Three Ways To Live A Healthier Life
My three ways to live a healthier life are:
– Watch your calories
– Learn to cook
– Exercise
Three Ways To Live A Healthier Life
Today I want to talk about my three ways to live a healthier life. If you’re new to the blog, welcome! I’ve been waiting for you. 😉
But really, I’m happy to have you here, congratulations on making the decision to get healthier. If you’ve been a loyal follower of the Bent On Better movement, you’re fantastic -thank you. Ok, back to healthiness. So today is all about my three ways for you to live a healthier lifestyle and guess what?! It doesn’t involve anything other than your time and commitment. Ready? Let’s go!
Below you will find my three ways to live a healthier life: watch your calories, learn to cook, and exercise.
Watch Your Calories
You read that right, watch your calories. So many people are so concerned with counting your macros because they see all the shredded Instagramers reppin’ the IIFYM lifestyle (to read more about macros (macronutrients: carbs, proteins, fats, click here to read my post where I discuss If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) dieting) that they forget about the most basic principle of weight control and healthy living: calories in vs calories out.
To put things into simple terms, a calorie is a basic unit of energy that we get from food. Every day our bodies require a certain amount of calories to operate and function. If you were to do nothing but lay in bed all day (you know, just Netflix and chill) and not do a single thing (not even eat or use the bathroom or anything) your body would still burn calories. This energy requirement is called your resting metabolic rate. Here, let me define it…
Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) “is the amount of energy expended while at rest; it represents the minimal amount of energy required to sustain vital body functions such as blood circulation, respiration, and temperature regulation. You’re resting metabolic rate typically accounts for 70% of your total daily energy expenditure1.”
I mean, there are so many different factors that come into play when figuring out someone’s exact RMR. Factors such as age, sex, genetics, hormonal changes, body size, body composition, temperatures, altitude, illness, medication, food, caffeine intake, and even cigarette smoke all can affect a person’s RMR! But without getting too technical, it’s safe to say everyone is different. the resting metabolic rate for a single average human being generally falls between 1,200-1,700 calories. But if you want to have an estimate of your resting metabolic rate, check out the equation below:
Weight (lbs) x 10 = your resting metabolic rate (calories you need to consume to maintain your weight)
Now let’s finish up here with calories. The easiest way to lose weight or gain weight is to pay attention to your caloric intake.
There are two rules to remember, ready for this..?
If your CALORIES IN are more than your CALORIES OUT (burned), you can probably count on gaining weight.
If your CALORIES IN are less than yours CALORIES OUT (burned), you can probably count on losing weight.
Learn To Cook
Guess what? We are now living in the 21st-century, the days of when a man goes to work and the woman stays home to do all of the cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc. are no longer. Guess who does a majority of the cooking, laundry, and cleaning in our household…the man (me). If you still think (and by you, I mean if you’re a man reading this) that your girlfriend, boyfriend, mom, or significant other should do the cooking, leave my blog now.
But going beyond my personal beliefs, if you want to live a healthier lifestyle, lose weight, or gain weight, you need to learn how to cook. 🙂
Now, I’m not saying you need to be a master chef and study all the tools and skills of cooking and become a culinary master. I’m saying you should know how to do basic cooking. Cooking that goes beyond placing a pre-made frozen meal into the microwave or over. Look, if you want to be healthy you can’t be eating already prepared meals from the grocery store. You need to shop the perimeter, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, shop the perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where all the real food is, that’s what you should be eating if you want to be healthy. You don’t have to eat clean and be a perfectly lean-clean person, but if you want to be healthier you have to do it. Just know the basics like…how to cook a chicken breast in the oven. (You should know that the chicken breast needs to be at an internal temperature of 165°F in order for it to be considered fully cooked and safe to eat.)
I digress. Anyway! The point of the section is for you to understand the need for the ability to know how to cook. Just learn the basics.
If you learn how to cook, you can cook.
If you can cook, you can learn to cook more often.
If you learn to cook more often, you can know what you’re eating more often.
If you know what you’re eating, you can ultimately reach any health goal you set for yourself. 🙂
Exercise
Exercise is the lifeblood to my sanity.
Haha.
But really, have you ever finish and exercise and just felt like nothing couldn get you down? Sometimes I find myself leaving the gym without a care in the world, just feeling completely satisfied and so happy that I was dripping in sweat. But like the resting metabolic rate, not all types of exercise are for everyone.
The nice thing about exercise and fitness is that you can pretty much do anything, any type of movement, and it probably better for you than sitting down and thinking about it.
Sometimes I wonder how anyone in their right mind can not go to the gym, or do any sort of regular physical activity to be called exercise on a regular basis.
It blows my mind.
Do you know how many health benefits there are to working out?
A lot.
Take my word for it.
I’m a personal trainer, this is what I do.
But don’t get discouraged if you are not like me and love getting a good sweat on when I’m at the gym. You don’t have to go to the gym or lift weights to get in a good workout and call it an exercise. Exercise comes in many forms. You can lift weights, run, walk, swim, ride a bike, do Pilates, do yoga, and so many other fantastic things. Now if you’re telling yourself you don’t have enough time to work out or exercise, stop fooling yourself.
A one hour workout is only 4% of your day.
4%.
I’m no mathematician, but I believe that’s a lot less than half of your day.
But if you can’t dedicate one hour, 60 minutes, or percent of your day to exercising, why not try only 30 minutes? 30 minutes a day is only 2% of your day.
That’s it. 2%.
Food for thought:
If you lack motivation, read more of my blog posts and listen to my podcasts.
Find a workout partner.
Make friends at the gym that you can only see at the gym.
Take the dog for a walk.
Ride bikes with your kids.
Walk around the block after dinner with your significant other.
Just do some sort of movement on a regular basis.
That’s exercise.
I am currently in the process of writing customized personal training programs for my online clients. If you don’t know where to start, start here with me. I can coach you from day one all the way through day infinity. You can work with me for as short of a time or as long of a time as you want. If you live in the West Chester area or surrounding area, you can hire me as your personal trainer. I even do in-home personal training. If you are not in the area or you are but you would rather not work with me in person, I can do all of this online as well by providing you with all of the resources and content you need to become a better you.
You’re a healthy guy or gal, and I know you value your health (keep reading my blog). But here’s the thing, I have to remind you that these tips are provided for your information and are not intended as medical advice. Please work with your health care professional to determine what’s right for you. Just remember, eating right starts with you.
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1. Clark, Micheal, Scott Lucett, and Rodney J. Corn. “Chapter 17/ Section 3.” NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. 465-466. Print.