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LIVING ABALANCEDLIFE

PHYSICAL BALANCE

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TABLE of CONTENTSIntroduction >>Physical Health >> Regular Exercise >>Cardio Exercise >>Strength Training >>Proper Diet >>Proper Sleep >>Conclusion >>References >>

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As we all know life can be a little bit hectic. There are so many different things

to worry about between school, work, family, and everything else that comes with

the package. There are so many different factors that make up our days, months,

and years. What’s even crazier is there is no telling what the future holds, meaning

a year from now we could be living in the same place, or off in a different state, or

even country doing something completely different than we had ever imagined or

planned. Life has a way of throwing us curve balls every once in a while.

That being said, in the midst of all the craziness, it is easy to get caught up and

neglect things the most important things. In life, family, friends, and relationships

are what give color to an otherwise bland world. However, aside from those, there

are also other things that we need to be considerate of, meaning our physical,

mental, and spiritual health. These factors are essentially what give us the will and

the energy to spend time with our family and friends, and also give us the energy to

make it through the day and especially in troubling times.

On that same note, it is important that we have each of these individual factors

because a lack in any of these elements can lead to disaster. Think about it this

way, the same way that a recipe needs different ingredients to make it delicious; we

too need to be living a balanced life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Leaving

any one of these key ingredients out could result in disaster. Also, although there

will be times when we are focusing on some things more than others, it is important

INTRODUCTION

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that in the long run we improve ourselves not just in one but all aspects of our lives.

It seems that stress, disappointment, and hardships come when we start losing that

balance. When we start focusing too much on one aspect of our lives, everything

else seems to tumble down around us.

Of course, as with anything worthwhile, living a balanced life does take some

effort on our part. A balanced life doesn’t just happen without any effort; it takes

diligence and many conscious decisions to change the way that we live our lives.

The good news is that anyone can do it and the benefits are enormous as you will

not only look better, but feel better overall.

It is worthy of mentioning right off the bat that balance doesn’t happen overnight,

but rather it is a lifelong endeavor. Just the same way that when we are trying to

balance glasses of water on a tray it takes constant vigilance and there are times

that we may make a mistake, but we should never give up. Above all we need make

sure that we keep trying day in and day out to keep everything in check

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The main focus of this piece is going to be achieving balance physically. Physi-

cal balance is something that perhaps many of us neglect in lieu of other pursuits

that we may feel more important. For example, how many times have we skipped

out on breakfast in order to get to school or work a little earlier? Or how many

times have we pulled “all-nighters” in order to do well on the big exam or finish the

big project for the next day? Although many of these things can provide temporary

answers, in the long run, frequent missed breakfasts or all-nighters are going to be

very detrimental to your health. Which means, you won’t be able to do that job you

skipped out on sleep and eating for because you will be in a hospital bed.

It is important to remember that there are many different factors to physical

health. Physical health is not simply getting up in the morning, putting on your

sweat pants and jogging out the door and around the block. Although exercise is

one element of physical health, it is also important to maintain a healthy diet and

get a proper amount of sleep. Observing these three elements is going to make life

not only more enjoyable, but also more productive and successful. Exercise, proper

diet, and proper sleep are the main ingredients of physical health.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

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Regular exercise is vitally important to overall health. It’s not enough to go jog-

ging or to the gym once a week. It’s not even enough to go two times a week. It

requires a little more effort than that. It requires commitment and a sense dedica-

tion. It also requires knowing what you are aiming for. That being said, there are

two types of exercise that we need to be involved in: cardio exercise and strength

training.

REGULAR EXERCISE

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Cardio exercise, or cardiovascular exercise, is any type of rhythmic activity per-

formed continuously, which includes anything from walking, running on a treadmill,

and aerobics to cycling swimming, and dancing. Cardio exercise strengthens lungs

and the heart, increase endurance and burns calories which can help you lose

weight.

It has been recommended that, in order to stay in shape, 30 minutes of mod-

erately intense cardio exercise needs to be done 5 days a week, or vigorous cardio

for 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Also, if you are trying to lose weight, you are

going to need to do about 60-90 minutes of activity a week.

CARDIO EXERCISE

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In addition to cardio exercise, in order to properly maintain your body, strength

training is necessary as well. Both strength and cardio are needed in combination

in order to achieve weight loss. Strength training strengthens your muscles bones

and connective tissue, and builds leans muscles tissue which raises metabolism

and reduces body fat.

As a couple guidelines for strength training, make sure to choose 8 – 10 ex-

ercises, targeting the major muscle groups. If you are a beginner try doing sets of 8

– 16 reps of each exercise, and for more advanced exercisers do 2 – 3 sets. You are

going to want to do strength training 2 – non-consecutive days a week. Make sure

as well to work each exercise through its full range of motion and remember to use

good form.

For additional information on how develop a habit of regular exercise check out

this site.

STRENGTH TRAINING

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Maintaining a proper diet is a significant factor in living a physically balanced

lifestyle. There are many people who feel it enough to simply exercise and not

watch what they are putting into their bodies, but that is not the case. Maintaining a

proper diet may seem difficult to some people (it is a lifestyle change) but it is not as

taxing as many people would make it out to be. For example, maintaining a healthy

diet does not mean you will never be able to eat your favorite foods again, it means

you will not overindulge yourself or eat more than is necessary. A lot of it comes

down to self-control and moderation, and of course making sure what you are eat-

ing is healthy.

Remember that changing eating habits is not going to happen overnight.

Rather it is something comes over time with sacrifice and effort. The important

thing to remember is that it is necessary to take it slow and work your way up to eat-

ing healthier, don’t kill yourself all at once, that will more than likely end up in failing,

which will not only affect your health, but also your confidence in yourself.

When considering how you will go about changing your diet, remember that

moderation is so very important. People will naturally want different types of food,

even those foods that are considered unhealthy. In times like those, remember that

you need to make sure you monitor how much you are eating and how often you are

eating those things. Reducing portion sizes will satisfy those cravings, and learning

to eat them less often will be highly beneficial to your body.

STRENGTH TRAINING PROPER DIET

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Remember as well that you are going to want to diversify your diet with all dif-

ferent types of foods, especially greens, sweet vegetables, and fruit. This diversity

will provide the necessary vitamins and minerals that other foods cannot provide.

Eating whole grains and healthy carbs will provide long lasting energy, in addition

to helping you feel full. In addition to fruits, veggies, and health carbs, make sure to

get healthy fats, or monounsaturated and poly unsaturated fats.

Monounsaturated fats are fats from plant oils. These plants include canola oil,

olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds. Polyunsaturated fats are fatty acids which are

found in fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and some cold

water fish. These can also be found in unheated sunflower, corn, soybean, flax-

seeds oils, and walnuts.

For more information on healthy diets, check out this site.

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Sleep is the final factor that will discussed in regards to a balanced physical

lifestyle. Sleep seems to be one of the parts of our life that is thrown out in favor

of other activities, yet it is one of the most important elements to consider. There

are many problems that can arise if we do not get enough sleep in a night, anything

from irritability to increased likelihood of certain types of diseases, ultimately result-

ing in poor health. Therefore it is important that we give sleep the proper attention it

deserves.

On average, adults needs anywhere from seven to eight hours of sleep a

night. Getting less than five hours several days consecutively can build up what is

called sleep deficit and can lead to many different problems. Getting more than the

necessary amount of sleep, if not sick or in need of that sleep, has negative effects

as well.

Although this may be difficult for some people, as they have already fallen

into a habit of not getting enough sleep, or getting too much sleep, changing this

habit follows the same principle as changing unhealthy eating habits. Move step by

step and little by little, slowly going to bed earlier, or getting up earlier. For the first

couple of weeks, it may appear to be difficult, but it will pay off in the end.

PROPER SLEEP

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In conclusion, remember that a healthy lifestyle will not happen overnight; rather

it will be a result of diligent effort and perseverance. Although proper exercise,

proper diet, and proper sleep were talked about, these are not the only factors that

contribute to physical balance, but they are some of the most significant. The im-

portant part is that there is effort, and that effort does not start a week from now, or

even tomorrow, it starts todays. Building up that moment will make each succes-

sive choice and sacrifice easier. After a while all of that effort will pay off in true

physical balance.

CONCLUSION

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http://exercise.about.com/cs/exbeginners/a/exbasics_2.htm

http://exercise.about.com/cs/exbeginners/a/exbasics_2.htm

CONCLUSION REFERENCES