Everyone wants to live a healthy life, but achieving this goal can be challenging. This guide will give you the tools and tips to help you achieve your health and fitness goals!
The Ultimate Guide to Fitness and Healthy Living is an authoritative reference that helps you apply research-based guidance to your unique health and fitness needs.
Getting Started
Getting started with your new fitness program can feel overwhelming, but don’t worry – you’re not alone. Many people struggle to find time for exercise, and some are nervous about injury or losing their motivation.
The key to a successful fitness plan is to start with a solid foundation. It’s also helpful to have quantifiable goals.
A great way to achieve this is to set up a training plan that includes the right amount of time and intensity for you. This can help keep you on track and avoid the dreaded “I’ve had enough” moment.
Another good idea is to make sure you have a cool down session after your main workout. This will help prevent stiffness, aches and pains later on. It also demonstrates that you’re serious about your fitness goals. The most important thing is to stay motivated! It’s not impossible to get fit, it just takes a little planning and hard work.
Setting Goals
Goals are a great way to stay motivated and achieve success with any healthy lifestyle change. They can be set in a variety of ways, such as focusing on a single eating or activity behaviour, making a small change to your current habits or creating mini-goals that are easy to manage.
The key to setting a successful fitness goal is to create one that is meaningful to you and relevant to your current lifestyle. For example, if you want to exercise more because you have a wedding to attend or because you’re pregnant and want to feel stronger, it is more relevant than a goal like “I want to lose weight.”
If you’ve never exercised before, it’s a good idea to set an attainable but realistic goal. For example, instead of aiming to do a certain number of workouts each week, try doing a few more, says Lindsay Ogden, a NASM-certified personal trainer at Life Time.
Staying Motivated
One of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle is being consistently motivated. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or tone up, it takes a lot of hard work and commitment.
Fortunately, there are several strategies that can help you stay motivated and on track to reach your goals!
Start with your attitude. Instead of seeing exercise as a chore, something that’s too much work, an excuse not to do or just a drag on your day, see it as part of self-care and a way to improve your health.
Change things up – switch up your workouts and cycle through different types of cardio and resistance training within the week. This will keep your body from getting bored and make it more likely that you’ll stick with your fitness routine for long periods of time.
Another strategy that can help you stay motivated is to set up a friendly competition. Seeing someone else’s run time or personal record can boost your own motivation and push you to improve.
Staying Healthy
The key to staying healthy is taking a proactive approach. That means maintaining a healthy diet, getting adequate exercise and getting enough sleep at night.
In addition, good personal hygiene is crucial. Wash your hands often, especially after using the bathroom and before eating or making food.
It’s also important to get 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity, like brisk walking. Strength training, which is also recommended, can help improve balance, bone health, blood sugar control and mobility.
You may want to keep track of your progress with our well-being bingo boards, which you can download from the link below.
Keeping a healthy diet includes making fruits, vegetables and whole grains a staple in your everyday meals. Try to cut back on red meat and processed foods and consume extra-virgin olive oil, which is rich in antioxidants.