Fitness/Exercise:

We all have the desire to feel good and look good…to get into shape, but most of us share the same problem of knowing where to start.  So to help out here are some simple tips to follow that will help get you on your way to a healthier tomorrow….the 5 “F’s” of Fitness.

  1. Form
    Always use good form.  This helps prevent injury and helps to best isolate the muscle groups you are working.  The form to use is “Military Posture”; head up, shoulders back, back straight and tummy tight.
  2. Fatigue
    In order for the body systems to improve, you must give them reason to…you must stress them (fatigue them).  The body is VERY efficient.  It adapts to the stressed placed upon it.  If we do challenging things..we get in better shape.  If we do easy things (don’t exercise) we get out of shape.  Our body is constantly adapting to those stressed placed upon it, so in order to get into better shape you must challenge your body’s systems by fatiguing them.  When you are done exercising you should feel tired; your muscles should be fatigued.
  3. Frequency
    As mentioned above, the body is very efficient by adapting to the stress placed upon it….frequently.  You can’t work out 1x a week or every other week and expect for things to improve.  A frequency of 3x per week of vigorous exercise is needed to promote physical change.  Your body is simply improving its condition because you are forcing it to.
  4. Function
    In order to have a long lasting exercise program that keeps you mentally interested, it should be aimed at a “function”…some activity (recreational or other) that you have strong interest in.  We all know that we should exercise because it is the healthy thing to do; however, most of the time that isn’t enough to hold our interest.  So find some sport, family activity, or other interest you have and develop your exercise program around it.  Life is about activity and movement; protect your life style by training for (getting in shape for) what you love.
  5. Food (fuel)
    Food is the fuel we need to repair the muscle damage that we create during workouts.  Without proper nutrition we do not benefit as well from our workouts and one can find that even though they are consistently working out they are not making sufficient gains; they plateau which becomes very frustrating.  Muscles are comprised of protein filaments and hence need protein to help repair the damage.  If the body doesn’t get the protein it needs from our diet, it simply draws the protein needed to make the repairs from other muscle groups.

 

Nutrition

There is a lot of information about nutrition and numerous diets on the market that boast to be the best; however, when first starting out we need to have some basics that we can follow until we can better find out what may be best for us.  A few basic tips to follow are:

  1. Drink Water
    Most individuals go through the day dehydrated; we don’t drink enough water.  We often supplement our diet with coffee, tea, or soda; all of which have additional calories, and contribute to dehydration.
  2. Up with the Good and Down with the bad
    We all “generally” know what foods are good for us and which ones are bad.  A great starting  point for changing your eating habits is to INCREASE the amounts of food that you eat that are good for you and DECREASE the amounts of foods that you know are bad for you.  This doesn’t involve complex calorie counting, but simply putting your attention on eating more of one and less of another.
  3. Avoid “eliminating” things you love from your diet. (Moderation)
    The best way to set a diet up for failure is to fully eliminate some of the things you love to eat.  We all have those foods that “just taste good” but we know are bad for us.  Have a day of the week where you can reward yourself with a treat.  This simple action can keep you on track with your diet.  If you say, “I can never eat it”…you will feel very guilty when you do and this can cause you to drop the diet, binge or feel unsuccessful.  Build the treat into your week.

These a very basic tips to help get you started, but many people have lost lots of unwanted weight simply by using the top 3 tips.