As a New Year’s resolution, in preparation for swimsuit season, or for whatever reason, you’ve decided to make some changes to implement a healthier lifestyle. As part of the Getting Healthy Series, we’ll look at the following subjects in detail:
- Health Basics – Learn about the basics of getting healthy, including diet and exercise essentials.
- Setting Goals – Determine your health goals to create and execute a plan.
- Tools & Equipment – Consider the various options for meal and activity planning and tracking.
Health Basics
Whether you are new to dieting and exercise, or are a seasoned veteran, you should review the following articles about the basics of a healthy lifestyle:
- Calories and Losing Weight – Learn about the role that calories play in weight loss and maintaining a healthy body. (Published January 2016)
- Understanding Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates – This nutritional trio needs to be balanced to keep your body in top condition. (To be published January 2016)
- Getting and Staying Motivated – To create good habits for a healthy lifestyle, you need to get and stay motivated.
- Organize Your Food System – Get rid of the stuff you don’t need and organize the things that you need to prepare your meals.
- Learn to Cook Like a Chef – By learning to cook, you can control the ingredients of your meals and cook restaurant-quality meals at home. (Published May 2016)
Setting Goals
If you decide that you want to lead a healthier lifestyle, you need to determine what that means, set goals, and plan how you will execute those goals.
- Setting SMART Goals – Make specific goals that are attainable. (Published January 2016)
- Planning Your Meals – Plan your meals (and leftovers) for the week to stay on track with your healthy lifestyle.
- Organize Your Recipes Online – You can plan and cook your meals for the week more easily if you first organize your recipes. (Published June 2016)
- Planning Your Exercise – Decide where you will work out, remove all obstacles, and make a weekly plan.
Tools & Equipment
There are many weight loss tools and trackers available online or on your mobile device. There is also a lot of fitness equipment available. To decide what tools and equipment that you need, review the following articles:
- Tracking Your Meals – Use online meal trackers to plan your meals, create shopping lists, and keep track of your Calorie consumption.
- Tracking Your Exercise – Use gadgets and activity trackers to keep track of your progress and the number of Calories you have burned.
- Being Accountable for Your Health – Use social tools for competition with your friends, and to keep you from giving up.
- Organizing Your Workout Space – Depending on your circumstances, your workout space might consist of a Wii or XBox in your family room all the way up to a full basement gym.
The Whole30 Experience
In Q1 2017, I started a plan to determine what foods are healthy for me and which are not. To learn more about my experience with the Whole30 plan, see My Whole30 Experience. (Published February 2017)