Your Fitness Lifestyle in a Nutshell

The idea is that you should have in your corner, a certain minimum level of fitness for the daily requirements of life. And, if you have taken heed and acted on it, you are already - or well on the way to getting - fit.

This is your fitness lifestyle at a glance.

Aerobics

Abdominals

Sensible eating and drinking

Weight-training

To elaborate briefly:

Aerobics: To obtain maximum cardiovascular benefits, lose tat and maintain your weight within acceptable healthy levels, aerobics, should, " be done five times a week. Each activity needs to be done at a certain pace within the required time-span. When you begin scoring 60 aerobic runs per week, you will be in the aerobically fit zone. Which means, your heart will be stronger and more efficient, you will lose excess fat and have a better body.

Abdominals: Excess fat, poor posture or slack muscles in the stomach exercises should be done at least three times a week to insure you against them.

Sensible eating and drinking: Fatless, sugar-free, low-salt food ensures that you maintain your weight-loss. It also protects your arteries from getting clogged by cholesterol which can lead to heart diseases, It is also an insurance against diabetes. Healthy eating habits should be a natural part of your normal lifestyle. Dieting should be avoided.

You should eat the food that gives you energy.

To shatter the myth that 'health food' is tasteless, we have devoted an entire section to demonstrate that it can be delicious and satisfy your taste-buds. Try out these recipes and create your own too.

Alcohol consumption should be zero or kept to an absolute minimum.

Weight-training: is partly health-oriented, partly for 'looking good' purposes. It strengthens your muscles and makes you strong enough to meet your daily needs. It increases the density of your bones which reduces the risk of you getting a fracture say, from a fall. It makes your joints more flexible so that you are less prone to catches or other injuries.

It also shapes certain stubborn spots like the thighs, arms, 'love-handles' at the waist, etc. by firming the muscles in those regions.

This is the fitness lifestyle in a nutshell. Aerobic and sensible eating are the foundation; abdominals the guarantee and weight-training the insurance with a premium.

The pay-ofts are tremendous.

You shed years from your life as you move around more briskly and with a lighter step.

You rarely feel fatigued at the end of the day. Your mental and physical reactions to stress are minimised. You learn to relax, and sleep better. Your temper is on a longer leash and you may regard humorously certain situations which had earlier made you snap. Your relationships improve because of your calmer moods. Even your consultations with your doctor turn into a cosier conspiracy where you and she/he are engaged in the common pursuit of tackling your medical problems that have sprung up. And all through this runs the thread of satisfaction - of achieving a sense of well-being, of being in control.

The fitness lifestyle does not make any great demands on you. All it asks is:

make time to look after your health.

keep your weight to reasonably healthy levels.

give up smoking - if you are a smoker.

Everything else is purely motivational, to inspire the spark in you. To inform, in the hope that knowledge aids you in making a start. So that you step out stronger, surer, healthier. And to make that beginnings, there is no time like now.