Outlines the steps of the WALK Technique, a guide to better health through weight and diet awareness, healthy eating patterns, improved fitness plans.
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What is the WALK Technique?
Watch your weight, what you eat, and risk factorsWatch your weight, what you eat, and risk factors. The first step of any fitness plan is evaluating your current health and wellness, starting with your weight. Find your weight and your BMI (body mass index). Here's a neat little BMI tool. Once you have this information, you'll have an idea of how much weight you should lose. But your weight is not the only factor you need to examine. Next, carefully review what you eat in a typical week. Things you want to pay special attention to include how much fast food you consume, how much fried and fatty foods you eat, how much sugar you pack in (partly because sugar is in almost all prepared foods and sauces), and how many empty calories you take in from sugary or high-carb snacks. Finally, you need to understand and evaluate other risk factors that can be silently waiting to adversely affect your health. Answer these questions to determine the level of other risks to your health. Do you smoke cigarettes? How active are you? Do you have high blood pressure? How are your total and bad (LDL) cholesterol levels? Is your triglycerides number high? How is your glucose level? Finally, do you have any hereditary health issues? If you don't know many of these numbers, consider getting an annual wellness check-up (and lab work) from your doctor. If you are overweight (with a BMI greater than 25), don't really eat that healthy, and have more than one additional risk factor, you must change your lifestyle to save your life -- and adopting the WALK Technique is a step (literally) in the right direction. If you're generally healthy, the WALK Technique can still provide the benefit of improving your overall health and wellness. Adopt a healthy eating and fitness plan. Before making any radical changes to your eating or exercise habits, consult your health practitioner to be certain you are on a safe and gradual path to losing weight and eating better. Once you've been cleared to proceed, the first thing you must do is purge your pantry of all the very dangerously unhealthy foods and snacks lurking inside. Get rid of all your sugar and bleached rice and flour. Eliminate fatty, sugary, and salty snacks and drinks -- especially those made with transfats or high-fructose corn syrup. Eat more fruits and veggies -- both as snacks and with meals. Read more about healthy eating. If you smoke, quit. Finally, start a simple fitness plan. There is no need to buy a gym membership -- or even spend any money -- though you could if having a trainer is going to motivate you to workout. You can easily start your fitness plan with walking and some other simple exercises and resistance training. Riding a bicycle is another option, as is swimming. You should strive for at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, but you can start more slowly and build toward that goal -- and you don't have to do it all in one block of time. Read these basic tips for walking and bicycling. You'll be amazed at how easily you'll lose weight while also seeing a reduction in some of your health risk factors by adopting this type of health and fitness plan. Learn the benefits of healthy living. Besides the obvious benefits of losing weight and reducing some of the risk factors that can adversely affect your health, there are several other important benefits to a healthier lifestyle. You'll feel better and look better. The combination of losing weight, looking better in front of a mirror, and being happier from the exercise endorphins , will improve your overall sense of happiness and well-being. Another benefit is you'll tend to be less susceptible to common illnesses, such as colds and other bugs. Eating healthier and regularly working out makes your body stronger in fighting off infections. Since implementing the WALK Technique about nine years ago, I can count on one hand how many times I have been sick -- and this is with children living at home and teaching college students (who are often sickly). Keep working toward better health. You won't become healthier overnight -- well, actually as soon as you start a health and fitness plan, you will be incrementally healthier every single day -- but it will take time to see and feel the full results. Develop your plan -- and stick to it. Don't let minor setbacks or envious friends and family stop you from achieving your goals. As long as you stay focused on your health goals, you can achieve them. As you move closer to your goal, consider modifying your plans by trying new foods and fitness techniques. The key is finding a plan that works for you so that you are happy with yourself, improving your health, and not feeling deprived in the process. Diets never work (because they are too constricting), but lifestyle changes do.
Adopt a healthy eating and fitness plan
Learn the benefits of healthy living
Keep working toward better health
Final Thoughts on Improving Health and Fitness
The WALK Technique is a health and fitness plan that just about anyone with a mind toward developing a healthy lifestyle and living a longer life can implement. You'll have to eliminate bad habits, change your eating and snacking routines, and find time for daily fitness -- but by making these small changes in your life, you'll see vast and long-term improvements. Start WALKing today! Interested in reprinting or republishing this article? Please refer to our Article Reprint Guidelines.
Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., is an avid bicyclist, adventurist, environmentalist, and student of
wellness and photography, with a mission of empowering others to lead great lives.
He is Founder and CEO of EmpoweringSites.com, a
network of empowering and transformative Websites. Dr. Hansen is also the
founder and caretaker of this site, EmpoweringRetreat.com, as well as founder of
EmpoweringAdvice.com,
MyCollegeSuccessStory.com, and
EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is a published author, with several books, chapters in books, and hundreds
of articles. He's often quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the country. Dr. Hansen is also an educator, having taught
at the college level for more than 15 years. Learn more by visiting his personal Website, RandallSHansen.com or
reach him by email at CEO(at)empoweringsites.com. You can also check out
Dr. Hansen on GooglePlus.
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