8/27/2012
I never call myself an expert. I just refer to myself as a person with a little bit of knowledge and experience. Often times people ask me for advice about exercising or about nutrition. I’m usually hesitant to offer my suggestions. I feel like the things I have to offer are common knowledge or obvious. This is a habit I need to get away from. I noticed the ideas and concepts I thought of as obvious were new to some folks. And the people that already knew what I was talking about appreciated the refresher.
I have decided to start from square one for the people that want to add fitness to their life. There are so many facets to leading a healthy happy lifestyle. Different people have different goals. I’ve decided to start with nutrition. It is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. Eating properly is 80% of the equation. Of course I don’t tell people to make drastic sweeping adjustments. It’s a recipie for disaster (just like trying to run a marathon without training). I’ll admit to rewarding myself with unhealthy treats on occasion but I’ve noticed that my body tends to reject the “treats”. This is what happens after the body becomes accustomed to clean foods.
OK, so how do we get started. It’s pretty easy. First you need to set a realistic goal. This is something I constantly tell kids. Write it down on paper and put it somewhere visible. Many times losing just 5 to 10% of your weight can help prevent health problems. Second Take a look at your habits. You can do this by keeping a food and exercise journal for a week. With this you will be able to begin mapping out the plan to reach your goal. You will be able to see where your weaknesses are in your diet and when you are most likely to exercise. With the information in hand, make your plan. Plan your meals so that you are not grabbing fast food all the time. And, set a time every day for exercise. Finally take action and keep improving. The results you acheive will many times be your motivation. For those that give up before seeing results try to remember it takes the body three months to completely regenerate cells.
In an effort to keep this simple, I will get into carbohydrates, fats, and proteins at another time.
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