Four things you can start doing today to make a positive fitness change
If you are just starting out on a fitness journey and want to achieve a goal, it’s important to start off slowly. If you make too many changes to your life at once it’s likely you won’t stick to it!
#1 Be Active At Least 3 Times A Week.
It doesn’t have to be intense. You don’t need to go to a big crowded and intimidating gym or run for miles and miles. Just take it easy and build it up slowly. If, right now, your fitness levels are low and you’re not very active, going on a 25-minute pacey walk, or doing quick home workouts, three times a week is a massive improvement to the week before!
The type of exercise doesn’t matter either, just make sure you enjoy it!
#2 Make Healthier Food Choices.
Counting macros and counting calories can put a lot of people off before they even start. So, to start with, just focus on making healthier choices.
Swap out high-calorie foods for calorie-dense foods that will fill you up, and try to be more mindful of what you’re eating.
For example, you could swap a 1100 calorie tub of Ben & Jerry’s for a tub of frozen yogurt at 400 calories. You’re still going to treat your sweet tooth but without consuming so many calories.
Once you have the hang of that, you can take it to the next step. #3 Focus On Your Sleep. Quality of sleep can really affect your health. If you have a bad sleep, you wake up with no energy and you’re more likely to be stressed.
It can also have an effect on your eating habits. If you feel tired and lethargic at the end of the day you’re more likely to pick up a take away or a quick microwave meal. However, if you’ve had a good sleep and have high energy levels, you’re going to feel so much more in control.
#4 Drink At Least 2 Litres Of Water A Day
When you’re hydrated you’ll experience lots of health benefits; healthier skin, healthier teeth and bones, healthier joints, improved digestion, reduces fatigue, suppresses appetite, and it increases your ability to burn fat. Start drinking water as soon as you wake up on a morning - have a glass with your breakfast. Then keeping sipping throughout the day. You need to have a minimum of two litres of water per day. My advice is to fill up a two litre bottle on a morning and make sure it's gone by the end of the day.
And, replace your normal cups of tea and coffee for three cups of green tea per day.
The intensity at which we exercise is key, and light activity such as strolling and housework is unlikely to have much positive impact on the health of most people. For aerobic exercise to be beneficial it must raise your heartbeat and make you sweat.
The more exercise you do, the better. Everyone should do a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise but that really is the minimum for health benefits. If you can go beyond 150 minutes, you’ll gain even more health benefits.
Sedentary time (time spent sitting down to watch TV, use a computer, read or listen to music) is bad for your health, even for those who are achieving 150 minutes of exercise a week.
The guidelines also include recommendations for muscle-building and bone strengthening activities such as lifting weights and yoga.
www.NHS.uk has this to say on fitness and excercise: