How to get healthy, in five easy steps.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a series of articles on 60 in 3 called 10 steps to getting healthy and losing weight. I thought it laid out the specific details for a healthy life change but one of my readers pointed out a flaw. This series provided a lot of the individual steps but none of the overall planning. I suppose that’s due to the fact that I believe people should be able to plan such things on their own. However, when I look back at my own health turn around, I see many cases where I lacked a plan and this caused me various problems. So I’ve decided to remedy the situation with this new series of articles that will lay out a simple plan for getting healthier, improving fitness and losing weight. As with previous series, this first article will give an initial overview of each step and we’ll then go into the details in subsequent posts.

Step 1 - Research

This is probably the step most people miss. People, and I include myself in this, who have realized they’re in bad shape and need to do something about it, will just jump into something such as a new diet or workout routine. What they should do instead is collect information. They need to take a careful look at their own life. What bad eating habits do they have? What physical activities are they doing now? What physical activities did they used to enjoy? What foods or flavors do they really like?

All of these things are important items to know before starting out. They’ll help you decide how to fix the bad situation you’re in. I would recommend that the first step of any health turnaround be keeping a food journal and an activity journal for about a month. I realize you want to jump into things and start getting healthier, but believe me, this information is useful and you need to write it down before you start changing yourself. By the way, part of the research might involve a trip to the doctor’s for a physical.

Step 2 - Goals

Again, most people just skip this in favor of just jumping into things. However, I like knowing why I’m jumping. I like knowing what my goal or target is because this will help me determine what direction I should jump. Goals need to be exact and they need to be achievable. “Lose weight” is not a good goal. It’s not measurable or exact enough. Neither is “Get in shape”. Better goals would be “Lose 20lbs over the next 6 months” or “Be able to run an 8 minute mile by March 1st, 2008″. In fact, the best goal would be a combination of these items. Something like “By March 1st, 2008, I want to lose 20lbs, run an 8 minute mile and hike up Mission Peak in under 1 hour.” That’s a great set of goals there. It’s exact, it’s measurable and it will tell you what you need to do over the next few months. By the way, when we look into this step in detail we’ll see just why simple weight loss goals like “loss 20lbs” are actually bad.

Step 3 - Eating Plan

Now that you have your goal, start planning ahead. Don’t jump into a silly fad diet. Instead, come up with an eating plan that you think you can maintain for the rest of your life. Think carefully about when you like to eat, the foods you enjoy and the type of meals you prefer. These are all vital parts of a sustainable healthy lifestyle. Calculate your metabolic rate and see how many calories you’ll need for your target weight. Then plan accordingly. Too often I see people saying stuff like “I’m going to cut 1000 calories a day!” Why? Did you do the math? Do you know how many calories you need per day? Make sure your plan matches your goals. If you want to lose 20lbs, then plan accordingly. Also, decide when and how gradually you will implement these new eating habits. Remember, sudden changes are rarely sustainable which is why I recommend the slow and gradual method.

Step 4 - Activity Plan

What we just discussed for eating applies to physical activity too. Figure out what activities you enjoyed. Research other potential possibilities and write them down. Take a look at your schedule to see when you’ll have time to work out. Look for a gym. Again, these are all things you should do as part of your plan.

Once again, your goals are going to shape your plan. If your goal is to run an 8 minute mile then you should focus a bit more on cardio and a bit less on weight lifting, although I would still recommend that you do both. If your goal is some hike that you’ve always wanted to do then maybe you should try that hike every other weekend to see how you’re doing.

Come up with a plan for slowly adding workouts into your life. Again, sudden changes are almost never sustainable. So decide which changes you’ll implement first, try them out and make changes until they become a part of your life. Then move on to the next change.

Step 5 - Evaluate and Retune

No plan is ever perfect the first time, or even the tenth time. So you’ll need to constantly evaluate your eating and activity plans and see how you’re doing. If something isn’t working, change it. Just don’t quit when you hit your first obstacle. Believe me, you’re going to hit a lot of obstacles. They key is to not lose hope. Just adjust your plan and keep moving forward.

Summary

That’s it, those are the five steps you need to follow. Tomorrow we start discussing them in detail when we look at Step 1, research.

Series Navigation

How to get healthy, in five easy steps. Step 1, research.»

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!