Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Get Back in Shape

If you are overweight or just a little pudgy, it is time to get back in shape using the one-two punch of healthy eating and an active lifestyle. With proper nutrition, and at least a moderate schedule of cardio and strength training, you could find yourself enjoying a healthier – and happier – life in a matter of weeks.

Here are a few tips for getting back on the road to wellness.

Diet and Nutrition

Pay attention to when you eat, as well as what you eat. According to studies, our metabolism slows as much as five percent per decade after we reach age 40. To keep your metabolism at a steady burn, eat frequent small meals. To lose weight and get back in shape, plan to eat five or six small meals throughout the day to keep your internal engine constantly burning and your metabolism up.

Eating in moderation is key. Though you should eat more often, that doesn’t mean eat more. Skip a few hundred calories from your diet each day, and the weight will come off faster. To do this: cut back on food portions, and avoid foods that are loaded with sugar and fat, especially sweets and fried foods. The best diet for losing weight will consist of lean protein, things like skinless white chicken, fish, egg whites, and protein shakes.

What you do in the kitchen is as important as the gym. Keep in mind that weight loss is about 70% diet and 30% exercise. You can’t spend hours in the gym thinking you will sweat off the pounds so you can go home afterwards and pig out. Exercise to burn off calories must include a reduction in calories to get back in shape.

Activity and Exercise

After dieting, the other important thing to do is to get more active. You don’t have to take up jogging but you do have to do more things to make the day more physically challenging such as take the stairs at work whenever possible, parking farther away at the store, and doing more house and yard work. But the best thing is to add 2 ½ hours a week of moderate exercise to your schedule.

Don’t like to exercise? Take up walking! To get in shape fast, go on brisk walks daily or at least four or five times a week. Walking burns calories at any speed but a brisk walk will get your heart pumping and give you a better cardio workout. If you can burn 100 calories or more per 16-minute mile, with a goal of 35-miles per week (5 to 6 miles a day, 6 to 7 days a week), you can burn an extra 3,500 calories a week, which would equal a one pound weight loss.

Another good tip is to find 20 minutes, three times a week, in your schedule for strength training. Muscles aren’t going to get back in shape by themselves, and even if you are a strong person, your muscles will never be able to show through layers of fat. Bodyweight exercises (using your own body as the resistance weight) will help to burn off the fat, and like walking, doing them doesn’t require a gym membership or a full home gym. These workouts include crunches, sit-ups, pull-ups, planks, bridges, lunges, squats, and so on.

To get back in shape quickly, add moderate cardio sessions of about an hour for three times a week. If you have a gym or club located nearby, try out the treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, arc trainers, and other aerobic machines. Pick your own pace and try the variety of challenging workouts each machine has to offer.

Next, add some vigorous activity to your schedule. Just as it is suggested that you do moderate activity at least 2 ½ hours a week, it is also recommended that you do some type of vigorous activity at least 1 ½ hours a week if you possibly can. This would mean something that would cause you to work up a sweat: do this on the elliptical machine, play an intense game of singles tennis, a pick-up game of basketball, attend a couple of hour-long spinning classes, or do any activity that gets your heart rate up to 75 to 85 percent of max for an extended period.

Finally, flexibility training should also be included in your exciting new training program for a healthy, active lifestyle. Add some stretching exercises to your workouts to help you feel and look better. Becoming more flexible will help you with coordination and balance as well as help to prevent injuries while you train to get back in shape. There are good and bad techniques for stretching so be sure to get some tips from a trainer before starting out.

About the Author:

Kevin Urban is the editor of TreadmillTalk.com, the web’s premier site for treadmill reviews & comparisons – Check out our best treadmill buys in four different categories

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