Top 10 Health And Fitness Tips

With increase in cases of cardio vascular and other lifestyle diseases, it is prudent to take the initiative to keep healthy and fit at all times. You will not only reduce the risk of contracting such diseases, but also enjoy your physical, social and mental well-being. Let us focus on the top 10 health and fitness tips.

1. Watch what you eat
The first thing that probably comes to your mind whenever health and fitness is mentioned is food. And this is what I will first emphasize. We find out that food is needed for virtually all functions of the human body. Not just food, but food with the right nutrients. The balance of the different ingredients is very vital in realizing maximum benefits from the food you eat.

Make sure to include proteins, carbohydrate and vitamins in your diet, particularly all your meals. Caution should however be taken on how much of these you consume. Too much of refined carbs is a sure way to increase your weigh. Therefore, cut on foods such as bread, pasta, rice flour and sugar.

In their place, add more fresh vegetables and fruits (celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, broccoli). The high fiber varieties are the best. These make your stomach feel full thus preventing the likelihood of overeating.

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Make sure to include lean proteins in your meals. These include fish, lean poultry, eggs, beans, green grams, etcetera.

2. Get enough vitamin D
Recent research has shown how vitamin D is important for weight loss. Vitamin D controls appetite and increases the metabolic activity of the fat cells. Other benefits of vitamin D include: boosting immunity, helping the body to better absorb calcium which is needed for strong bones, reducing inflammation and preventing some forms of cancer.

The most convenient source is the sun. Other sources include salmon, mackerel, tuna, fish liver oils, cheese, egg yolks and beef liver.

The recommended daily dose is 400 UI. Statistics have it that 75% of Americans are deficient of vitamin D. These figures may also be true for other areas of the globe. So make sure to include vitamin D in your diet and spend some time each day in the sun.

3. Drink more water
The importance of keeping your body hydrated at all times cannot be over emphasized. It is almost synonymous with staying healthy and energized.

First and foremost, drinking plenty water will save you the unnecessary hunger pangs that characterize most of our days. This in turn makes you eat less. You well know the unhealthy effects of overeating.

Water also boosts metabolism. A well hydrated body makes it easy for digestion of food and the distribution of the nutrients to the required cells in the body.

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The quantity of water needed per day varies from individual to individual depending on the kind of lifestyle they lead. The average rate is however 6-8 glasses per day, or rather one gallon. The best approach will be to start with two cups immediately after you wake up, then spread the rest along the day.

4. Live an active lifestyle
You will have to get off the couch if you want to remain fit and healthy. The long hours spent on the couch glued to the TV are quite detrimental to your health. Break such long periods of sitting through household activities that constantly keep you on the move. Wake up and do some general cleaning, rearrange the house, mow the lawn, trim the live hedge.

Consider carrying your shopping home instead of taking a cab. Do the gardening yourself instead of always hiring a farmhand. Go swimming with friends in lieu of watching movies for hours on end through the weekend.

Most importantly, walk, walk, walk! If you can do 10,000 steps per day you are on the right track. Avoid the temptation to drive all the time to whatever place you are visiting, be it the bank, grocery store or friend’s places.

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5. Engage in daily base exercises
Exercises make your heart fit, help you to lose weight, aids in food digestion, refreshes the mind, helps in proper function of the body organs, both internal and external, etcetera. This list is endless! Exercising is just so beneficial that you cannot avoid it.

You don’t necessarily have to enroll for some gym membership so as to keep fit. There are a myriad of exercises you can do at the comfort of your home. Rope skipping is probably the first you should try out. This is an aerobic exercise that improves your cardiovascular health, gives strength to your muscles as well as toning down your belly fat.

Squats, crunches and push-ups are another great way to exercise at home. Do these for 20 minutes or so each day. Consider running up and down the stairs every morning when you wake up.

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Strength exercises are likewise important and should be included in your daily workout plan. Invest in some weight lifting equipment to develop muscle strength.

Remember to start out small and increase the sets as you get accustomed to each of these exercises. It is a great idea to start the workout sessions with some bit of stretching. This prepares the body for the workout, prevents injury to the body and also helps in quick recovery.

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To keep you going, try varying your workout routine every other week. This way you are able to adapt to more difficult aspects as you go along. You may also want to break the workout session into short manageable portions, say 10 minutes each – it all adds up.

6. Don’t deprive your body of sleep
The night life in these modern times has much evolved. 24 hour economies are common place in virtually all nations. Night time is also surprisingly popular for socializing with family and friends. The mobility of the workplace also enables us to finish office work at home.

The temptations to spend the night awake are far too many. Nevertheless, for the sake of health and fitness, you will have to constrain yourself to sleep at least 7 hours each day. If you can do 8 the better!

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The more you sleep the slower the aging process in your body. Research has also shown that sleep assist individuals in their weight loss endeavors.

Sleep also works a long way in maintaining mental emotional stability. Try depriving yourself of sleep constantly and check your moods. Terrible, to say the least.

7. Get social
I have not known any better way to keep myself on track than sharing my health and fitness goals with my close friends. It just works like magic. Hook yourself up with two or three guys with whom you will be exercising. You will find yourself taking the whole thing with some high level of commitment as opposed to when you are alone.

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are perfect avenues for announcing your fitness goals to the public. You will be amazed how many people will offer the much needed advice and encouragement.

Do not stop here. Consider joining some local fitness club. Here you will meet invaluable friends who have similar interests. And that’s what we all need. Aside from the training sessions you attend together, the friends will work a long way in helping you develop a positive mindset regarding your health and fitness goals.

If you can, avoid boredom and isolation at all costs. These only lead to depression which may trigger other conditions like high blood pressure. Find real companions with whom you can walk through this life together. If you have a spouse, it is time to renew the intimacy you once shared. Make love passionately and you will be surprised at how your body and mind respond.

8. Cleanliness
Cleanliness alone will save you from a good number of epidemic diseases that may compromise your health. Water is the most obvious agent for cleanliness, so use it well. Maintain a high level of body hygiene on a daily basis. Brush your teeth at least twice a day and take a warm bath at least once a day. Make all your clothes clean by changing and washing on a regular basis.

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Make the home itself sparkling and fresh, not forgetting the compound at large. Trim all overgrown hedges around the house and drain all stagnant water. Keep the grass short and neatly mowed. You will realize how important the environment around you is to your health.

9. Find an underlying motivation as to why you want to be healthy and fit
The human mind is programed in such a manner that it needs constant reminder so as to stay true to any course of action. You have definitely seen ladies and gentlemen embarking on a health and fitness journey, only to call it quits and return to their old damaging ways. Embracing a healthy lifestyle is generally much harder than the alternative.

My take on this is that they simply lack motivation. Motivation is what will make you jump out of the bed with a determination to achieve your goals. You may be envying some certain celebrity in town and aspire to be like him/her. You may want an energized body like that of some popular sportsman. Your aim of losing weight may be to fit in some certain design of dresses. You may be keeping healthy so as to live up to a hundred years. Everyone is different. You will have to discover yourself. This is what will keep you moving even when the road seems tough. Do not quit.

10. Be consistent
The old adage that Rome was not built in a day holds true here. Your current weight was probably gained over a period of 10 years. It would be unfair to think that you can lose all that in one week.

Exercise patience in your journey to “perfect ” health and fitness. Sometimes it may take months to realize your goals. Also be consistent in all your efforts to keep fit and healthy, be it diet or exercise. Make it part of your daily routine and set it in your mind that this is a long term venture.

One good way to maintain consistency is by being moderate. Moderate here means not overdoing a particular exercise or restricting yourself too much on some foods.

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For instance, if it is push-ups, start with a mere 10 per day, then increase gradually as you get comfortable with the moves. It would be unwise to do 200 on the first day then get so worn out that you take a 1 week break before resuming.

Food wise, it is not bad to treat yourself to some junk once in a while. Complete deprivation of sweet foods may lead to binging once the crave surpasses your will.

Final words
You will find these tips very helpful in your journey to good health and fitness. Remember it takes dedication, preparation and motivation to embrace a healthy active lifestyle. You may want to drops some comment below or share these secret tips with a friend. Feel free.

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