Avoid Illness
Many people in Houston, TX focus on ways to avoid illness rather than spending the time and money at the doctor’s and pharmacy. It means doing the things necessary to stay healthy. No matter how much you do, sometimes you will get ill. It might be a genetic issue, environmental issues, or a virus you were exposed to when your defenses were down. You can’t control everything, but if you get sick, your body will be more prepared for battle, so you’ll start with an advantage.
Start by eating healthier.
Your body needs the right fuel to function at its best. That requires you to eat nutrient-dense food and avoid food that harms your body. Avoid highly processed foods. They don’t contain many nutrients. Many contain sugar and toxins that can damage the body. Many are high in calories, which can cause weight gain. Obesity is the leading cause of preventable deaths. It’s worse than smoking. Part of the problem comes from lack of exercise, but most occur because of diet. Sugar causes inflammation. Chronic inflammation can lead to arthritis, COPD, cardiovascular disease, and other health conditions. A healthy diet can help prevent many of those illnesses.
Keep moving.
Exercising is another factor that will keep you healthier longer. Like a nutritious diet, it helps fight obesity. One study found that being sedentary is as damaging to your health as smoking. Exercise increases the flexibility of blood vessels and helps them function better. It lengthens the telomeres that protect the chromosomes and keeps them from unraveling so they reproduce longer and intact. It also increases the production of stem cells that replace damaged cells. Exercise lowers blood pressure, boosts insulin sensitivity, and strengthens the heart.
Get adequate quality sleep.
Sleep has several stages. Quality sleep includes all stages. You’ll get quality sleep when you stick with ] a sleep schedule, keep the room cooler and dark, and turn off all electronic devices like cell phones, the TV, or computers. When you sleep, your brain reorganizes. Your body makes necessary repairs. It’s vital for a healthy heart. If you lack sleep, your body produces more ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and less leptin, which makes you feel full. You’ll be more prone to overeating and weight gain.
- Stress can cause inflammation. It causes the release of cortisol that can put on belly fat. Belly fat can lead to insulin resistance, which ultimately can cause diabetes. It can cause high blood pressure and cardiac disease.
- Stay hydrated. Adequate hydration can help prevent urinary tract infections. Mild dehydration affects all organs. It can make you feel sleepy or light-headed. As you age, you dehydrate faster.
- Don’t start bad habits like using tobacco, alcohol, or drugs. If you’ve already begun, quit. There are programs and aids to help you. Vaping is just as damaging as tobacco, even if there is no nicotine involved.
- Always check with your healthcare professional before making any dramatic changes, especially if you have a pre-existing condition or are starting an exercise program.
For more information, contact us today at Reggie C. Fitness
There have been a lot of advancements in mental health. At one time, people with mental issues who acted out were considered possessed. People with depression were often shunned and called lazy, selfish, or over-reacting. Today, we know mental health issues are real. There are therapists, drugs, and adjunct therapies to help. Many therapists now prescribe exercise as an adjunct therapy to help lift depression. It works better than many prescription drugs. Here are a few of the best workouts.
Weight loss in Houston, TX can be easier when you use indoor fitness routines that burn calories and boost your metabolism. When you increase the calories you burn, it makes weight loss easier. Some cardiovascular exercises like running burn lots of calories while doing them. However, those calories come from burning both fat and muscle tissue. The more muscle tissue you have, the easier it is to lose weight. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain, so the more muscle you lose, the slower your metabolism becomes.
People who exercise with me at RC Fitness in Houston, TX, whether online or in person, understand how important physical activity is. That’s why they stick with a regular exercise program. They know they need all types of fitness, which include flexibility, endurance, strength, and balance. They use our guided program. Exercise does more than help you look fabulous. It has enormous health benefits that make you live longer and improve the quality of life.
Not everyone eats breakfast. Some people don’t care for it and prefer to start eating later. Others find it too time-consuming and impossible to fit into their schedule. Some people substitute a healthy breakfast with a donut and coffee. That’s not the fuel of champions. You need nutritious food that keeps your energy high without peaks and valleys. There are easy breakfasts that are lower in calories and high in nutrition. You can make some dishes the night before and reheat them in the microwave in the morning.
Some people in Houston, TX think that starving yourself is the only way to attain weight loss. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you try to exist on a diet that’s too low in calories, the body attempts to conserve energy to ensure enough for vital functions. It slows metabolism and makes loss harder. The key to losing weight is adequate nutrition. Many foods can satisfy your hunger, keep you feeling full, and boost your metabolism, so weight loss is easier.
You won’t get healthy by eating all junk food and topping the meal off with a carrot stick. You need to ensure you have nutritious food at every meal and minimize the food that’s not good for you. That requires your eating habits to change. Once something becomes a habit, you don’t have to think about it. You automatically do it. You can change a little at a time, making small changes every few weeks, or jump right in with both feet and change your diet entirely. The key to good health is consistency.
It’s hard to match the satisfaction junk foods offer people in Houston, TX. Most diet foods pale by comparison and fail to satisfy cravings. Cravings start in the brain. It’s part of the body’s reward system. Hunger pangs begin in the hypothalamus, located at the base of the brain. The center of the brain contains the reward system. It helps keep people alive and guarantees the continuation of the species. Those systems control eating, sleeping, sex drives, and the fight or flight response. It triggers the release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Sugar is one trigger. Your memory of emotional moments also triggers cravings.
You may have heard about your BMI, maybe even from your doctor. What is it? Does it give a good picture of how healthy you are? BMI is an acronym for body mass index. It compares your height to weight to determine whether you’re underweight, average, overweight, or obese. BMI charts exist for men, women, and children. It’s a quick way for doctors to identify changes in your body that might indicate a health issue or point to issues like severe obesity or other weight issues. It’s not the final answer.
The definition of being fit is personal. Each person determines their goal. Ways of staying fit are just as varied. Some people, like the family of warriors at RCFitness, use online services or private and group training to achieve that goal. One way that’s encouraged is to walk more. A movement encouraging walking 10,000 steps each day grew significantly these past few years. Why has it become popular? Is there a reason 10,000 steps are better than 5,000 or 15,000?