How to Establish a Healthy Nutrition & Exercise Plan

Walking is great exercise.

Once you make your health a priority it is time to formulate a plan to achieve your goals. In order to stick to it, however, you must make it something you enjoy and look forward to. The key is to turn healthy choices into healthy habits. An understanding of the choices you must make will help guide you. Once you know the "why" you can then create the "how to" creating a sensible plan that is a successful one.

Instructions

1. Set a realistic goal. Aim for something that is attainable. If you are looking to lose weight; feel your best and get into great shape, you can reach your goal. If you set an unrealistic goal of trying to become someone you are not, then your dream will always be out of reach. Be the best you that you can be.

2. Examine your current eating patterns. Be ruthless. You know what is healthy and what is not. Rid your pantry and refrigerator of everything that can destroy your plan. Some people have great will power and can ignore junk food in the cupboard. Most people cannot. It is best to remove all temptation.

3. 

   Stick with good foods, get rid of all junk food.

   Go shopping for good food. Read the labels of the items you wish to purchase. Don't just count the calories, take note of the fat content, sodium level and amount of sugar packed into the food. The healthy guide is the number five: the food should be under 5 g of fat; under 5 g of sugar; and over 5 g of fiber. The next step is to leave the packaged goods section of the market and go to the produce section. Buy the freshest fruits and vegetables you can find.

4. 

   Portion control and healthy choices help you reach your goal.

   Learn how to prepare a healthy meal. This means no more frying foods. Use your broiler to leave the fat behind. Switch from butter to olive oil. Take out all processed foods and switch to whole grain foods instead. Reduce the amount of meat you eat and switch to lighter and healthier fish or chicken. Portion control is paramount to success. Your hand can help you determine portion sizes. Look at your hand with your palm up. One portion of meat is the same size of the area that leads from your wrist to the thumb. Pass up high sugar sodas and cut alcohol consumption to no more than two drinks per week.

5. 

   Exercise at least every other day.

   Schedule exercise into your day, every day. Make it a habit. Remember the more you exercise the longer your body continues to burn calories even when you are at rest. Your aim should be a minimum of 30-50 minutes of exercise every other day. Buy a pedometer and make 10,000 steps your goal. These steps can happen throughout the whole day, so put it on first thing in the morning. If you reach the 10,000 step goal, you are burning the calories you need to keep on track.

6. 

   Don't worry about bad days, start over in the morning.

   Write it down. Keep a diet and exercise diary and be honest. At the end of the day write down what you ate, both good and bad, and how much you exercised. If you did not have a good day, don't feel bad. Start over in the morning. You always get a second chance in the morning to make the right choices to stick to your diet and exercise goals.

Tips & Warnings

• Set achievable goals.

• Eliminate all junk food.

• Make exercise a habit.

• Be kind to yourself, if you have a bad day, start over fresh in the morning.

• Do not start any exercise or diet regimen without your doctor's approval.

References

• Center for Disease Control: Nutrition and Physical Activity
• President's Council: Fitness and Nutrition