by: William Winch
The quality and the length of your life is vastly influenced by how you live. If you stuff your face with junk food at every meal, you will probably live a shortened, lower quality life. Lots of doctor visits, medications and problems. Conversely, if you live like a health nut, you will probably live a high quality life with lots of energy and optimism.
For people who are obese, living a high quality life seems unattainable. So much work is involved that most people just can not find the courage to re-invent themselves...so they give up. What they may not realize is that there is a safe middle ground where they can be healthy without spending all day exercising and eating fruits and vegetables.
It is not about how many crunches you can do, or how fast you can run a mile. It is not about eating rice cakes instead of chocolate bars and it is not about starving yourself to the point where you almost pass out from trying to function on an empty tank of gas. It is about making small changes that make the most difference in your lifestyle.
Healthy Tips #1: Diet And Nutrition
Having had chronic asthma my entire life, I could not exercise. Most people take for granted the one thing I would have loved to physically be able to do. Once I began providing my body with proper nutrition, however, miracles began to happen. Not only did I lose 70 pounds (and have kept if off for over 15 years now), but I am now medication free, I can exercise and have a high quality life.
The key here though is that I lost weight and got healthy without exercise. I still eat, but I modified my diet to include a soy-based meal replacement shake once or even twice a day. I know what you are thinking. How can I enjoy a bland shake instead of yummy meal? Because the shake is delicious and it makes me feel good afterwards...not only physically but mentally.
Healthy Tips #2: Exercise
You do not have to be one of these power lifters who spend 10 hours a day at the gym to achieve healthy weight loss. You do not even need to work out for an hour. Simply move more. Park at the back of the parking lot instead of driving around waiting to get a space up close to the door. Exercise is not necessary but if a little bit is added to your day, it can accellerate your weight loss efforts and allow you to live a healthier life.
Remember sit-ups and push-ups? Haven't heard those scary words in a long time I bet. Words cannot describe how much better I look and feel since I began doing these two exercise before going to sleep and when I wake up in the morning. I'm not talking about 100 each here. 20 each. That is it. It does not even take 5 minutes. Now I can not even think of resting until I do them. Why? Because I made a small lifestyle change for the better.
Healthy Tips #3: Smoking And Drinking
Make a decision now to eliminate one of these (or both if you are smart) and you will be well on your way to not only losing weight but promoting a high qualify life. Everyone knows it is not OK to smoke. You were not born with a need to pollute your lungs with tar or dehydrate your brain until it is shriveled up like a styrophoam peanut. People do it to fit in while other people and all it does is bring you down to their level. You are better than that.
Healthy Tips #4: Stress
When you reduce the amount of stress in your life, you will be amazed at how easy it is to lose weight in a healthy way. Write down eveything that you think is giving you stress on a daily basis. No, you should not go out and quit your job..but you can always look for a different job that is less stressful. Do not let other people think they can tie you down and control you. This is America and you are free to live without stress and have a high quality life.
The more people are stressed out, the more they seek out comfort foods that are no good for them. Want to feel better? Have your favorite cookie! Then regret it afterwards and feel even worse that you did before! Had a bad day at work? You deserve a fatty meal at the Cheesecake Factory! Then you can walk into work the next day weighing even more and feeling worse about yourself. See how this is a vicious cycle that can be broken by simply avoiding stressful situations?
The conservative American Medical Association has stated that 60% of deaths before age 65 are preventable, usually by simple life style changes. I have listed four of the most important ones above. Start making small changes in each of these areas and you will begin to become the person you always wanted to be. It does not have to be a mountain you must climb to achieve your dreams but rather a few small hills to walk over for a high quality life.
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