The key to creating a successful plan for improving your diet and getting fit is to know what specific goals you are seeking to achieve. If you are not obese or even moderately overweight, and your goal is to improve your cardiovascular health and reduce cholesterol, you use different types of exercise than if your goal is weight loss or body building. If you are interested in a diet specifically for losing weight, your plan includes different foods than if you are eating primarily for fitness or heart health.
Step 1
Determine your outcome goals. Before you set specific diet and exercise goals, be clear about your ultimate goals. Decide whether your primary goal is health (improving cardiovascular strength, improving cholesterol levels, decreasing risk of disease, ), fitness (building muscle mass, strength and endurance) or weight loss (fat and calorie burning). While all three types of diet and exercise plans slightly overlap, if your primary goal is one of the these three, you'll want to set a plan that targets that specific goal.
Step 2
Create a health plan by targeting improved cardiovascular strength, cholesterol levels and decreasing your risk of disease. To improve heart health, your workouts should focus primarily on aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise burns fat, which may lead to increased risk of heart disease and cancer. Medical experts, including those at the Mayo Clinic, recommend aerobic exercise to combat poor cholesterol levels. A health-oriented diet should follow the U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) daily food pyramid, which recommends higher levels of carbohydrates each day, coming mainly from fruits and vegetables rather than starchy foods like potatoes, breads and pastas. Fats should come from nonsaturated fats, which promote increased high-density lipid levels, such as nuts, salmon, cranberries and foods high in niacin. Cook with monounsaturated fats like canola, avocado and olive oils. Adding more dietary fiber to your diet helps decrease the risk of colon cancer.
Step 3
Create a weight loss plan by targeting fat-burning exercise with muscle building, which helps you burn fat during your workouts and burn more calories during the day (because of increased muscle size). Use exercise equipment like a treadmill or elliptical, or do activities like cycling, skating, jogging, jumping rope, dancing, swimming or rowing. The American Heart Association recommends moderate intensity for 30 minutes, five times per week, or vigorously intense exercise for 20 minutes, three times per week. Muscle-building exercises can include pushups, chinups, pullups, crunches or exercises done with weights, such as bicep curls, squats, lunges, deadlifts or flyes. Your diet should focus on low-fat foods, eaten five-to-six times per day, to maintain your metabolism to burn more calories throughout the day. Your body may not be able to metabolize large portions and stores those calories at fat, so grazing is a key to weight loss.
Step 4
Create a muscle-building plan by making your workouts body-area specific. For example, one day, work the upper body, resting it the next. On the upper-body rest day, work out your lower body. If you are exercising every other day and wish to do a total body exercise during your workout, alternate exercises to work arms, legs, shoulders and back, to prevent muscle fatigue. Adding more lean protein to your diet helps you in your muscle-building goals.
Tips and Warnings
- Always consult a physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Things You'll Need
- Exercise area
- Exercise equipment
- Loose-fitting clothes
- Athletic shoes
References
- American College of Sports Medicine: Basic recommendations from ACSM and American Heart Association
- Mayo Clinic: Weight loss: 6 Strategies for Success
- Georgia Health Info: Metabolism and Weight Loss: How you Burn Calories
- Why Does Eating Breakfast Help Control Weight?: Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
- Arthritis Foundation: Top Three Types of Exercise
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