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Friday, December 3, 2010

Get Fit For 2011~A Few Thoughts On Developing a Healthy Lifestyle

What a great time of year to make some goals in the "Health and Fitness" area of our lives!  Whether your goals are to eat more fruits and veggies every day, exercise more, or maybe just to eat less chocolate! After you have made a goal, its a good idea to come up with a game plan.  Without a game plan, its harder to achieve the goal.  I decided to kind of map my game plan out in a little spiral notebook. Instead of writing down everything I eat, I make a list each morning of what exercise plans I have for the day and what I’m going to eat. Then at the end of the day I review it adding or changing anything that wasn’t in the plan. I find that I stick with things better when they are in writing.

Here are a few ideas~ if  your goal to eat more fruits and veggies each day,you could tell yourself that before you have a sweet treat for the day, you needed to eat your 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables first.  Then you won't want to eat as much of the sweet treat! 

There is one thing that needs to be emphasized:  There is no such thing as a "DIET"!  Take that word completely out of your vocabulary! Instead, try replacing it with, "changing my eating habits for life". 

So many people try all sorts of fad diets, only to find out that it is not a way of eating that you can continue for the rest of your life.  And when you end the fad diet, all of the weight you may have lost comes right back on, because it’s impossible to maintain that type of eating.  The food pyramid (for most healthy adults) is a wonderful thing to follow!  Also, there are no such things as "bad foods"!

Of course it wouldn't be healthy to each just candy bars one day and nothing else.  Remember MODERATION in all things!!

Calories in = Calories out.  So, in other words if you consume 2,000 calories in a day, and you burn 2,000 calories that same day,you maintain your weight.  If you would like to loose weight, you will need to burn more calories than what you consume.  So if you consume 2,000 calories in a day, you will need to burn at least 2,100 calories or more to loose weight.  Of course if you consume more calories than you burn, over time, you will gain weight.  Remember that the average person burn approximately 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day just for your body to function (for example: for your heart to pump and work properly, for your kidneys to function,hair to grow, etc.). That is why when a person cuts their calories to under 1,000 per day, their hair may start to fall out or not grow and it puts a strain on your organs because there is not enough calories for all of them to function properly. 

Just remember,calories in = calories out.

"The term 'staying on the path' to me means, "eating healthy most of the time, exercising regularly, thinking positively about

yourself, and staying committed to your health goals'  You will never fail unless you fall off the path and stay there.  If you lie

in the dirt and do nothing, you may never find the good health you desire.  But if you get back on the path - at least put one foot

on it - you'll be moving in a positive direction.  You may be crawling down the path at times, but just stay on it.  Stay committed.

Even when you have a  bad day, you have to get up and try, try again.  Don't fall into the 'whole day is a waste' mind set.  Getting

back on the path doesn't always have to start with the rise of the morning sun.  You can try again any time, anywhere.  If you've

fallen off the path lately, get back on today.  If you're still going strong, save this tip for one of those difficult days." 

This was taken from the book "Tip-A-Day Guide for Healthy Living" by Melanie Douglass

(These ideas were given to me by a close friend of mine.)

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