Last updated on March 25, 2015
by Brian Ferrell// Staff Writer
A poor diet and a lack of exercise can lead to physical and mental problems such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and possibly cancer.
A proper diet and exercise routine is very essential to a daily lifestyle.
It promotes stress relief, reduces anxiety, prevents chronic disease and heart disease, reduces fat, builds strength and endurance and overall makes you happy.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN); within the last 20 years there’s been a significant increase in obesity in the United States.
More and more people are becoming obese. It’s also a huge problem with our children.
About 17 percent, or 12.5 million, of children and adolescents (2-19) are obese in The United States.
Also, 33.8 percent, or 78.6 million adults, are obese.
The council also states that the cumulative effect is that children born in the year 2000 may not out live their parents and indicates that 70 percent of youth may never achieve a healthy weight and will become obese adults.
What does that tell you?
Americans are fat.
So how can we change that?
How can we get more people to realize the importance of dieting and exercising?
90 percent of losing weight is just your diet.
Make better food choices and you’ll lose weight. Nutrition and exercise not only complement each other, but they need each other.
According to weighttraining.com, even with a perfectly balanced diet, you still need to exercise to burn the calories.
Abouthealth.com states that the biggest complaint today is people not having the time to focus on a healthy diet and going to the gym.
We all feel that 24 hours is not enough time and we all wish we could have more time to do things but if you really step back and look at how people spend their day we can find time to go to the gym.
The average American watches 5 hours of television (TV) per day according to the New York daily.
So that’s 5 hours of Americans being sedentary on the couch, staring at a TV screen. The New York Daily Times reported people spending 3.8 hours a day on social media.
So out of the 24 hours that we all get each day, 8 hours of it is being spent looking at a screen.
That is time we can use to prep healthier meals and get in some exercise.
We have the time to get it done. We can all squeeze in a workout each day. Incorporating physical activity into your daily life.
At least 30 minutes for adults and 60 minutes for children according to PCFSN.
Another complaint that most people have is that they are too tired.
One of the benefits of exercising is that it actually gives you more energy.
A study published in the American Journal of psychology states that people who worked out for 30 minutes a day lost more weight than people who worked out for 60 minutes a day.
You would think that the longer you work out the more calories you will burn.
Although that is true, the study revealed that people who work out 30 minutes a day noticed their workout was easier and they had energy to do other physical activities throughout the day as oppose to those who work out 60 minutes a day, who noticed they ate more and had less energy to do other physical activity. It sounds counterintuitive.
What about moms who cannot seem to get in a workout because they have to take care of the kids?
One tip is you can find a gym that has a daycare that can watch your kids while you get in a workout.
You can also find workouts you can do at home.
There are a lot of home workouts you can do to help you meet your fitness goals.
Try waking up 30 minutes to an hour before the kids have to get up and get in a workout or do 30 minutes after you send them to bed.
Remember there’s always time to get in a workout, it is just a matter of how bad do you want it.
One of the cool things about exercising is that it releases a chemical in your brain called endorphins (the feel good medicine).
It gives you a positive feeling that will make you happy.
It is a feeling of accomplishment and it is the best drug out there.