PHYSICAL

FITNESS
 HEALTHY
LIFESTYLE
GUIDELINES
Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Nutrition and Food
Balance your meals.
Have protein, healthy carbohydrate, fat and vegetables
and/fruit at each meal.
Healthy Carbohydrates include brown rice, whole wheat
breads, pastas and crackers, starchy vegetables like sweet
potatoes, parsnips and potatoes, quinoa, millet, amaranth.
Eat three meals plus snacks. Snacks keep your energy going
until meal time and reduce your chances of over eating at
meals.
 The benefits of being active for physical and
mental health are huge. Being active helps
release chemicals in your brain (endorphins),
which have a positive effect on your
mood, not to mention the benefits to your
heart, lungs, muscles and bones. Getting out
and being active is also a great way to
manage stress.
Regular physical activity can help you reduce
the risk of developing diabetes, high blood
pressure, heart disease and cancer. For
children and young people being active helps
reduce their risk of developing these diseases
in later life too. Increased levels of physical
activity will help reduce body fat and
maintain a healthy weight.
Body Maintenance: Be nice to your body and pay
attention to what it needs
Eat enough every day — not eating enough tells your
body to conserve calories and energy, and so the
next time you eat more of the energy will be
retained rather than being properly used.
Hydrate – Dehydration makes you feel tired.
Caffeine and alcohol are very dehydrating. Balance
caffeine or alcohol consumption with non-
caffeinated, non-alcoholic fluids.
Sleep – Sleep deprivation increases appetite (and often body
weight) and decreases brain function. So proper sleep helps
your energy, weight maintenance and your ability to think
and concentrate.
Exercise – Try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, three
times a week – it can even be split up into 10 minute walks.
The effects of brief physical exertion last much longer than
those of caffeine, and exercise decreases stress rather than
increasing it! Finding a physical activity that you really like to
do will make exercise more fun and something to look
forward to as well as help to keep you healthy throughout
life.
WEIGHT LOSS
STRATEGIES
1. Make a commitment
Long-term weight loss
Weight Loss Success.
takes time and effort —
and a long-term
commitment. Make sure 2. Find your inner motivation
that you're ready to make No one else can make you lose
permanent changes and 3. Set realistic goals
weight. You must undertake diet and
that you do so for the When you're setting goals, think about
exercise changes to please yourself.
right reasons. both process and outcome goals. "Walk
What's going to give you the burning
Once you're ready to every day for 30 minutes" is an example
drive to stick to your weight-loss
launch your weight-loss of a process goal. "Lose 10 pounds" is an
plan?
plan, set a start date and example of an outcome goal. It isn't
Make a list of what's important to
then — start. essential that you have an outcome goal,
you to help stay motivated and
but you should set process goals because
focused, whether it's an upcoming
changing your habits is a key to weight
beach vacation or better overall
loss.
health. Then find a way to make sure
that you can call on your
motivational factors during moments
of temptation. Pick people to
support you who will encourage you
in positive ways, without shame,
embarrassment or sabotage.
 6. Change your
perspective
It's not enough to eat healthy
4. Enjoy healthier foods foods and exercise for only a
Adopting a new eating style few weeks or even months if
that promotes weight loss you want long-term,
must include lowering your successful weight loss. These
total calorie intake. habits must become a way of
One way you can lower 5. Get active, stay active
life. Lifestyle changes start
your calorie intake is by While you can lose weight without exercise,
with taking an honest look at
eating more plant-based regular physical activity plus calorie restriction
your eating patterns and daily
foods — fruits, vegetables can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise
routine.
and whole grains Use can help burn off the excess calories you can't cut
After assessing your personal
modest amounts of healthy through diet alone.
challenges to weight loss, try
fats, such as olive oil, Exercise also offers numerous health benefits,
working out a strategy to
vegetable oils, avocados, including boosting your mood, strengthening your
gradually change habits and
nuts, and nut butters and cardiovascular system and reducing your blood
attitudes that have sabotaged
oils. pressure. Exercise can also help in maintaining
your past efforts. And you
Cut back on sugar. weight loss. Studies show that people who
have to move beyond simply
Choose low-fat dairy maintain their weight loss over the long term get
recognizing your challenges —
products and lean meat and regular physical activity.
you have to plan for how
poultry in limited amounts. How many calories you burn depends on the
you'll deal with them if you're
frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.
going to succeed in losing
Any extra movement helps burn calories.
weight once and for all.
RIGHT FOODS WHEN LOSING WEIGHT
Drink water! In a 12-week study,
Get enough protein.. Protein helps
adults who drank 17 ounces of water
boost metabolism, it triggers hormones
30 minutes before their meals lost 44
that help you lose weight and it helps
percent more weight than adults who
make you feel full longer. A breakfast full
didn’t follow the water plan.
of protein will help you get through
your day!
For alcohol drinkers, alcohol
beverages (especially beer and wine)
Choose protein from seafood, white-
pack a calorie punch. Don’t substitute
meat poultry, eggs, beans, soy, pork
alcohol for water. And keep track of
tenderloin or lean beef.
the calories in your beverages.
 HEALTH
CONSEQUENCES
OF EXCESSIVE
BODY WEIGHT
 Many factors may cause weight gain
and affect how much weight your
body stores. When you take in more
calories from food or beverages than
you use up from physical activity and
through daily living, such as sitting or
The terms “overweight” and “obesity” refer to sleeping, your body stores the extra
body weight that is greater than what is calories.
considered normal or healthy for a certain height.
Overweight is generally due to extra body fat.
However, overweight may also be due to extra
muscle, bone, or water. People who have obesity
usually have too much body fat.
Your body mass index (BMI) is one way to tell if
you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or have
obesity.The BMI is a measure based on your
weight in relation to your height.The greater your
BMI, the greater your risk of health problems
from overweight and obesity.
Being obese can also increase your risk of developing many potentially serious health
conditions, including: type 2 diabetes. high blood pressure. high cholesterol and
atherosclerosis (where fatty deposits narrow your arteries), which can lead to coronary
heart disease and stroke.
 EXERCISE
SAFETY
GUIDELINES
 Safe Exercise Guidelines

• Use Proper Equipment. Replace your athletic shoes as they wear out. Wear comfortable, loose-
fitting clothes that let you move freely and are light enough to release body heat. When
exercising in cold weather, dress in removable layers.

• Balanced fitness. Develop a balanced fitness program that incorporates cardiovascular exercise,
strength training, and flexibility. In addition to providing a total body workout, a balanced
program will keep you from getting bored and lessen your chances of injury.

• Warm Up. Warm up to prepare to exercise, even before stretching. Run in place for a few
minutes, breathe slowly and deeply, or gently rehearse the motions of the exercise to follow.
Warming up increases your heart and blood flow rates and loosens up other muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and joints.

• Stretch. Begin stretches slowly and carefully until reaching a point of muscle tension. Hold each
stretch for 10 to 20 seconds, then slowly and carefully release it. Inhale before each stretch and
exhale as you release. Do each stretch only once. Never stretch to the point of pain, always
maintain control, and never bounce on a muscle that is fully stretched.
• Take Your Time. During strength training, move through the full range of motion with each
repetition. Breathe regularly to help lower your blood pressure and increase blood supply to
the brain.

• Drink Water. Drink enough water to prevent dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
Drink 1 pint of water 15 minutes before you start exercising and another pint after you cool
down. Have a drink of water every 20 minutes or so while you exercise.

• Cool Down. Make cooling down the final phase of your exercise routine. It should take twice
as long as your warm up. Slow your motions and lessen the intensity of your movements for
at least 10 minutes before you stop completely.This phase of a safe exercise program
should conclude when your skin is dry and you have cooled down.

• Rest. Schedule regular days off from exercise and rest when tired. Fatigue and pain are good
reasons to not exercise.