According to Wellness International Network Ltd., 58 million Americans are overweight, 40 million are obese and 3 million are morbidly obese. Let's face it, America, we have to change our lifestyles! Let's take a look at some ways to do that.
Let's begin by looking at what we eat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends daily requirements of certain food groups. For example, they recommend that we consume 3-5 servings of vegetables a day and 2-4 servings of fruit each day. That may sound like a lot, but it really isn't. For example, you could have a protein and fruit smoothie for breakfast which consists of, of course protein, blueberries and bananas. This breakfast, alone, coveres the daily fruit requirement. You could have a salad for lunch consisting of 3 vegetables and your vegetable requirement would be covered. Get the idea? Take a look at the USDA's food pyramid to see what other food groups they recommend and the daily requirements for them.
Now, let's take a look at your activity level. After a hard day of work, who wants to be active, right? It is up to you; it's your choice. You can choose to continue to be unhealthy and shorten your lifespan, or you can become more active. Being more active does not necessarily mean starting an exercise regimen. What it does mean is taking steps to put more activity in your life. Just making that change, alone, will result in weight loss.
Examples of adding more activity to you lifestyle include parking your car further away from where you work so that you walk a little further. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is another way. Instead of hiring a lawn service to groom your lawn, why don't you take a stab at it? Make it a family effort on a Saturday morning, and it might turn out to be fun! These are just a few examples, I'm sure you can thing of other ways to add activity to your lifestyle.
Finally, developing a healthy self-perception is also a part of a healthy lifestyle. Learn to be content with who you are and what you have accomplished. If you are not there, do something about it.
2012 is here! This is your year to become healthier! Let us know how you are doing. We would love to hear from you.
