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NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE:

4 Simple Things to a Healthy Lifestyle…Common Sense but NOT Common Practice! 

(What follows are the basics from a workshop I have presented to schools, churches, Internal Medicine patients, and individuals who want to change their life!) 

We are moving…yes…moving on to Principle #2 for a healthy lifestyle. “Moving” is a key word for this principle. 

PRINCIPLE #2: EXERCISE: If you are not seeing the kind of results you want with your body, the first place to look is your diet. (Review Common Sense Principle #1 on clean eating.) Your nutritional intake is usually the culprit to the lack of results.  

Another related frustration with results I often hear is ‘my metabolism is slow’.  In reality, however, very few of us can actually blame our genetics for our out-of-shape, overweight, or obese bodies.  

More than likely, the second culprit next to nutrition for achieving the healthy lifestyle and body you want is the lack of exercise. Most people rarely engage in the right type, intensity, and duration of exercise to truly make a difference.  

Moreover, both diet, Principle #1, and exercise, Principle #2, can impact metabolism. For instance, if you eat inconsistently your body can believe it is in starvation mode and slow down metabolism. In other words, if you only eat one meal a day or eat every 5 to 8 hours, your body will hold on to what you eat as fat. Your body is smart. It knows it does not get fed very often and it will store those calories believing it will need them later. Similarly, the less you move the slower your metabolism. The more you move and the more lean muscle mass you have, then the faster your metabolism. 

Whether your goal is simply to increase your daily ability to function physically or to lose more than 100 pounds or anywhere in-between, visit with you doctor for a complete medical check-up. Find out your current fitness level and inform your doctor of the kind of exercise and nutritional changes you intend to make.  

And, do not forget, I know where many of you are coming from with the struggle. I battled weight fluctuations and found myself over 200 pounds on my 5’4” frame after having my two kids. With 65 pounds or so of excess fat, a stressful lifestyle, and lazy nutrition, I had to change for face severe consequences for myself and my family. The right thing included using willpower and self-discipline to change my life. And, to do something I could sustain the rest of my life.

Exercise became a priority! Other things did not happen, but my workouts did! My house did not have to look perfect and neither did I. I chose to get my workouts in to shed the weight. 

Any exercise program needs to include several key components to be effective: cardio, resistance training, and stretching. No matter what your goals, each exercise program needs these three parts. 

If your goal is to lose weight and maintain it, you need cardio training 5 to 7 days a week at a minimum of 30 minutes each time with 45 minutes to 1 hour optimum. Cardio or aerobic exercise is fundamental in lowering body fat levels. Your intensity needs to by high to lose body fat. An easy stroll through your neighborhood for 30 minutes will not help you lose weight. You must ‘work it’!  

Your heart rate must be elevated during cardio exercise but not exceed 80% of your maximum. Cardio exercise includes things like power walking, running, elliptical trainer, biking/spinning, kickboxing, aerobics, and swimming. Interval training is another great way to raise the intensity and burn the body fat. This breaks up your cardio session into short bursts of high intensity followed up by short periods of lower intensity. For example, you may walk and a brisk pace for a minute then run at a strong pace for 2 minutes and then go back to a minute of brisk walking and repeat the cycle for your 30 minute workout.

Resistance Training involves using weights at least 3 times a week performing exercises that involve the major muscle groups of the body: chest, back, abs, biceps, triceps, shoulders, legs, and calves. Many of you may be fearful of weights or unsure about what to do and reluctant to incorporate this into your program. This would be a big mistake. “There is nothing to be afraid of when you take up weight training, “ says author Tosca Reno in her book The Eat Clean Diet Workout. “There are no undesirable side effects from progressive resistance exercise. It is a healthy pursuit, and one that complements other pastimes. Vigorous exercise helps your mind function at its best and conditions you for other sports and activities, even the game of life.” she writes. 

She is correct! Weight training is really the key change I made that enabled my body to be more healthy and fit than before I had kids. I am actually smaller, stronger, and sexier now at 43 than ever before due to, in a large part, the weight training I have done over the past 6 years.  

If you are a beginner to weight training then I highly recommend you seek out a Personal Trainer to teach you how to use the machines, free weights, and tubing. Check out books on the subject including Reno’s book. There are plenty of great resources out there to help you understand the basic components of a resistance program.  

If you are nervous about hiring a Trainer, don’t be! Go to your gym while you are doing your cardio workout and watch the different Trainers. This is how I picked my Trainer Michael Mummert at 24-Fitness in Frisco. I knew what my goals were and I needed a Trainer who would match my style. I saw Michael train outside the box and push people during their sessions. I watched him change their physiques. That is what I wanted! And, you know what, when I told him I wanted to try out for a tackle football team, he did not laugh! He put me to work to achieve that goal. And, you’ll see him today continuing to kick my butt to keep me focused on what I’ve said my goals are for the upcoming season. 

Stretching is the final exercise component. Flexibility is crucial. The limberness of joints and muscles tends to decrease as we age so we have to combat that with stretching. A regular practice of stretching and even yoga can permit a maximum range of motion and lower your risk for injury.  Never bounce during stretching. Go as far as you can while gently pulling the stretched muscle. Hold each stretch for 15-30 seconds.  

Again, there are great books out there if you are new to stretching to show you proper position and techniques. And, Personal Trainers at your local gym can show you how to stretch each of your major muscle groups. And there are plenty of yoga classes and facilities around to meet your flexibility need.

All of this may sounds like too much. Some of you may already have the excuses in mind as to how you can’t possibly do this. Stop it! In fact, the mind is the final Principle we will address. The next one, however, is focused on Rest. There…rest…that’s something you can do, right?