Over the years we have become more and more inactive. Since the advent of the motor car we walk much less than our ancestors and most of our lives contain much less physical work due to all of the labour saving modern equipment we own. Therefore, we have to artificially make time to exercise as this is a vital part of keeping healthy.

We should all be getting at least thirty minutes of moderate exercise five times a week. If you are just beginning to make exercise a regular part of your life it is important to start gently. As you get fitter you can increase the intensity of your exercise. There is a good pdf document, Be Active Your Way, to help you get start on making exercise a part of your life.

Six Benefits of Regular Physical Exercise

1. Exercise improves your mood.

Exercise releases chemicals called endorphins in the brain. These endorphins have a strong effect on your mood. They help to reduce anxiety, stress and depression. Your self confidence will also improve as your body starts to look and feel better.

2. Exercise helps prevent or manage chronic diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.

Exercise halves your risk of developing coronary heart disease. It helps to reduce high blood pressure and helps to boost the good cholesterol (HDL) and reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL).

Weight bearing exercise such as walking helps guard against osteoporosis by promoting bone density.

Regular exercise can also reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer, breast cancer, , prostate, lung and endometrial cancer.

3. Exercise helps you manage your weight.

Exercise helps your body to burn calories and increases your metabolism so, when combined with a healthy diet, can help in weight loss or weight maintenance.

4. Exercise strengthens hearts and lungs

Regular exercise helps to keep your cardiovascular system in good order so your heart and lungs can work optimally.

5. Exercise improves the quality of your sleep.

However, exercising before just going to bed can make it more difficult for you to fall asleep so it is better to exercise earlier in the day.

6. Exercise can be fun.

Exercise can be fun if you choose an activity you enjoy. Walking, dancing, playing tennis or football or playing with your kids are all enjoyable activities and when shared with other people can give much pleasure so make sure you find something you enjoy. If you don’t like going to the gym, then don’t go. Do something you do enjoy instead!

Here is a fun video to help you get some exercise today.

Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise programme.

©2010 Quest For Health. All Rights Reserved.

She is a registerd dietician and offers the following advice about a healthy diet (with some extra comments by me):

1. Exercise regularly. Aim to do 30 minutes of moderate activity at least three days a week. If you prefer you could split the 30 minutes into 3 lots of 10 minutes. Make exercise part of your daily routine by walking the dog or walking to the shops.
2. Watch for hidden sugar in drinks. Water has no calories. Neither has black tea or coffee. However, if you add milk to tea and coffee make sure it is skimmed milk which has less fat and do not add sugar.
3. Eat three portions of fruit and three portions of vegetables a day. Filling up on fruit and vegetables is much better than eating biscuits, cakes and other high fat, high calorie snacks. This is good health advice as well as a good dieting tip.
4. Eat lean meats, poultry and fish. They are low in fat but be careful about how you cook them. Do not add extra fat during the cooking process. Steaming, poaching, boiling, grilling, baking and microwaving are the best ways of cooking meat to keep the fat value and calories down.
5. Limit alcohol consumption. Alcohol is high in calories and has no nutritious value. Scientific research has shown that drinking red wine regularly is good for the heart but other research has linked alcohol consumption to breast cancer so while trying to lose weight it is probably a good idea to cut down on the alcohol.

I think these are very good tips. I must find the motivation to exercise more!

©2010 Quest For Health. All Rights Reserved.

To stay healthy it is important to follow a healthy lifestyle every day. This involves permanently changing our eating and exercising habits.

In her blog post, ‘Diet’ Is A Horrible Word, Darya Pino maintains that when one says they are going on a diet they mean they are intending to change their eating habits temporarily in order to lose weight. However, the biggest problem with dieting is that many people find they put on weight again when they finish their diet. In some cases, they even end up weighing more than they did before they began their diet.

This is why it is so important to make sure that any changes to one’s diet are permanent. This rules out fad diets like the banana diet, the baby food diet, the Atkins diet or any other short term change in eating habits. The diet one adopts must be something that can provide all the nutrients our body needs and must be something we can follow for the rest of our lives. Otherwise we will fall off the bandwagon and the weight will creep back on again.

Therefore, lets throw out the diet and concentrate more on filling our bodies with good food like whole grains, fruit, vegetables and lean meats and throw out the sugar and fat laden foods found in fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits, crisps and fast food.

Make a permanent change in your eating habits and get fit this summer!

©2010 Quest For Health. All Rights Reserved.