Let's Exercise!

Exercise and nutrition are the two most important factors to keep fit and healthy. There are so many people that have a misconception about what is healthy. It seems that everyone wants the easy way to burn fat. They want to cut corners and lose weight faster. The truth is there are no cutting corners when trying to be healthy and fit. The only way is the hard way. Once the basics are known, there are plenty of ways to make a specific nutrition plan to fit the body’s needs.

MyPyramid.gov has the right resources on the basics of nutrition. Sure, the food pyramid has changed often when we were kids, but that is because they are researching more than ever on the different food groups that our bodies need. Processed foods are considered bad, however, there are a few that are considered healthy. Milk is pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep fat from separating. Frozen vegetables are processed to help preserve the vitamins and minerals and so they can be cooked all year round. It’s the canned foods that are high in sodium and fructose that are bad. Pastas that are made with refined white flour instead of whole grains are bad as well. Pre-packaged foods that are high in sodium or sugar are high in calories. The reasons these foods are so popular are because they are easy to make and convenient.

Treat your body like a car. A car needs to be fed with fuel in order to run. If there is no gas, then the car does not operate properly and will break down in the middle of the road. The same way can be perceived for the human body. The body needs food in order to have energy. If the body is taken care of the right way, then there is more energy to expend throughout the day. Instead of a diet, start eating healthy foods and get into that healthy lifestyle. There are diets out there that will help you lose weight fast and easy IF you follow them exactly. Then, you slowly start to go back to your old habits of eating junk food and becoming lazy of cooking.

Exercise comes along with eating healthy. You cannot just exercise and then eat whatever you want. Eventually, it will catch up to you and the minutes will become hours of burning all the calories you just ate. That is why exercise and the proper nutrition play hand in hand when keeping a fit and healthy body.

Let’s start today with a couple of easy exercises that anyone with two legs can accomplish:

· Take a brisk walk for 10 minutes outside and enjoy the fresh air

· Use the stairs instead of escalators or elevators at the mall

· Park the car at the very end of the parking lot and walk further (it’s always easier to find a spot)

· Walk the dog for 10-15 minutes around the neighborhood

· Hiking

Those are simple exercises that can get the blood circulating and oxygen flowing. Here is a harder workout that if you are an office worker and just want to step away from the desk for a bit will help get your mind to focus again. The best part, it only takes 5 minutes.

· 20 seconds of push-ups

· 20 seconds of sit-ups

· 20 seconds of squats

· 20 seconds of lunges

· 30 seconds of rest

· Repeat x 2

People might look at you weird but at least you got a small workout in for the day while they were eating their chips and drinking soda. It is never too late to start exercising or trying to eat healthy. That is a very big misconception. People tend to think if they have back problems or “exercise induced asthma” that this will affect their performance on exercise. A quick and easy way to fix that is to have the right mentality and research ways to begin an exercise program. Always, of course, talk to a physician before starting an exercise regime. Again it is never too late. Do your research and become a healthy and fit person today.