Five Effective Ways to Improve your Health in 2011

Health is one of those nice things to do. That’s why it goes together with New Year’s Resolutions. You make a claim for things you want to change, but ignore it the moment after it is spoken. Perhaps you’re a little better than that, and so you decide to jump in headstrong at the local gym for a week or three. Soon your trips start to decline from everyday to three times a week, until you wondering why you’re wasting your time and money since you only see the weight room at best once a week. That’s the process everyone goes through. You make a lofty goal and then charge full steam ahead right at it. You burn out and start wondering why you even began. This makes it ever so much more difficult to start over again, because you can always recall the last attempt’s failure as a reason to ignore it.

How do you fix this attitude? How do we get around the pressures of a society that expects instant gratification? As a nation we want things done as quickly as possible, and that is a proper attitude until you realize that some things quickest possibility may take months if not years to accomplish. If we treated exercise as an institution, much like education, then we can properly see an incline. You don’t start learning calculus until you’ve mastered addition. Take on your health in the same fashion and you’ll come up with a reasonable process towards accomplishing practical goals. First get a hold of your basics, then you can worry about the complexities of a rigorous diet and exercise plan, but as a place to start lets choose five effective ways to improve your health. These five will include simple techniques such as limiting your sugar containing drinks, getting a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity in each day, planning ahead to make sure each day has a healthy approach, making a conscious effort to stay away from unconscious eating, and also, keep track of proper portion sizing. A healthy start, with achievable goals, allows for everyone to find a comfort level while building these habits as a foundation towards a healthier life.

Limit Sugar Containing Drinks
The simplest way to cut back on calories is by limiting your sugar containing drinks. One 12 oz can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories. Now 150 calories doesn’t sound like too much but by drinking just one extra can of soda each day above your calorie limit, you may gain 15 pounds of weight in a year. If you drink one can of soda each day, you are eating about 35 pounds of sugar in a year. This also goes for fruit drinks, sweetened tea, Gatorade, or any drink that has roughly the same amount of calories and sugar as a regular soda. When you drink these drinks they are not as satisfying as solid foods and some people do not realize that there are calories in beverages and drinking too many calories can make you gain weight just like eating too much solid food can. But, if you exchange your regular soda drinks for diet-soda, water, or other calorie-free drinks, you would not be adding all those extra calories and sugar to your diet and possibly will not gain the extra weight by drinking those extra calories.

At Least 30 Minutes of Physical Activity A Day
Next, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day. Sometimes the only way to make time for exercise is by treating it like a meeting, and once exercise becomes part of your daily “To-Do” list, you’re more likely to do it. Often people say they do not have time to exercise but those same people have time to spend an hour checking email, talking on their telephone, watching TV, playing on the computer, etc. You don’t have to spend every bit of your leisure time exercising; you can still get positive results with as little as 10-15 minutes at a time. If you lay out your clothes for work the night before and make your lunch for the next day, then in the morning you just opened up about 10-15 minutes to take a brisk walk in the morning. Then lunchtime or your coffee breaks would be another great opportunity to take a step away from your busy day in order to get in another quick 10-15 minute walk. Then after dinner take another 10-15 minute walk and you will have your 30 minutes or more of exercise in for the day.
Some other tips to sneak exercise in during the day include: during your lunch break you could bring dumb-bells to work, do sit-ups or push-ups or any other office appropriate exercises. Buy a pedometer and wear it while you work and try to get 10,000 Steps/day (The goal of taking 10,000 steps in a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General's recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. It should be enough to reduce your risk for chronic diseases and help you lead a longer, healthier life). TV watching time can also be exercise time. If you did some exercises during every commercial that would equal about 15 minutes of activity during a one hour show. Take the stairs instead of the elevator; park your car further away; walk a little faster and farther between stores while shopping; or walk on the beach instead of laying there (you will still get your tan and you will get in your exercise at the same time!). Choose whichever way works best for you. The more energetic the activity, the more calories you will use. The main thing is just remember to actually go and do it.

Plan Ahead
In order to succeed in weight loss or living a healthier lifestyle you need to plan and be organized. Take 5-10 minutes the night before or in the morning and pack your lunch so you are not rushing into last minute decisions or running to vending machines or fast food restaurants. Prepare salads and cut up fruit and vegetables the night before for quick healthy snacks. Check out restaurant’s websites or places you often eat before you go in order to make healthier food choices. Make a grocery list for your planned meals and stick to it. Break the habit of just throwing unhealthy foods into your shopping carts. Bring a healthy snack wherever you go. Carry fresh fruit and vegetables, almonds, pretzels, whole-grain crackers, or whatever healthy snack you like in your bag. When you plan regular meals and snacks it is much easier to eat healthier.

Be Aware of Unconscious Eating
Be aware of unconscious eating. Make eating a single activity. Eat all your meals at the same place and while sitting down at the kitchen table. Do not do anything else while eating, don’t watch TV, read or do office work because this leads to the unconscious eating and extra calories without realizing it. I am sure many of us could agree that we’ve sat there watching TV and just ate out of a big bag of chips without even thinking how many chips we’re actually were eating. Instead of eating out of the bag, measure and package snacks to serving sizes, Ziploc baggies work well; this also helps with the mindlessly grabbing handfuls that may equal more than a portion size.

Watch Portion Sizes
Portion control may be one of the biggest factors causing the rising rate of obesity in this country. The Super-Sizing of American food has caused many of us to suffer from “Portion-Distortion”. The biggest nutrition problem in America is not what we eat but how much we eat. The key to healthy eating is to downsize your portions. Use measuring cups, spoons, and a food scale to help you learn about the portion sizes you eat. Learn to stop eating before you are stuffed. You can still enjoy your favorite foods, just in moderation. Awareness of what you’re eating is what matters. Here is the bottom line: No matter what you eat, no matter how healthful it is, no matter what the label says (low-fat, low-sugar, low-carbohydrate), the bigger the size, the more calories it has. And if you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. It doesn’t matter how many carbohydrates you eat but what does matters is calories in verses calories out (energy balance).

Change takes time; pick one or two goals to work on first and once they become habit for you, then you can pick a few more to work on. Consistency is the key to successful weight loss so do not get discourage if you have a road block, just re-gather and find another way around your obstacle.