The Five Pillars Of Health And Fitness
At the beginning of summer last year, I decided to make a commitment to getting my family and I living healthier. I’m pleased to say that the commitment paid off. I lost weight, my family is more active and, in general, happier. It shouldn’t be any secret that exercise will change your mood for the better. Once you start incorporating exercise into your daily routine, you will see what I mean. It releases chemicals that make you feel better about yourself.
That said I know how challenging it can be to convert to a healthier lifestyle. It’s not just about being more active because you also need to change your diet as well. And it doesn’t stop there. I would suggest that there are four pillars to healthy living and staying fit. If you want to achieve this goal you should use these pillars to raise yourself up. I have no doubt that you will find them incredibly helpful. So let’s get started with the big one.
Pillar One: Exercise Regularly
As most people will tell you, it’s easy to get started with an exercise routine but it’s a lot harder to keep it up. If you struggle to stay with exercise, it’s probably because you’ve started doing too much too fast. Instead, you should start off small and build up to the bigger challenges. I recommend you begin by doing a few exercises in the morning after you wake up. A good beginners exercise is the sit up. Once you feel comfortable completing ten each morning, push it up to fifteen. Then start increasing the number of sets you are doing. After that add an exercise and keep going until you start to feel like it is getting easier. That way your routine will never feel overwhelming because you will be building it up slowly.
You might also want to consider heading off to the gym. But, I do realise that many people do not feel comfortable exercising in the gym if they are not in good shape. That said, there are positives to gym exercise. You will be joining a community who will encourage you to keep pushing towards your ultimate goal. You’ll also have access to some of the best equipment so that you can complete whatever exercise you want. I suggest you do find a fitness exercise that you love as this will make it easier to stick with it.
It’s easier to get children more active. If you’re looking to improve your kids fitness, you just need to start encouraging them to play more sports. It’s a good idea to set a maximum TV and game time before they have to go play outside. Kids bodies are naturally different from adults. They will find it easier to lose weight and get in shape.
Pillar Two: Healthy Eating
The second pillar should never be seen as exclusive. In fact, you can see this one as holding up the other. Many people believe that if you exercise regularly you will not need to reduce the amount you are eating to lose weight. This is not true. The easiest and fastest way to reduce your weight is to limit what you are eating. However, I must stress that you should not limit the amount by too much.
I know that many people like to diet by replacing food with vitamin supplements. This is fine and a perfectly acceptable way to lose weight. However, you must make sure that you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you need to keep your body healthy. There are a lot of daily vitamins that your body needs to make sure you are getting them all, even if you aren’t eating a lot.
Aside from that it’s important that both you and your family are eating a balanced diet. What does this mean? Essentially it just means that you are getting fruit, vegetables and the protein that your body needs. Again, a lot of people misunderstand a balanced diet but the key is in the name. You don’t have to cut out all the sugars, fats and salt. You just need to make sure that you are getting a small amount of each. It has been known that stores have been taking salt out of sold goods. But the body actually needs small amounts of salt to stay healthy. It keeps your bones working properly.
Pillar 3: Use The Technology
When I was trying to lose weight, I found the available tech very helpful. I added a few new apps to my phone. I’m happy to say that they allowed me to reach my goal. By being able to watch my weight and my calorie intake I was able to reach my goal a lot faster. One piece of advice I would offer is not to check your weight too regularly. Some people’s metabolism is lower than others. If your metabolism is low, you will have trouble losing weight. Seeing that you have not lost as much weight as you had hoped can be rather disheartening.
Pillar 4: Bad Habits Must Die
I know a lot of people believe that they can lose weight while keeping up some bad habits. For instance, some smokers think that smoking actually helps them stay thin. It may help them stay thin, but it certainly isn’t helping them stay healthy. Quite the opposite in fact. That’s why if you do have any bad habits and you want to get healthy you need to start trying to give them up. Don’t quit them straight away as this usually just makes the problem worse. Ease yourself off them until they no longer have a hold on you. Once you do this, you will find that staying healthy is a lot easier.
Pillar 5: Peace And Serenity
Finally, you might be wondering what the biggest cause of being unhealthy is. Well, I can tell you without a doubt that it is stress. If you are stressed, it can affect your weight, blood pressure and heart beat. It can have lasting effects on your mind and your body. That’s why it’s a good idea to start reducing the level of stress in your life. You can try some breathing exercises and if that doesn’t work yoga is an excellent form of exercise that also reduces stress. Goodluck.
