How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Exercise and Nutrition Basics

There are many misconceptions when it comes to the definition of proper diet and exercise. Some people think that only those who want to lose weight should start exercising and adjusting their diet. And those who do want to lose weight think that as long as they are active and limit their food intake, then they’re well on their way.

However, these aren’t the only misconceptions. To explain it simply, proper exercise and diet work together to achieve a healthier lifestyle overall.

These tools should be used to live a better way of life that improves their productivity, physical and mental health, and relationships.

How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Exercise and diet Nutrition Basics

When it comes to creating a healthier lifestyle, the truth of the matter is that exercise and diet go hand in hand. You can’t take one and leave out the other.

Well, technically, you can, but the results won’t be as effective.

Your diet has to complement the exercise routine you’ll follow. Without adjusting your nutrition to match your workout routines, your body can be harmed instead of benefited by your exercise. The same applies to the effect exercise has on nutrition. Exercise will boost the benefits you get from nutrition, helping you reach your goals faster, and ensuring that your diet is a healthy one.

For instance, people seeking to lose weight might follow a very strict diet plan that’s lacking in essential nutrition. With the help of exercise, they’ll find that they can follow a more lenient diet that still helps them in shedding extra pounds. The same goes for those who want to gain weight. By following the right training regimen, their nutrition will help them add weight proportionally onto their bodies.

How to achieve proper exercise and diet goals

Finding the right fit between exercise and diet can be tricky for many people. In order to make sure you’re getting the best out of your exerted efforts, here are some steps to take to achieve your fitness goals:

Evaluate your current body

Before getting started, you need to understand the current state of your body. That’s the foundation upon which you’ll base all your following steps.

Evaluating your body depends on several factors, such as measuring the percentage of fat, muscle, water, and bone present in our bodies. The most commonly used method of estimating the fitness level of your body is measuring the Body Mass Index (BMI), but it’s not the most accurate method.

To get an accurate evaluation, you’ll want to use more advanced methods, such as the body fat scale. While it’s not the most accurate way of measuring body fat, it comes pretty close and is quite practical.

Set your goals

After getting an accurate evaluation of your body, it’s time to set your goals.

Do you want to lose, maintain, or gain weight?

Your goals will shape the plan you make for both your exercise and diet. If your goal is to focus on losing weight , you need to calculate the number of calories needed by your body to perform its basic functions throughout the day, also known as the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). After adding the number of calories you need to boost energy throughout the day, which will depend on your level of activity, your diet will be devised in which you’re in a calorie deficit mode. This means that the total number of calories you get from your diet is less than those required to cover your daily needs of energy, thus forcing your body to use its own fat reserves for energy.

If you want to maintain weight, then your Required Daily Amount (RDA) will be to get exactly the amount you need, not more or less. If you want to gain weight, you’ll consume additional calories.

Evaluate your current lifestyle

The lifestyle you maintain plays an important role in how your fitness goals will turn out to be. Busy individuals will find it almost impossible to spend three hours every day working out at the gym; those who smoke will find it difficult to keep up with their routine. Define all of the factors in your current lifestyle that will act as obstacles when attempting to achieve your goals.

Adjust your lifestyle to your goals

Making lifestyle changes can be difficult, but it’s all about finding a middle ground. For instance, if your fitness goals are more important than smoking, then you’ll find that you need to give it up - or at least decrease your smoking habits gradually. On the other hand, you should find a way to integrate proper exercise and diet into your life smoothly. Instead of thinking that you need 3 hours per day at the gym, you can find a 30-minute at-home workout routine to do before you go to work. You can devise your diet plan in ways that are practical and don’t require much hassle.

Devise a plan

The most important thing about proper exercise and diet is to devise a solid plan. There’s a plethora of training routines and diet regimens, so the most important thing is to understand how each one of them works, how exercise and diet complement each other, and how they fit into your life.

Commit to your plan & track your progress

You’ll face days when committing to your plans comes naturally, but you’ll also find days when it’s extremely difficult to keep up your routine. Remember, changing your habits requires time and conscious effort. Every time you feel like skipping your workout or cheating on your plan, remember your goals and why you started in the first place. It’s normal to fail at times, what matters is that you get back on track right away. Tracking your progress is a great way to witness real results and grow motivated to continue.

Whenever you mention “diet” or “exercise”, people get one of two ideas: They either think you’re overweight or you’re a gym fanatic. However, adopting a proper diet and exercise should be something that everyone does; it’s one of the best ways to enhance your quality of life. After evaluating your current body and lifestyle, setting your goals, devising -and committing to- a plan that fits into your life, you’ll be able to get the best benefits that proper exercise and diet can add to your life.

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