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Diet and Exercise - Secrets Of Good Health

A balanced diet and physical activity are the twotime-tested secrets of good health. If you are overweightand want to shed some pounds, regular exercise hasrepeatedly proven itself as the most effective way toachieve permanent weight loss. Though dieting can often helpyou reach your weight loss goals quicker and moredrastically, you will eventually gain back all of the weightlost during your diets once you get back into your oldeating habits. Rather than entering the cycle of yo-yodieting and rapid gains and losses, it is much more sensibleand healthy to gradually change your eating habits, and toembark on a fun and consistent exercise program.

For years, a low-fat or low-calorie diet was considered theonly cure for obesity. However, these diets tended toincrease your appetite. Now, it's been determined that alow-carb diet is more practical and effective. Low-carbdiets are low in carbohydrates and higher in proteins, fatsand oils. You appetite remains under control because fattyfoods satisfy the cravings most people have. By eating adiet higher in fat actually increases weight loss fasterthan if you were fasting. You should avoid trans-fats andonly eat fats such as olive oil and flax seed oil

A low-carb diet is primarily a high fat diet and an adequateprotein diet. It should be accompanied with adequatephysical activity, which does not necessarily mean tiringyourself with workouts your body cannot take for long. Onthe contrary, simple physical activity is sufficient,especially if you are leading a sedentary lifestyle. Evenfifteen minutes of exercise a day can make a big differencein how you look and feel. Once you begin to see the changestaking place in your body, you will find enough motivationto do more.

Always consult with your physician before starting anyexercise program. This will ensure your body can take thestrain of exercise. Your doctor will want to know how muchexercise you plan on doing and for how long.

If you have never embarked on an exercise program before,you might consider joining a gym or hiring a personaltrainer. Most health clubs offer a wide variety of freeclasses to their members, ranging from the more traditionalaerobics and stair-stepping classes to more specializedclasses like yoga and kickboxing. You can hire a privatetrainer, or you can enlist the help of a health clubemployee.

It is important to remember when exercising that you shouldfocus on getting healthy more than the numbers on yourscale. Many people gain a little weight when they firstbegin an exercise program because they are building muscle.As a rule, muscle weighs more than fat. As you gain muscleyou'll start burning more calories and fat. So even if youchoose not to diet and only exercise, you can still looseweight. It is also important to eat well balanced healthymeals to sustain you through your workout sessions.