K*I*S*S* Health and Fitness Blog
Welcome to the K*I*S*S* Health and Fitness Blog! It will feature brief articles related to health and fitness presented from a simple common sense point of view. As I suggested on the Home page, nowadays there is a problem with people often “not being able to see the forest because of the trees.” For example, I would argue that you don’t need to be a scholar in order to come up with a sensible exercise program or diet. Yes, education is wonderful. However, you don’t have to break these subjects down into minute detail in order to be successful. You don’t have to do a different exercise specifically designed to hit each and every muscle in your body. Do a few compound exercises and you will make great progress. Likewise, you don’t have to worry about each and every nutrient going into your body. Eat a diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and veggies along with fish or lean meat and you will be fine. Again, I will attempt to approach these two topics, as well as others relating to your health and fitness, from a very practical point of view. You can be the judge as to whether or not I am successful. And, I hope you will let me know if I go off the deep end…
How to Start a Fitness Program (2/16/09)
In a word, the way to start a fitness program is simply to do something. Anything is better than nothing!
Are you one of those people who don't exercise because you don't have the time, or don't have a place, or don't know what to do, etc., etc? Don't let any of this stop you. Again, just do something!
It has been said that "the longest journey begins with the first step." Take that step. Your exercise might simply be a walk around the block or a few sit-ups. Don't be concerned that the exercise you get might only take a few minutes or that it might not do you very much good. Just get started on that journey.
The important thing is that you enjoy your exercise and that you are successful at it. Then do your exercise again the next day --- and the next and the next.
After a week or two, do a little more. Not much more, just a little. Maybe walk around two blocks instead of one or do three sit-ups instead of two. Again, you are aiming at success and maybe even having a little bit of fun in the process.
Every week make these small increases in the amount of exercise that you get. After a month or so, your "workout" might only be ten minutes long. However, you are establishing a habit. And, habits become part of your life-style. You are on the right track if regular exercise is a part of your life-style.
Now, make a commitment. Promise yourself that you are going to continue to make time for exercise every day of your life (or at least almost every day) from now on. Put exercise at the top of your social calendar; make it the highest priority item.
OK, you have made exercise a part of your life-style and you are committed to sticking with it in the long term. The next step is to improve your workouts. It is time to learn about what's included in a well-balanced fitness program. This will be the subject of the next article in this series.
I hope you will agree now that it's really very simple to start a fitness program. You really don't have to know what you're doing! Again, the key is simply to just do something. Anything is better than nothing!
Plug the Holes in Your Diet with Whole Food Supplements (5/7/09)
So, you think you eat right, huh? You eat lots of fresh fruit; you eat a big salad every day; you eat whole grain products; you eat fresh fish or lean meat; you're careful about the kinds of fats you eat; and so on...
But, do you really get all the nutrients that you need for optimum health? Isn't it possible that you might be a little short on something --- or might be missing something completely? Chances are you'll never know --- until something goes wrong or until you realize that, for some reason or other, the old body isn't quite working the way it should.
And, how can you determine if your diet is providing all the nutrients you need? You can't! Well, maybe you can if you have a Ph.D. in nutrition of if you spend big bucks to have a battery of tests run. Fortunately, there's a simpler way to get the job done.
Plug the nutritional holes in your diet with whole food supplements! A whole food supplement is just what it says it is. It's a very concentrated whole food that contains a broad spectrum of nutrients. These nutrients will parallel the foods upon which the supplement is based. For example, a grain-based whole food supplement will be rich in the nutrients that are normally associated with grain.
You don't know what nutrients you might be missing when you eat your good nutritious diet; so, you don't know where the holes are. Likewise, you might not know what nutrients are in the whole food supplement you plan to use. What you do know is that there are a lot of them. What you do know is that there is a high probability that the nutrients in the supplement will fill some or all of the holes in your diet. This is really the best you can hope for.
Want to tip the scale in your favor? Eat one whole food supplement based on grain and another based on green plants. Maybe even another based on fruit. They will have very different nutrient profiles and this will maximize the chances that you will plug nutritional holes in your diet. You don't have to be a nutritionist to figure this out. It's common sense! That's often all you need...