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Tennessee with over a decade of clinical experience. Team Building, and Critical Care Nursing. There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. How marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback.

This article has been viewed 277,237 times. Becoming healthy is a process that involves time, commitment, and a willingness to change. However, with some dedication you can start building habits you can feel good about. Exercising your body through formal fitness routines or simply through being more active throughout the day is beneficial to your health.

Regular exercise is one of the most important steps toward a healthy body and mind, with innumerable benefits such as a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s,type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancers. Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. You should strive for some form of physical activity each day. You don’t necessarily have to hit the gym seven days a week. Simply look for opportunities to be active at least 20 or 30 minutes each day, such as parking father away or choosing to walk somewhere instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking your dog for long walks, etc. You will still get a lot of health benefits through daily moderate exercise.

Choose an activity that’s convenient and that you enjoy. If you love long walks, take your dog for a brisk 30 minute walk each night. If you love biking, consider biking to work each day instead of driving. Try aerobic classes, Zumba, pilates, or high-intensity training. Carrying too much or too little body fat can affect our health in many ways. Being underweight is also not ideal for your health.

It’s important to find a comfortable and healthy balance for your frame and height. Speak with your doctor for guidance as to where you fall on that spectrum. One tool that can determine if you need to gain or lose weight by discovering your BMI. If you are overweight or underweight, talk to your doctor about a weight loss or weight gain plan. You gain or lose weight by eating more or less calories than you consume each day.

Food labels and online nutrition calculators can help you assess the amount of calories in your food. You can also use online calculators to estimate how many calories a given activity burns for you considering your height and weight. While being overweight or underweight is not healthy for your body, it is also unhealthy to make very sudden or drastic changes to your diet. Remember that weight gain and loss both require a slow, gradual, and consistent change to your diet and exercise routine in order to be safe and healthy for you. Exercise all of your muscle groups.

However, a truly healthy body needs to exercise both sets of muscles. Include aerobic and strength training workouts in your routine. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly. Moderate aerobic activity would include things like walking or light cycling.

Vigorous activity would include things like jogging, running, and intense cycling. You should incorporate strength training twice a week. Strength training can come in the form of lifting weights or engaging in activities like Pilates, which forces you to use your body as a weight to strengthen and tone core muscles. While exercise is necessary for a healthy body, if you don’t follow certain precautions and exercise correctly, you put your body at risk for injuries. Make sure you treat your body with respect when working out. Do not try to go from a sedentary lifestyle to working out at the gym five days a week. You should sip water throughout your workouts.

Becoming dehydrated can lead to dizziness or headaches during your sweat session. Have a rest day between strength training workouts. Having someone to walk or jog with or take group fitness classes with at the local gym can be motivational. It can also help by providing you with someone you know that can watch for signs that you are overdoing it.

In the early stages of working toward a healthier lifestyle, you must assess what you are currently eating. If you notice any unhealthy habits, strive to make changes to your diet. For a week or so, write down every food that you eat. Get a rough sense of how many calories you’re eating.