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Chronic diseases are so prevalent in the U.S. that more folks have them than those without. Indeed, 6 in 10 American adults have at least one chronic health condition. About 40% even have two or more.
Of the factors that play a role in chronic disease development, unhealthy habits top the list. These include poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.
The good news is that such habits are breakable, and it starts with learning how to get in better shape. And the sooner you begin your shape-up journey, the lower your risk of chronic disease. Being fit and healthy can also do wonders for your mental health.
To that end, we bring you this guide sharing the top strategies you can use to shape up. Read on so you can get started as early as today.
Talk to Your Doctor
Remember: Being in good shape isn’t only about having a good level of body fat. It also means having a healthy body free of disease.
So before starting any fitness journey, visit your physician for a comprehensive check-up. This way, your doctor can assess your health and identify potential diseases. Besides, many conditions can cause weight gain, including hypothyroidism, insomnia, and heart disease.
Lifestyle habits and health conditions can also contribute to nutritional deficiencies. The most prevalent is chronic undernutrition, affecting over 925 million people worldwide. This results from food intake that doesn’t meet the body’s energy requirement.
Malabsorption is another health problem that can lead to nutrient deficiency. It occurs when the body has difficulty absorbing and digesting food nutrients. Cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis, and parasites are just some of its causes.
Even if you don’t have such health issues, your doctor can still help by giving you health advice. For instance, they can help you choose a diet and exercise regimen that suits you best.
Map Out Your Shape-up Plan
After your medical check-up, you can start planning your fitness journey.
Creating a plan outlining your goals is one of the most crucial fitness tips to help you get in better shape. Your plan should also identify the methods you can use to achieve those goals.
For example, if you want to lose weight, the next step is to consider realistic strategies to get there. These may include:
- Increasing physical activity or exercise
- Safe and gradual reduction of caloric intake
- Cutting back on foods that contribute to unwanted weight gain
Just as important is to give yourself enough time to accomplish your goals. For instance, if you want to shed 10 pounds, the fastest you can safely do so is five weeks. Health experts also recommend a weight loss range of 1 to 2 pounds weekly.
If you lose more than that, you can be at risk of nutritional deficiencies. It may also impair your metabolism, increasing your weight regain potential. You may also develop gallstones and experience muscle loss.
Consider Investing in At-Home Exercise Equipment
If the closest gym is many miles from your place, this may interfere with your motivation. Its distance also means you’d have to spend precious time commuting to and from the facility. That’s time you could otherwise spend on performing your workout routine.
If you have the budget, consider buying at-home exercise equipment for personal use. This can be especially helpful if you’re shy or wary of being around other people.
Besides, you don’t have to go all out and purchase brand-new at-home exercise equipment. For example, you can buy a pre-owned Peloton bike or a used NordicTrack treadmill for sale online.
Pick Your Out-Of-Home Activities
Even if you already invested in an at-home gym, you should still perform exercises outside. Doing so allows you to create variation in your routine and experience new stimuli. New stimuli, in turn, can help you achieve continued progress.
Rotating activities and exercises can also help reduce injury risk. It does so by preventing you from overusing or overstraining muscles and joints.
Different exercise environments can also help keep you from feeling bored. And if you perform physical activity outdoors, you can enjoy the extra perk of being in nature. You can also get some sunshine vitamin (AKA vitamin D) crucial for bone health.
So to reap the many benefits of exercise, add the following variations to your routine.
Outdoor Walks
A 30-minute outdoor walk, which you can do daily, can help you lose weight. It also helps regulate blood sugar and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Enjoying the outdoors while walking can also help reduce stress levels.
If you can’t do all 30 minutes in one go, you can divide it into two 15-minute or three 10-minute walks.
Hiking
Hiking is a cardio exercise that can help strengthen the lower body. For example, it can carve out your calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quads. It also improves your core, balance, and overall stability.
Hikes usually last a few hours, so they’re ideal weekend or day-off activities. Best of all, their duration is also the primary reason they can help burn many calories. For example, a 160-pound individual who goes on a steep hike for 90 minutes can burn up to 1,320 calories.
Swimming
Swimming isn’t only fun; it’s also an excellent full-body workout. After all, this activity uses almost all muscles to keep your body afloat. Then, once you start paddling, it activates your entire body, from head to toe.
However, the upper body muscles are the most utilized body parts during swimming. You work out your arms and chest whenever you do breast, free, or backstrokes.
Swimming also improves your lower body because you must kick your legs to move in the water. It also helps strengthen your core by engaging your lower back, hips, pelvis, and stomach.
Your cardiovascular health can even improve with regular swimming. That’s because it makes your heart and lungs work harder to deliver blood and oxygen to your entire body.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding (SUP)
Stand-up paddleboards make up a $1.65 billion global industry. Over three million stand-up paddleboarders also attend worldwide SUP events yearly.
If you’re not keen on surfing waves, SUP is an excellent alternative. It requires you to stand on a massive board and use a paddle to move it and yourself through the water.
Therefore, SUPing requires a good core and a stable lower body. Your back, arms, and shoulders must also be strong enough to push the paddle. These are things you can achieve by practicing and mastering the sport.
Cycling
Outdoor cycling is a cardio exercise that, like hiking, targets the lower body muscles. At the same time, it activates the arms, back, and shoulder. It also improves your core since you must maintain balance to keep yourself and the bike upright.
Gradually Reduce Your Calorie Intake
Calorie is the metric used to measure the amount of energy a food or beverage contains. Calories are essential because the body uses them as fuel to perform its functions.
However, eating and drinking more calories than the body burns can lead to weight gain. Whenever this happens, the body stores excess or unused calories as fat. The longer this goes on, the more pounds you accumulate.
Conversely, eating fewer calories triggers the body to convert stored fat into energy. This is how calorie reduction can help you lose weight.
Still, cutting calorie intake can be challenging because the body has grown used to taking more of it in. Yes, it can adapt to changes, but it needs time. A sudden and extreme calorie reduction can make it crash due to nutrient deficiency.
Not getting enough nutrients, in turn, can cause conditions like fatigue and pain. Headaches, dizziness, and nausea can also set in.
Those unpleasant symptoms can then drive a person to eat again and, in many cases, even more than before. This results in weight regain or more weight gain.
For those reasons, a gradual calorie intake is safer and more effective. For example, you can cut back 500 calories from your daily diet to shed around a pound weekly. Then, if you want to lose an additional pound, do an exercise that can burn the extra 500 calories.
Minimize Unhealthy Snacking
You can eat baked crisps, potato chips, or pretzels occasionally and in small amounts. However, avoid them altogether if you can because they are highly processed. They also offer little nutritional value, only empty calories.
The more and the longer you snack on those “treats,” the higher your risk of high blood sugar levels. Unfortunately, that can trigger an insulin surge, thereby promoting fat storage.
Instead of grabbing those snacks, opt for healthier options, including:
- Hummus
- Whole-grain pita
- Fresh veggie sticks or fruits
- Yogurt
- Mixed nuts
You can also minimize snack cravings by preventing yourself from getting so hungry. Do this by eating nutritious, filling breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
Improve Your Sleep Quality
Sleep quality can make or break your shape-up journey since it can affect diet and exercise. Low sleep quality often results from insufficient sleep duration or multiple sleep disruptions.
Inadequate sleep can affect your diet by making you more likely to overeat. It can also affect the body’s release of ghrelin and leptin, hormones related to appetite. There’s also a link between sleep deprivation and increased intake of high-calorie foods.
Insufficient sleep can affect exercise because it causes fatigue. When you feel tired, the last thing you want is to move, much less do vigorous activity.
A lack of sleep also hinders the muscles from recovering completely between workouts. As a result, working out despite having tired muscles can increase injury risk.
Frequent and continued sleep deficiencies can also make your overall health suffer. They can raise your risks of health issues like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. They may also increase your likelihood of developing mental conditions like anxiety.
To avoid those problems, sleep at least seven hours every night. Your bedroom should also be dark, silent, and at a comfortable temperature.
It also helps to avoid eating large meals too close to your bedtime. Likewise, stop using your blue light devices one to two hours before getting under the covers. A warm shower before bed may also help you feel more relaxed and, thus, sleep better.
Stay Hydrated
Dehydration won’t just prevent you from shaping up; it can also be life-threatening. That’s enough reason to stay hydrated all day, especially during exercise.
Stick to water, as it’s calorie-free, boosts metabolism, and helps digestion. By contrast, sodas, store-bought juice, and energy drinks are high in calories.
Drinking water before and during meals also helps make you feel full faster. As a result, you can reduce the amount of food you consume. It also helps minimize your risk of overeating.
Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Every time you achieve a goal in your shape-up plan, no matter how small, celebrate it and reward yourself. This is an excellent way to instill positive reinforcement. It can also help you look forward to accomplishing more goals.
Be careful with how you reward yourself, though. For example, if you achieved your goal of losing one pound a week, don’t celebrate with a sugary snack. That can make you regain the weight you already lost and even crave more sugar.
Instead, opt for rewards that can help you achieve your getting-fit goals. For instance, you can book an overnight stay at an eco-resort where you can hike or go on trail walks. Another idea is to go to a wellness facility, like a spa, on your next day off.
That’s How to Get in Better Shape
There you have it, your ultimate guide on how to get in better shape. Now you know that talking to your doctor is the first and most crucial step. You can then use their expert advice when creating your shape-up plan.
Lastly, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results within a week or two. Just keep at it; you may need more time, but once you achieve your first goal, you’ll realize the wait was worth it. For more health, fitness, and lifestyle guides like this, check out our other blog posts!
