I wasn’t really planning on a part two here, but, it seems like I have to “run” with it. I am going to go back beyond 12 years ago (as of the date of this post) when I used to drink beer and follow other habits. I was in quite an up and down hill trend with my weight at that time. I joined a local gym and was meeting people and making good effort on my slowly evolving new lifestyle. At that time, I had no idea where it was leading. I was even making the usual or typical mistake of only focusing on my workouts and not on nutrition. Two years later, I found “running” and boy, did that put a new twist on my active fitness life. Nothing else for me even touched the tip of the iceberg as to the impact it had on me. Then, something happened, I saw my lifestyle slowly going in a different direction. I started going to a local church, continuing my membership at the gym, continuing with running and other workouts, and I was starting to make choices that was leading me into a completely different lifestyle. I gave up drinking beer and other habits / foods about 3 years later (1998). My weight issues started to improve a little bit, where some did come off. But, again, still was not fully focusing on nutrition yet.
However, some of the changes I’ve been making were having the right impact. I started to develop a much stronger immune system over the time with the choices that I was making. While things were improving, and unfortunately, it wasn’t until 2008, until the “light bulb” turned on for me. It was then, when I started to realize the whole picture. This is when I began my real weight loss & fitness journey. I lost slightly over 20 pounds and felt the best that I’ve been in years. This is also when I was applying nutrition to my program as well.
You don’t have to be a runner to achieve this. You just have to find the right activity that works for you. A simple equation could be ACTIVITY + NUTRITION = A Healthy New You! Activity is so important, and there is so much to choose from, whether it be running, biking, swimming, walking, weight lifting, aerobics, volley ball, basketball, etc, you should be able to find the right niche that works for you.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it, a Couch Potato only sprouts roots and turns into mush after a while.
One way to look at this is that while Fitness is what the body needs, Nutrition is Fitness for the body underneath your skin. It’s great that people are getting more fitness minded, but, one needs to start getting concerned about what is going on “inside” the body. Some don’t think that supplements work and are a waist of money. Not so, just because you don’t always feel like superman after taking them, doesn’t mean they aren’t working. Supplements need to be taken daily and consistently to have the right impact, because they work over time.
See below for Healthy Meal Planning…
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For healthy meal planning, I found this very good article online:
How to Develop a Meal Plan This article is by:
Kaleena Lawless
Personal Training Specialist
http://www.kalisthenixfitnessblog.com
