Myself Self Help: Get Serious About Keeping A Healthy Weight

When we begin our journey of making changes to better our lifestyle lets look at some ways to live healthier happier lives. Its important to create a blueprint of what you want to achieve. In doing so you can edit it whenever you wish. This will help you keep on top of all the things you want to achieve and need to do to reach your goals. Diet and body weight are related to our health status. Good nutrition is important to the growth and development of children and keeping all of us at our healthy best. A healthy diet and keeping to an exercise routine, from walk-running to yoga, also helps Americans reduce their risks for many health conditions, including:

Overweight and Obesity
Malnutrition
Heart Disease
High Blood Pressure
Type 2 Diabetes
Some Cancers
Fatigue and Lacking Energy
Inability to sleep well
...and many other health issues

Because weight is influenced by energy (calories) consumed and expended, interventions to improve weight can support changes in diet or physical activity. Doing some research about how you are caring for your body and the foods you ingest are a good way to assess your own bodies condition. This can help enhance and change individuals' knowledge and skills, reduce exposure to foods low in nutritional value and high in calories, or increase opportunities for physical activity.

One thing is for sure, when we become active and responsible about the health of our bodies we learn to fuel it with good calories, energy and lasting health. What people need to do is see themselves in a state of observance. Meaning instead of seeing yourself as a body with a soul, look at yourself as a soul with a body. Learn to appreciate and take care of your body and it will take care of you. Healthy mind and the body will follow. That saying: You are what you eat, is more valid than you may think it is. Its like filling up your vehicle with lousy gas and expecting it to run at its best. It will sputter, run slower, stall and cause you more headaches' than you should have in your life. Where as if you fill your vehicle with good, clean gas it will run smoother, longer and have less wear and tear on its engine. Well the body isn't much different when it comes to that principle. Feed it poorly and you'll get poor results. Feed it healthy and you'll get healthy stronger results.

The keys to maintaining optimal health are as follows. Individuals who eat the recommended 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day are less likely to be overweight or obese and less likely to suffer chronic disease. Fruit and veggies are our bodies cleaners. They are vital to good health and preventing many diseases. Instead of reaching for those salty or sugary snacks, reach for those fruits and veggies. You can eat as much as you like of them so long as you don't add in abunch of unhealthy additives such as dressings, sauces, too much salt and sugar. Stop eating all those processed foods too. They may taste good but beware.. they aren't good for your body. Have you checked out the ingredients label on those processed foods. Its ridiculous! Due to all the chemicals, additives, preservatives, etc that these foods are made with, its no wonder you feel lethargic and fatigued. A key rule to rely on when looking for healthy foods to eat is: If you can't pronounce it don't eat it!

A key point to remember. When buying fruits and veggies, try to buy organic fruits and veggies. They are cleaner foods and have none or much less pesticides and are never GMO - genetically modified organism foods. Its also very important to hydrate your body. I'm not talking about drinking soda, coffee, teas, artificially flavored drinks etc. I'm talking about the one main substance that is the elixir of life. Did you know that the majority of illnesses that lead to serious health issues are created by not being hydrated? That most people in our society and probably around the world are chronically dehydrated? According to healthgrades.com and other medical resources researched, the following information is vital as to the state of dehydration and why its so important to make it a habit of drinking more clean, filtered water as a daily routine. Dehydration is an abnormal condition in which the body's cells are deprived of an adequate amount of water.

Water and fluids make up about 90% of fluids throughout the body. Its distributed throughout muscles, bones, organs, tissues, cells, spinal and cerebral-fluids and plasma throughout the body and is crucial to many of the body's processes. Dehydration negatively affects important bodily functions, including toxin elimination, delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the cells of the body, energy production, and joint lubrication. Severe dehydration affects every body system and can also impact the proper balance of vital electrolytes. Sodium and potassium are electrolytes essential to healthy functioning of the body and critical processes, such as muscle function and a normal heart rhythm. Complications of severe dehydration can be serious and life threatening and include shock, coma and death. Dehydration is categorized as mild, moderate or severe, based on the extent of the body’s fluid loss. Moderate and severe dehydration can be a life-threatening emergency.

Infants, children, athletes and the elderly are particularly prone to dehydration and severe complications, although dehydration can occur in any age group or population. You can learn to make your own electrolyte drink so there won't be all those chemicals in it. Or you can simply add a lemon slice to your water for more flavor. Get creative with the many ways you can drink water with flavors organically. Its really amazing all of the flavors you can create and enjoy which are truly healthy for your body. But you have to change your thinking about drinking more water. Its only because the manufacturers came up with all sorts of artificial flavored drinks with way too much sugar, that you may think you don't like water. Change your thinking, change your life.

And of course a BIG part of feeling our best is to exercise. Develop an exercise routine that works for you. You may have to experiment with different types of exercise routines before you find the one that works well for you. But either way.. get a routine going. The more you do this the more it will become habit, a good habit. People have a misconception and think that if they are on their feet throughout their workday that they don't need to exercise. This is far from truth. If you are some one who is on your feet all day you still need to "unwind" or "de-stress" after work. You may not have to do a routine that targets weightloss as much for someone who sits all day at work. But a routine that de-stresses the mind and body is key to better health. If you are someone who sits most of the time at work an exercise routine that will target weightloss is key for you to achieve better health. Whichever routine you choose, any one of them will benefit your body, mind and spirit. You just have to get started. Have courage and commit to a balanced way of living. Your journey of making changes to better your lifestyle is well within your reach. Some research information and excepts have be taken from www.healthgrades.com/conditions/dehydration . Enjoy the day.