The pro's and con's of living a healthy lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle habits are very important to everyone who wants to live a long and (health) problem free life. For most, it is as easy as making a decision to eat and live in a healthy way, but for others this fact of life totally eludes them. This is just one of the reasons why there is a national obesity epidemic, as well as a long list of other problems including heart disease.

In fact, obesity is not just a problem in our own country, it exists throughout the entire western world. But what defines a healthy lifestyle? Is it difficult to live in a healthy way? What are the costs involved and are there any negatives to eating and living in a healthy manner? We have developed a new website called Nattokinase Heart Health because we understand the need our body has on 'all things natural' when we want to prevent and heal numerous diseases, like heart disease.

'Heart disease' encompasses a list of problems like high blood pressure, angina, hardening of the arteries and blood circulation problems just to name a few. For this reason, we believe in the power of taking vitamin, mineral and enzyme supplements as part of our daily nutrition plan.

Obesity is the Big Killer Because it Causes So Many Complications

At the top of the 'big-killer' list today is obesity, both in adults and in children. It is dubbed, 'the silent killer'. But, why is this so? I believe it is a combination of a lack of education and the ease at which we can buy fast, junk foods. If you looked in any good supermarket over the last ten or more years, you would easily see junk type foods, but where would the healthy options be? Usually out of site.

Healthy food has been pushed aside for far too long, purely because food manufacturers and retailers make more money from junk food - and they know it is addictive. Yes, I said it. It's addictive. Think about it for a second. The majority of people who eat fatty foods find it incredibly difficult to give it up and replace it with something much more healthy. They've been eating it for so long, their bodies and their brains are 'conditioned' to need this sugary and fatty food.

The other thing that I often find really strange, is that people always talk about 'healthy options'. Surely it should be the other way around, with healthy un-processed foods being normal, and junk food being a 'get fat option'. But that is not the society we live in yet, is it?

Figure Out if You Are Healthy or Not

Figuring out if you live a healthy life or an unhealthy one is common sense really. We just defined an unhealthy lifestyle, so on the flip side of that, a healthy lifestyle habit would be defined as eating natural foods like fresh meats, fish, root vegetables, rice, oatmeal, eggs and fruit. There are a lot more, but you get the gist. But for most people, living this way is not easy like we just talked about, and it usually takes something bad happening to them, like a stroke or heart attack, before they realize that the way they live is basically going to kill them!

We live in a millisecond world don't we? Particularly if you live or work in a big city. The abundance of fast food stores where you can very easily pick up stuff like a Big Mac or fried chicken is massive to say the least. Because of this combination of living in the 'fast lane' and always having an 'unhealthy' option for lunch and dinner at every junction, you are more likely to opt for that fast food instead of much on some chicken, rice and vegetables that you carry around with you in a Tupperware bowl.

What are Your Options for Getting Regular Exercise

You have several options for getting regular exercise and depending on some of the criteria above, it will depend what type of exercise you choose as your first step into better cardiovascular health, improved level of fitness and overall body-weight. As a very beginner, you may choose to start walking regularly. It may not sound like much, but if you currently do not move around a lot, you will be delightfully surprised at what a sixty minute walk will do for you.
You don't have to jump right in at sixty minutes, you can start off doing just fifteen minutes if that is all you can manage, then work your way up to thirty and then a full hour of brisk walking. You will burn a couple of hundred calories and the benefits to your heart and cardiovascular system will be huge.

Or if you consider yourself an intermediate, someone who already walks over sixty minutes a day, you may wish to join a gym or purchase a home fitness machine like a stairmaster stepper or an elliptical trainer (if funds permit). You also have other choices like treadmills, and bodyweight trainers which use a pulley system and your own weight to really work your muscles. The latter is generally aimed at more advanced people, the former (a treadmill) is useful if you like to run, but don't appreciate the elements out doors.

Here Are Some Healthy Eating Tips - If That Applies to You

If you want to start living a healthier way of life, by taking regular exercise and eating properly, I hope that article puts you on the right path to achieving your goals. Getting started is the first key to unlocking the door to a new you. Don't make radical changes to the way you do things, because this could lead to a massive jump backwards if you miss all your sugary and fatty foods at the same time.

Take it step by step, just making small changes every day and increasing those changes over the coming few weeks. Don't leave it too long or you will think that living healthy is a waste of time. You need to see results within a few weeks, so please bare that in mind. Just make small changes with how much and what you are eating, and slowly increase the amount of exercise you get each day. Start adding supplements into your diet plan like enzymes, vitamins and minerals (we use multivitamins, nattokinase and serrapeptase) because these will really help your body thrive, particularly in a hectic lifestyle.

If you've never exercised before, start out with one or two twenty minute walks, then after a few days make it thirty minutes, then forty five and so on. With these steady increases you will start to feel and notice a difference in no time at all. You must strike a 'happy medium' for your body and mind. Do too little and you will not see results. Do too much and you may just start thinking, 'its way to much hard work, I can't do it!' But you will figure it out enough to keep yourself motivated.

Something I once learned that has always stuck in my mind is that, 'emotion comes from motion'. If you don't move, you feel like 'boiled crap' don't you? When we don't move around too much, we acquire a state of mind that is not healthy. It can lead to depression too. To reverse the effects of that state, just start moving. Take a walk, do some jumping jacks or jogging on the spot. Honestly, it may sound silly but if you are feeling low - all you have to do to start feeling better is get your heart pumping.

This will increase your adrenaline and boost your serotonin levels, which are 'mood altering chemicals'. When these are boosted, you WILL feel a thousand times better than you did before you moved at all.

Why Have You Been Reluctant to Take Regular Exercise

It's a psychological thing! When we rarely do something, like taking physical exercise, it feels abnormal or alien to us, so we hate to do it and usually don't unless we have to. Exercise is the biggest example I could have used, because it is so easy just to sit around relaxing and watching the television than getting outside and raising your heartbeat. They view sitting around eating and drinking stuff that is bad for you as good, but taking exercise and burning fat and learning how to live a longer life, as bad.

But all you need to do is take a short walk every day to start feeling better. Don't be a couch potato, get up and do something about your current way of life if you feel like there is something more waiting for you. Don't get fat or stay fat, because it can lead to serious health issues. Start living a healthy lifestyle today, because you will live better and longer.

Author's Bio: 

The author has a huge interest in diet, health and fitness and has recently added a new website to his portfolio called http://nattokinasehearthealth.com/ which is about using enzymes as a means to controlling blood health and reducing pain. Follow Andy on Google+.