This is the second post in
my series of Ten Lifestyle Goals for Healthy Living. We all want to be healthy, so that we can enjoy life to its fullest. In my first post, I talked about getting
enough sleep every day, so that we can feel rested and have enough energy to
cope with the demands of our daily lives. If you haven't read it, here's a link to read Part 1 If your body doesn't get enough sleep, you are not going to feel your best, and prolonged sleep deprivation can cause all sorts of health problems. So if you don't have a good sleep pattern, you need to get that sorted out first!
The second important goal to attain a healthy lifestyle is to get adequate physical exercise by participating in regular moderate to vigourous
activity. In previous blogs, I’ve
written that a even a moderate activity
program will give you many health benefits, such as better weight control, a
reduction in your risk of getting certain diseases such as cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.
Exercising regularly can strengthen your muscles and bones, and it can
improve your mental health, your ability to cope with the demands of
daily living and it increases your chances of living longer. Even though most of us know and understand just how important it is to exercise, many of us don't make the time to do it for various reasons. The most common reason is not finding time to exercise because our days are busy and our exercise plan gets bumped down to the bottom of our "to do" list. But let's look at it this way .... There are 168 hours in a week. If you sleep 8
hours a day, that leaves 112 hours left. If
you work 8 hours a day, five days a week, that leaves 56 hours left for your “spare time”. If your goal is to exercise three times a
week for 60 minutes each time, that still leaves you 53 hours a week to pursue
other activities. Three hours a week of
exercise is less than 1% of your total spare time! Isn’t your health and well-being deserving of
that little bit of time?!
The best thing
to do is to start out slowly – aim for 30 minutes of exercise three times per
week to start with. Be sure to include
some strengthening exercise as part of your regime to help maintain a healthy,
lean body. Stretching is important too,
so allow ten minutes to stretch well at the end of every exercise session. If you haven’t
been exercising regularly for awhile, then your body is going to be out of
shape. Don’t give up too soon! It’s easy to get discouraged with the
difficulty of getting physically fit and it may take three to four weeks or longer
for your body to begin to feel better and adjust to the new exercise
program. In the long run, however, you
will feel better and you’ve just taken a great step forward in achieving a
healthy lifestyle! So don't procrastinate any further! Go get some comfy
clothes on, put on your exercise shoes, and get active! There’s no time like the present, so start
today exercising today - and you will soon be on your way to achieving a healthier lifestyle.
Photos by Stirling Images Photography
No comments:
Post a Comment