Healthy Living: Simple steps to a better life
Colin McDougall

When you watch TV or read magazines you get the impression that most people spend their days as lean, mean exercise fanatics who compete in triathlons, eat tofu, and drink a gallon of rain water a day.

If you dont fit this profile, you are not alone. Consider:

Seven out of 10 American adults don’t exercise regularly, despite the proven health benefits, according to a 2002 study based on more than 68,000 interviews for the National Center for Health Statistics.

80 percent of people in the US older than 25 are overweight based on the body mass index (BMI), a national guideline computed through a combination of weight and heightaccording to a Harris Poll released in 2002.

According to the American National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC), in 2000 the most common actual causes of death in the United States were tobacco (435,000), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000), alcohol consumption (85,000).

The writing is on the wall poor diet and physical inactivity is about as dangerous as smoking.

So, why dont we exercise and eat right?

For most of us, the answer is: time. Exercise and diet take time away from our work, our families, our lives.

Some of us have tried to fit exercise into our daily routines before and maybe even stuck with a program for a while, but finally saw too little gain for the effort and time it took.

Heres the good news: a healthy lifestyle wont consume you like it might have years ago. The science of healthy living has come a long way in recent years. Consider:

Modest but regular exercise has proven to raise the bodys metabolic rate, so that you burn fat even when at rest.

New strategies of exercise and diet bring results much sooner than ever before, without drugs.

A healthy lifestyle isnt only about working out and cutting out foods you like. Its also about applying a balanced approach to all areas of your life. For example, studies show that you can lose weight by simply watching less television.

Realistic health improvement for real people

We all know we should take better care of ourselves, but modern lifestyles with hectic work schedules, commuting, and family and social responsibilities make it difficult for us to live a healthy life.

But you can begin to live a healthier life. You can start slowly and work in more healthy practices. Interestingly, even small changes can lead to big improvements over time. Begin modestly by making a commitment to starting to do something and to stay with it. As you proceed, remember to be proud of your accomplishmentsyou will be doing more than 70 percent of the population!

The doctor will see you now

Before embarking on a fitness program and making dietary changes, talk with your doctor about your plans. If you have prior health conditions, especially cardiovascular disease, your doctor may want you to avoid certain exercises. If you are on certain medications, your doctor may give you valuable information on avoiding drug interactions with certain foods such as grapefruit and with some herbal supplements.

A special word to smokers

If you smoke, you know you need to quit. Modern research links smoking to a vast array of cancers, as well as heart and cardiovascular disease. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths.

The bottom lineif you are a smoker, stopping represents the single best health action you can take. Talk with your doctorthere are new treatments available.

Some basic health objectives

It can be hard to know where to start when you want to improve your health.

Here are three baseline objectives for a healthier lifestyle:

Lose weight / Eat a more balanced diet

Get more exercise

Reduce stress

Lose weight / Eat a more balanced diet

Qualified health professionals agree the keys to losing weight are to eat less, eat a more balanced diet, and to increase your exercise level. In general, reducing your intake of protein and eating more fruits and vegetables is a good start. Try and reduce your intake of saturated fats common in fried foods. Your heart will thank you.

Here are some tips:

Eat a diet that contains lots of:

Whole grains

Fruit

Vegetables

Ensure you are getting an adequate supply of:

Vitaminsa daily multi-vitamin is good protection

Calciummany men and women do not get enough calcium in their diets, putting them at risk for osteoporosis.

Watermany adults do not consume enough water each day

Reduce your consumption of:

Fat

Sugar

Salt

Processed foods

Fast food meals

Alcohol

Other Tips:

Make your own nutritious lunch and take it to work. Youll save money and feel better too.

Buy veggies for snacks, such as small washed carrots or apple slices, which you can put into re-sealable bags and take to work.

Consider diet supplements for weight loss and health

Despite our best efforts, it is hard to eat a balanced diet everyday. Consider taking one or more of the excellent vitamins and supplements available, but check with your doctor first before taking them.

Today, you can get the latest high quality vitamins and dietary supplements at low prices and without leaving your home by ordering over the Internet. Here is an excellent example of a vitamins site.

Avoid fad diets

Use common sense and follow the advice of government health authorities, university nutritionists and other well-accredited health care experts. Reliable nutrition advice is available free by contacting your local health department and talking with a nutritionist.

Be wary of the latest Fad Diets put forward by authors. Healthy eating is not rocket scienceyou need to eat a balanced diet that includes the four food groups:

Vegetablesthree or more servings per day

Whole grainsfive or more servings per day

Fruitthree of more servings per day

Legumestwo or more servings per day

This is well documented by decades of research. Sure, the fad diets may help you lose weight temporarily but at worst you could seriously damage your health and at best, you will likely gain the weight back if the diet is not sensible and sustainable.

Get more exercise

The second key to losing weight is to add more physical exercise into your lifestyle.

Exercise takes some effort and time, so it is fair to ask why you should bother. The key reasons include the following:

Weight loss

Reduced risk of heart disease and stroke

Increased energy

Increased bone strength

Maintenance of muscle mass

Reduced stress levels

Better appearance

Research continues to show that any exercise is better than none. For example, regular walking or gardening may be beneficial in reducing your risk of heart disease.

Exercise

At a minimum you should strive for at least three 20-minute bouts of continuous aerobic (activity requiring oxygen) rhythmic exercise each week.

Other exercise levels will depend on your physical condition and goals. Consider a session or two with a certified personal trainer to accurately assess your current physical condition and plan an exercise regimen.

Easy ways for non-athletes to add exercise to their daily lives:

Get off the bus a stop or two early and walk to work or home.

If you drive to work, park in a new location and walk a few blocks.

Take the stairs at work. Get off the elevator a few floors down and walk up a few flights.

Ride a bicycleyou dont need a fancy bike, but you should always wear a helmet

Walkits cheap and it works! The average person can walk three to four miles an hour. This makes many short trips to the store within walking distance, saving you money on gasoline and providing a health benefit at the same time.

Try gardeningraking, weeding, and tilling will all give you exercise. If you have a small, level yard, consider a push mower. These mowers are quiet, cut the lawn beautifully, and give you exercise all at the same time.

Enlist a friend to join youhave fun together and stay motivated

Consider creating a home gym

More and more people are purchasing exercise equipment to use at home. The advantages include:

No wasted time traveling back and forth to the gym

Ability to use the equipment more often and at more convenient times

Increased chance of participation by all family members

Here are some tips in selecting equipment:

Determine what goals you want to pursuestrength training, aerobic training or cardiovascular training before you look at equipment.
Buy sturdy, quality equipment from known manufacturers.
Purchase equipment that will meet your needs now and as you improve
Buy from a reputable retailer, who has a large selection, low prices, and stands behind their products. For an excellent example for home gyms (click here) and other fitness equipment.

Reduce Stress

The good news is that by eating a healthier diet and exercising more frequently, you will have already taken two of the most important steps to helping your body fight stress.

Obviously sources of stress are a personal matter. Be alert to chronic stress you have trouble managing. This can sometimes lead to more serious conditions for both men and women, such as depression. If you feel you are having trouble coping, it is best to talk with your doctor.

If on the other hand, you have the everyday level of stress most of us face, you may want to try these stress-reducing tips:

Make time for family and friends

Avoid stressful thoughts by not listening or watching the news first thing in the morning and last thing at night

Try listening to music or practicing meditation

Take vitamins B6 and B12they are excellent for fighting the effects of stress and most adults dont get enough of these important vitamins.

How can I get started on a healthier lifestyle?

If you are not living as healthy a life as you want right now, you may be wondering how you will find the time and the resources to make changes.

The good news is you dont have to make all the changes at once, but do resolve to make some improvements. Time is always an issue, but time taken to improve your health will yield big improvements in many other areas of your life.

There has never been a better time to start, because thanks to the Internet you can purchase quality heath care products and equipment, quickly and efficiently and save money too! Heres a link to get you started with weight loss programs and healthy living.

About the Author

Colin McDougall is a successful freelance writer providing valuable advice for people seeking weight loss programs and vitamins. Visit http://www.weight-loss-and-nutritional-supplements.com and http://www.vitamins-source.com for more articles. He also offers other health and exercise related sites such as http://www.a1-hockey-equipment.com and http://www.paint-ball-gun-reviews.com. His numerous articles offer several healthy living tips.

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Are you interested in losing weight? If you are, you may be in the process of developing a weight loss plan for yourself. For many individuals, a weight loss plan is a guide that they can follow and one that may help to give them motivation. If this is your first time developing a weight loss plan for yourself, it is important that you place a focus on exercise, as exercise is important component of weight loss.

Although it is nice to hear that exercise is an important part of a weight loss plan, you may be wondering exactly why that is. For your body to lose weight, you must see a reduction in your calorie intake. The amount of calories that you need to reduce, in order to lose weight, will all depend on your current weight and your hopeful weight loss goal. Unfortunately, this is where many individuals automatically assume that they cant eat three meals a day and many actually just stop eating. This is not only dangerous to your health, but it can be deadly.

Instead of reducing your calorie intake by solely limiting the amount of foods that you eat, you can use exercise to your advantage. By exercising, you burn off calories. These are calories in which your body can use to help you lose weight. If you have a specific weight loss goal, like one that involves losing at least twenty pounds, you may want to focus on fun exercises or workouts, but also ones that burn the most calories. Adding exercise to your weight loss plan is a natural and a healthy way to lose weight.

Since it is important to incorporate to exercise into your weight loss plan, you may be wondering how you can go about doing so. In all honestly, there are an unlimited number of ways that you can go about using exercise to help you lose weight. For starters, you can buy a collection, even just a small collection, of exercise equipment. Exercise equipment can include items such as exercise balls, weights, a treadmill, a stair climber, and so forth. Even if you have limited financial resources, you should be able to find a number of exercise equipment pieces that are within your budget.

Although you should be able to find a number of exercise equipment pieces, including instructional workout DVDs, for affordable prices, you may be looking to limit your weight loss plan investments. If that is the case, you may want to take the time to examine your local gyms or fitness clubs. While some fitness clubs and gyms have relatively high membership fees, you can also find a number of them with affordable membership rates. It is also important to mention that many fitness clubs and gyms are open accommodating hours, often making it easy to exercise before work, after work, or even during a lunch break of yours.

Despite the fact that exercise is often associated with exercise equipment, like a treadmill, that is not all that exercise is about. Exercise can also involve something simple like going for a walk or taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work. If you would prefer to exercise, for free, in your spare time, you may want to consider finding an exercise buddy. This is a person who can workout with you, even if it just involves walking around your local shopping mall. Not only can you make a new friend or strengthen your relationship with one of your current friends, having an exercise buddy or an exercise partners often means that you are more likely to stick with your weight loss plan and achieve your weight loss goals.

As outlined above, it is extremely important that you incorporate exercise into your weight loss plan, especially if you are serious about losing weight and wish to do so in a healthy matter. With multiple ways to go about incorporating exercise into your weight loss plan, there really isnt any excuse for not doing so.

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Are you looking to lose weight? If you are, there is a good chance that you will start your own weight loss program. When many individuals start their own weight loss programs, they do so with the help of a number of weight loss products, like diet pills or exercise equipment. If you are interested in buying these types of weight loss products, you need to always be on the lookout of scams, as they do exist.

When it comes to weight loss products, like exercise equipment and diet pills, many people automatically wonder how they can tell if they are being scammed. Unfortunately, you often cannot tell by reading an advertisement in a magazine or online or by watching a television infomercial or even by looking at the weight loss product in question. The best way to determine if the weight loss product you are interested in buying is really worth your money is to do research first.

When it comes to researching weight loss products, there are a number of different ways that you can go about determining if the product or products you want to buy are worth the cost. One of the easiest ways to go about doing so is by visiting the online websites of retailers that allow their customers or the general public to rate or review their products. Many consumers like to alert others to a product that is a waste of money or even alert others to a product that is well worth the cost. If you are able to find weight loss product reviews, you are advised to read them.

When reading weight loss product reviews, like product reviews for diet pills or exercise equipment, it is important to remember that no product is perfect. Even the best products, like the ones that come highly rated and recommended, will have a few bad reviews. What you need to be cautious of is any weight loss product that has more bad reviews than it does good reviews. This is a surefire sign that the weight loss product in question may not be worth your money.

You can also find product reviews or just specific weight loss products being discussed by performing a standard internet search. When performing a standard internet search, you will want your search phrase to be the name of the weight loss product in question. Your standard internet search may lead you to online message boards where weight loss and other health issues are being discussed. These types of websites and message boards are a great way to also learn about weight loss products that you may not have otherwise came across.

Another way that you can determine if you are being scammed, by a weight loss product, is by examining the online website of the product distributor or manufacturer. When you buy a diet pill or another weight loss supplement, you should be provided with as much information as possible. Be cautious of any product whose website only claims to help you lose weight, but doesnt explain how it is done. The same can be said for exercise equipment.

Another great way that you can determine if the weight loss products you are interested in buying are worth the money is by speaking with your doctor. Often times, you dont even have to schedule a visit; a telephone call should get you the answers that you were looking for. Most doctors can let you know if a weight loss pill or supplement that you are interested in buying is worth the money. If they cant tell you about the specific product in question, there is a good chance that they can at least review the ingredients with you. For exercise equipment, your physician may also be able to provide you with advice.

Of course, if you have the money to spend on weight loss products, you may be interested in going ahead and buying the product or products in question anyways. That is fine to do, but you also need to remember that many weight loss products, especially the ones featured on television infomercials are priced relatively high.

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Tags: exercise equipment;, Healthy Diet, internet search;, Losing Weight, loss products;, online message;, online website;, online websites;, physician, product distributor;, search phrase;, weight loss product;, weight loss products; —

Are you interested in losing weight and improving your appearance? If you are, you should know the importance of exercise. Exercise burns off calories, which reduces your calorie intake, which, in turn, makes it possible for you to lose weight.

If this is the first time that you have decided to seriously try to lose weight, you may be looking to buy exercise equipment for yourself. If you are, you will want to continue reading on. Below, a few popular pieces of exercise equipment that you may look into buying are outlined.

One piece of exercise equipment that you may want to look into buying is that of a treadmill. Treadmills are, perhaps, the most well-known piece of exercise equipment available. What is nice about treadmills is that they come in a number of different styles. For instance, you can find treadmills that are powdered by electricity and then treadmills that are powdered by your own walking. This is nice as it often results in treadmills being available for a wide range of prices. Whether you have one hundred dollars to spend on a treadmill or one thousand dollars, you should be able to find a treadmill for your home weight loss plan.

Another piece of exercise equipment that you may want to look into buying, for your at-home weight loss plan, is that of an elliptical machine. Elliptical machines are nice, as they often combine multiple exercises. More advanced elliptical machines, also commonly referred to as deluxe elliptical machines, often given you an upper body workout and a lower body workout as well. Elliptical machines are often referred to as combination stair climbers and ski machines.

An exercise bike is another popular piece of exercise equipment that you may want to think about buying for your at-home weight loss program. Like an elliptical machine, there are many exercise bikes that give you an upper body and a lower body workout. These are points to take into consideration, should you decide to buy an exercise bike for yourself. Like treadmills, exercise bikes come in a number of different formats and styles; therefore, they are sold for a wide range of prices.

One piece of exercise equipment that you may not necessarily think about buying, but one that you should examine is that of a trampoline. When it comes to trampolines, you will find that they come in a number of different formats. For instance, it is possible to find larger size trampolines, ones that are ideal for backyards and often associated with recreational play. While these trampolines can also be used for exercise, there are smaller, mini trampolines that are designed for exercises, as well as indoor use. These types of trampolines are often fun, exciting, and affordable.

The above mentioned pieces of exercise equipment are ones that are often larger in size and occasionally more expensive. If you are looking for more affordable pieces of exercise equipment or more compact pieces, you still have an unlimited number of products to choose from. For instance, there are yoga and Pilates items that are often affordable and small in size. Exercise balls and resistance bands are popular items that you may want to take the time to examine. There are also weight sets that you can buy or you can buy a few individuals weights to use at home. When it comes to exercising at home, your options are, literally, unlimited.

When it comes to buying exercise equipment for yourself, you will find that you have a number of different options. You can shop locally or online. Exercise equipment is sold at sports stores, as well as traditional department stores. If you are on a budget, you may want to look into buying used exercise equipment. Used exercise equipment can often be found on online auction websites, in thrift stores, and at yard sales.

As outlined above, there are a number of different exercise equipment pieces that you can use to help you lose weight at home. Whether you choose to buy some of the pieces outlined above or something else, you are sure to have a fun and exciting time working to achieve your weight loss goal.

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