I’m going through the drive through but I’ll work it off at the gym.
I’m drinking alcohol this weekend but I’ll exercise next week.
We had a great friend contact us last week excited to share that he and his wife had finally decided to “get healthy and take control” of their health and wellness! As a matter of fact they were so excited about making the decision that they joined the nicest (and priciest) health club in their town, bought matching fit bit’s and hired a personal trainer.
He declared “we are finally ready to do it this time, we have got to get our health under control, and we’ve got to do something!”
Sound familiar? Sure it does, if this scenario hasn’t happened to you personally, it has probably happened to someone that you know.
Because of the hype in the media we mistakenly think that exercise is the magic bullet and that we will be miraculously transformed through exercise to a healthier version of ourselves. The exercise “myth” accounts for the double digit growth in the fitness club industry and the astronomical popularity of fitness devices and apps.
If you look at the statistics you would think that we Americans are on our way to becoming one of the healthiest countries in the world! The problem is that that concept is totally WRONG…don’t get me wrong, exercise is a major component of health and wellness but most people, including the medical community over rate its impact of exercise alone.
Here is the plain and simple truth, your body composition and your overall wellness is a result of your nutrition.
- what you eat
- when you eat
- how much you eat
20% to 30% of body composition is a result of exercise!
Wait, you’re saying “that 70% to 80% of my wellness is what I consume and only 20% to 30% exercise?”
Yes, that is exactly what we are saying and that is why most people don’t get the results they are looking for…you simply can’t out exercise a poor diet.
I predict that my friend, unless he works on the “nutrition piece” of his overall wellness is doomed to failure. But what can he do to address the nutrition piece? He can follow these simple guidelines and increase his chances of success dramatically:
Beginning with breakfast. Eat 5 to 6 small meals per day and always include a protein and carbohydrate with each eating event.
Drink ½ his body weight in ounces of water per day.
Develop the habit of sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night.
Establishes a plan to ensure that he has ready access to food and snacks to fuel himself throughout the day.
Make sure that he is absorbingthe food that he eats, because if he’s not absorbing the food then the body thinks it is starving and becomes very efficient at holding onto fat.
Following these 5 tips helps to Balance and Feed your body, then (once balanced and fed well) you are ready to Move it through exercise.
You can begin immediately; as a matter of fact you can start with your very next meal or snack! Look at this guide for help.
We know that wellness is a choice and we want to help as many people as possible to improve their health. It’s the ‘slight edge’ to healthy living. It’s easy to do but it’s also easy not to do.
