Ten Tips To Help You Shape Up

If you think it takes hours and hours of working out to improve the way a person looks and feels, think again. The physical activity you need to look and feel better may only take minutes. According to the United States Department of Agriculture's 2005 Dietary Guidelines Report, adults need 30 minutes of moderate activity on five or more days of the week to be healthy. Increase that to 60 minutes and you can also maintain an appropriate body weight.

Here are 10 tips to help from The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and HealthSaver.

1. Be moderately physically active at least 30 minutes a day on five or more days a week. If you can't do 30 minutes, try increments of 10 or 15 minutes adding up to 30 minutes a day.

2. Keep in mind that proper nutrition and physical activity go hand in hand. Just because you walked for 30 minutes doesn't mean you can reward yourself with a pint of your favorite ice cream.

3. Build physical activity into your daily routine. Adding 30 minutes of walking to your daily schedule will use, on average, around 150 calories a day, enough to lose over a pound a month. You can lose more than 15 pounds in a year if you keep it up and follow a healthy diet.

4. Build small amounts of activity into your day. Take the stairs, park your car further away, get off the bus a stop earlier, take a walk at lunch.

5. Keep a daily log of your progress.

6. Continually upgrade your fitness program.

7. For added health benefits, do 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity three or more times a week. This might include running, aerobics, swimming or working out on cardiovascular equipment.

8. Shift your focus to your health, not just your appearance.

9. Avoid being obsessed with weight as it appears on a scale. People who do vigorous physical activity may increase lean body mass while decreasing overall fat levels. This can result in a loss of inches without weight loss.

10. Play actively with your children every day. Make sure children get an hour of physical activity to help keep them healthy.

Source: NAPSI

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WEIGHT LOSS AND EXERCISE, VISIT THE THYROID DIET INFORMATION CENTER