. Martha’s “hospitality” was made edgy because of her becoming burdened with the cooking and serving and only focusing on that, losing sight of Jesus. Martha settles for being only a servant (and complaining about it at that!) while Jesus is looking for disciples. Mary’s hospitality was more gracious than Martha’s because she focused her attention on Jesus: “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him.” The surprise is that Jesus affirms that the “better part” is to be attentive to his Presence. The “better part” is to be a disciple, attuned to the Master!

There are many ways that Jesus is present to us if we take the time to be attentive to his Presence. We usually address living the paschal mystery in terms of how we die to ourselves in our everyday living. This gospel suggests a radically different—and complementary—way of living the paschal mystery: being attentive to Jesus’ abiding Presence!

Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle C


Serve and Be Hospitable

11-MarthaAndMaryWhen living alone, it is challenging to have guests for dinner! On the one hand, you are busy getting the drinks and hors d’oeuvres, finishing up the dinner. At the same time, you want to be with your guests. So, how can you serve and be hospitable at the same time? This is a tricky, balancing act! Yet, every good hosts knows that the guests are far more important than anything else!
 
Our Gospel today demonstrates many expressions of hospitality: welcoming, listening, serving. No One way is complete in itself. There is no one way to be hospitable. Hospitality at its deepest meaning makes possible a personal encounter of the kind Mary experiences with Jesus. Martha, rather than being truly hospitable, is anxious about accomplishing a task. Her welcome shifts away from Jesus to herself. Being busy, she misses the better part- centering on Jesus! The better part is to be undividedly present to Jesus- even when serving.
 
How can we keep Jesus at the center of our lives when we are always busy? One way is to see Jesus in every person we meet. Another way is to ask: why are we doing things-to accomplish a task or to build a stronger relationship with others?
 
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In the busy-ness of our lives, let us take the time to be present to others so that we truly encounter them. Our discipleship calls us to become present and to take the other into our heart. The encounter with Jesus is essential to hospitality.