Let's take a look at what happens to your body when you are overweight/obese. If you “live” in this category, the door is open for you to have many different types of health problems that include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and certain types of cancer. All of which lead to a shortened life expectancy and a decreased quality of life.
You know, exercise and eating clean foods is the answer to solving all of this. No medicine, prescriptions, or pills will fix this growing problem...just exercise and clean eating. That's it. Sounds simple doesn't it?
So what stops people from being active and eating a proper nutritious diet? Well I think that's an easy answer. Television, video games, fast food, alcohol, drugs, and friends. OK, so maybe not that easy of an answer.
Advertisements in America tell us that it's okay to watch television and play video games all day, then sell us on eating yummy McDonald's hamburgers when we're hungry. This cycle is slowly killing us while the large “burger corporations” continue to make tons of money.
Yes, I know it's hard to comprehend, but these companies aren't too concerned about your health...they really just want your money.
So I would like to talk about your nutrition. You could work out everyday and if you don't have the proper nutrition you will never see great results and will actually do damage to your body. Nutrition is literally 80% and fitness is 20% of being healthy and fit.
You need to eat 6 small meals per day to keep your metabolism going. You need to consume 10 to 35% of your total caloric intake from protein (whole egg, turkey, chicken, fish, beans, peanuts, lentils, and hummus are some examples). You need to consume carbohydrates (fruit, veggies, nuts, beans) everyday to supply your body with energy. A great thing to do is to look up the Glycemic Index on Google and try to eat foods that have a low GI number. You also should consume plenty of fiber (fruits, veggies, oats).
The best thing to do when shopping for these foods is only to shop on the perimeter of the grocery store because a majority of grocery stores have all the healthy foods in these sections. Another great rule of thumb is to stay away from anything that is a processed food. The longer the shelf life on a food the shorter your life will be.
The biggest thing I tell people is to make sure they drink plenty of water. Your body is like the earth and is made up mostly of water. If you are not properly hydrated it can cause your kidneys to work harder while raising your blood pressure and creating weight gain. On a normal day, you should drink more than 110oz of water, and if you are active, you should drink more than that.
So what is a good standard for exercise? Children and adults should receive 60-minutes of physical activity per day. Don't whine, 60-minutes of physical activity is nothing in the grand scheme of your day. This physical activity can include walking, hiking, jogging, swimming, sit-ups, jumping rope, push-ups, playing sports, or vacuuming the house, taking out the garbage, and mowing your yard. Just do something that will elevate your heart rate!
It's hard to give a plan for the general population because everyone is so different. I would be more than happy to work with you personally and come up with a plan that works for you and your lifestyle.
I ask all of you who read this to help me end this trend of obesity and literally SAVE America. Do your part and be healthy, get out and exercise everyday. Eat your fruits and veggies. Watch out for more blog posts to come as I will talk more in depth about a healthy nutrition plan and exercising.
About Josh Vittetoe:
Josh is a male military spouse who went to school for Sports Medicine to become a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist. He is now a Health and Fitness coach for Beachbody. Throughout Josh's blog posts, his goal will be to teach as many readers as he can about the benefits of clean eating and exercise.
