Active lifestyle! How to get it moving…?

Tips and reasons to include exercise in your healthy lifestyle

Everyday we see more people, ads, news, articles, and posts about being “fit”.  Emphasizing about being active and working out at the gym, building muscles, looking like models, losing weight, etc, etc… But, pause for a minute and think… Do you realize how important it is to get it moving? Do you know why you should have an active lifestyle regimen? Why does your body need it? What are the main objectives of staying “in shape”? What is your motivation? If we don’t have clear answers to these questions, then it would be difficult to determine the need for an exercise routine or to even think of it as habit. So let’s give it some insight and I’ll tell you why and how I started including daily exercise in my healthy lifestyle.

Being active is a matter of love

Yes! Just as you see, it all starts with self love. If you care about yourself, then, you would definitely want to have your body at its best potential. It not only helps us to look physically more attractive, but it is essential for the function of our body inside as a whole. People who are active regularly have fewer risks of getting sick and being in a better condition.

Our body is like a machine

Just as a car, for example, if we don’t keep it active, it might collapse or the engine would go dead. The same principle applies with exercising the body, our organs and muscles need to be in good condition on a daily basis, to stay healthy. Evidence shows that people who lack exercise tend to develop long term diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight, high blood cholesterol, digestive problems, heart diseases, and certain types of cancers among others. While there may be other major risk factors involved, such as eating habits and smoking, exercising also plays an important role in prevention.

Being active boosts a good mood

If you need to start the day on the right mood and track, keep your body active regularly and notice how everything changes. Your energy levels increase, therefore making you feel good, happy and with a great mood to face your daily tasks effectively. It is also known that working out helps us concentrate and increase productivity. So give it a try and you will definitely see the difference!

We may live longer than expected when we are active

Because being active helps to improve the function of our body in general, we should have less risks of facing diseases or poor performance in our life. Lifespan of a person who exercises can increase up to five more years than a person who doesn’t have an active lifestyle. Exercising helps to keep you strong, with a better cardiac function, a sharp brain, and good blood levels.

How to start and not abandon the process

Well, for most of us this may be the most difficult part, since including a workout regime as a habit requires commitment, consistency and discipline. Aim to start your fitness journey, you’ll see that it doesn’t have to be complicated! Once you  get the right mindset, focus, it will easily become part of your daily living. I started out by setting a goal or motivation.

Understanding that I needed to take care of myself to lower disease risks due to family health factors, was my priority. So I encourage you to do the same. I also thought about feeling more energy throughout the day, so that was another motivation for me. You also want to have a better appearance and self esteem, so keep that other goal  in my mind.

Setting real expectations…

Scheduling and committing to become active was probably the most challenging aspect. I decided I would take small steps at a time to achieve my goals. Adding a time slot for workouts in my weekly planner was a huge success for me! As most experts recommend, start with a 30 min routine (could be walking or running) three times week.  I also recommend doing baby steps in the process. Once you get used to this pace, you can increase frequency or change types of exercises.

I enjoy working out at the gym, but you don’t have to follow this style if you’re not that into it. You can practice exercise outdoors and is a great way to distract yourself and breathe cleaner air. If you also have a tight schedule, there are tons of tutorials or regimes that you can follow at home. I hope to share some more in depth workout secrets later with you.

In short…

setting the right expectations, goals and mindset are keys to get in the right track for a more active lifestyle. Acknowledging the benefits and pros to staying fit and healthy are pluses to keep a disciplined regime. Remember, small daily efforts routinely will turn into a habit!  Hope this information was useful, let me know your experiences, have you faced any struggles to keep a healthy routine? Feel free to share comment and let me know your thoughts on staying physically active.

Until then, see you soon!

Z. Johnson