In
this article I am going to cover seven ways you can become healthier and
increase your fitness levels. I am going to cover the best types of exercises
to do to get fit and healthy, the best kinds of foods to eat to reduce your
calorie intake and how to check that you are moving in the right direction.
Get
Your Body Moving
Exercise
is one of the most important components of living a healthy lifestyle. Even if
you eat all the right foods and you aren't over-weight if you do not exercise
your body then you won't be able to live an active and energetic lifestyle.
You
don't need to join a gym or attend a cardio class, you just need to find
something that you enjoy that raises your heart rate and your breathing rate to
exercise your body.
Here
are some ideas you might like to try - swimming is a great all over body
exercise that can get you strong and fit, martial arts is another great form of
fitness, jogging gets your body moving and is great for burning off calories,
power walking is the same but a little less intense on your joints and tendons
than jogging.
How
about some team sports like football or rugby - you don't have to be a sports
star to enjoy the health benefits of participating in a team sport. A great
advantage of a team sport is that you are much more likely to turn up to
training sessions when there are other people involved - you wouldn't want to
let your team down would you?
Have
a look in your local sports centre and read the notice boards, you will find
all kinds of activities to take part in. Try something new and meet new friends
and help each other get fit and healthy.
Drink
More Water
If
you want to live a healthy lifestyle drinking more water should be high on your
list of priorities. Keeping your body hydrated reduces the feelings of hunger,
helps cleanse and detox your body from unwanted chemicals, keeps your skin
hydrated and is much better for you than any other drink on the planet.
Water
has zero calories so you can drink as much as you like without having to worry
about sugar intake or putting on any weight. A good idea is to replace your
soft drinks with water and drink water with your meals, it can aid in
digestion.
So
there are lots of good reasons to drink some more "H2O".
Eat
Smaller Portions
One
of the biggest reasons why people get over-weight and unhealthy is because they
eat huge portions sizes. I have seen many people in restaurants with plates so
full of food it has been literally piled high! This is not a healthy way to go
with your food.
Reducing
your portion sizes can help you with reducing the calories you eat and can help
you keep check on your weight. If you still feel hungry after your meal drink
another glass of water or eat some fruit.
If
you still think that eating smaller portion sizes just won't help you then why
not add a bowl of salad to your meal? Then you have something healthy and extra
to add which should help to fill you up.
Eat
More Often
Smaller portion sizes allow you to eat more often and eating more often can help to speed up your metabolism. If your metabolism is increased then your body can burn off more fat because - the reason this works is simple, when you go on a diet it typically means starving your body of calories and if you suddenly reduce your calories your body will react by going into what is called starvation mode and will begin to store fat on your body. This is a survival mechanism.
To
stop this from happening you have to let your body know that there is no food
shortage and you can easily do this by eating more often. This of course
doesn't mean you can eat more chocolate cake or more desserts. You can replace
those snacks that you enjoy with fruit and nuts.
Increase
your food intake by choosing healthy options and snacks, add a bowl of salad to
every meal and drink lots more water.
Reduce
Your Sugar Intake
We
are a society which is addicted to sugar, we have sugar with most meals that we
eat, it is added to lots and lots of foods to sweeten it up, it is added to
fizzy drinks, sauces, soup and is coated on most morning cereals.
Sugar
puts more calories into our bodies, it turns into fat if you don't exercise
enough to burn those calories off and that's not to mention the damage that is
doing to our teeth.
So
what can we do to reduce our sugar intake? That is what the next tip is about.
Eat
More Fruit and Vegetables
Instead
of eating processed foods you should strive to each more vegetables. They are
low in calories, have a high water content which helps hydrate our body and are
full of vitamins and minerals which help your body to stay healthy and active.
Eating
more fruit will also give your body lots more vitamins. You can and should
replace sugary snacks with fruit. There are so many options to choose from when
it comes to fruit there is really no excuse not to be eating more of it.
Weigh
Yourself Weekly
You
should keep check on how your weight is and the best way to do this is through
weekly weighing. You should write it down to make sure you are heading in the
direction you want to go in.
Weekly
weighing will let you know if you are putting on unwanted weight, which could
easily slip by you if you didn't for a couple of months. Doing this you can
track your progress, make any changes to your diet or exercise program as
necessary to keep you moving in the right direction.