What's Eating You? Day 8 Weight Management: Putting It All Together

There are many different approaches to managing weight. Some people use exercise, some people diet, and others use some combination of the two. If you simply eat enough food to fuel your level of physical activity, maintaining your weight should be fairly easy, right? Well, your weight is often a direct reflection of your health condition. It is just as important to eat the right types of foods as well as the right amounts of food. You have to eat for your health as opposed to eating for taste or comfort.

The average adult may consume anywhere from 1200-2000 calories per day. The great majority of those calories should come from unprocessed foods like lean protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, raw dairy, and healthy fats. Water consumption should be about 12 glasses of water per day.

Physical activity helps to tone the body from the inside out. While muscle size and bone density may increase as a result of exercise, the cardiovascular system is tuned up as well. Vitamins and minerals are more efficiently metabolized and delivered to needed parts of the body because of improved circulation.

In addition to dedicated exercise 3-4 days per week for at least 30 minutes per session, it is important to maintain an active lifestyle. Daily chores, playing with the children, hiking, raking leaves, or washing the car are all great ways to stay active.

In summary, weight management is successfully achieved by eating the right foods, eating the right amounts of them, and staying active.

Be good to yourself! More next time...