Answer the Call to Health & Fitness | Diet and Exercise | Real Life Fitness | PhitZone

Get fit & healthy now!

Pick up the phone, your health & fitness is calling

Guest post by Jennifer Bell

Living fit & healthy is not always the easiest task to accomplish in a society where technology has made everything immediate. Obesity is a growing epidemic. People with over 25% body fat are considered obese. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 33% of all adult Americans are obese. Furthermore, nearly, 17% of all children are obese, according to the New York Times. Americans need a wake up call to get active and remain healthy.

Exercise, Economy and Depression

Economic woes take precedence over eating well and exercising for better health & fitness. According to an article found in the New York Times, anxiety and depression increases in people as the economic stress increases. Suicide rates increase as well. Americans that are obese only increase their chances of becoming depressed in poor economic times.

Exercise: The Mood Enhancer

Americans need to improve their fitness schedules to improve their moods and ward off depression. Exercise increases endorphins in the body, which is a natural mood enhancer. According to Web MD, it appears that any form of exercise can improve mood, self-esteem and relieve symptoms of depression.

Proper health and fitness will make you feel better.

Endorphins act as analgesics in the body and can diminish a person’s perception of pain. The endorphins can also help people sleep better, which is often a problem that is associated with anxiety due to economic stress.

Types of Acceptable Exercise

Americans can engage in biking, running, golfing, swimming, walking, tennis, gardening, dancing, yoga or even housework to get the body in motion, and sustain their health & fitness.

Most people do not recognize how a sedentary lifestyle affects the mood of a person. Exercise is important for overall health & fitness.

Obesity, Economic Woes and Fast Food

The problem with economic stress is lack of money for food or lack of time to prepare healthy food. The $1 burger at your favorite fast food joint is often more affordable and faster, than the healthy alternative at a sandwich shop or a healthy meal prepared at home. Healthy choices are instrumental even during financial and emotional strife.

When people do not have enough money to eat, they do not have the energy to exercise. They are more likely to pass out than to benefit from a cardiovascular workout. With public assistance, this hardly seems likely that any American would not have access to food. However, the economy has created some unusual circumstances.

Health & fitness take a back seat.

Some Americans are so cash-strapped that their diets are secondary to maintaining a house or car to live in. This is particularly true of middle class Americans that had to accept jobs making less money, but with the same bills to pay.

They may not qualify for public assistance, so that unhealthy $1 burger from Burger King looks more enticing every day. The burger is filling and at the right price, but it increases the daily caloric intake of the sedentary person.

Find Balance to Financial Stress, Mental Health and Fitness

Americans must find a balance of maintaining their finances, their mental health and their fitness. Without a balance, a $1 burger may in the future cause a $25,000 or more hospital bill. Cardiovascular surgery from clogged arteries is not inexpensive.

Even clients that are eating healthy are at risk for hypertension and heart attacks if they are leading a sedentary lifestyle. The heart must exercise and pump the blood at least three times per week for 30 minutes to remain healthy, according to the American Heart Association.

Will Becoming a Vegetarian Help Me?

Many vegetarians are obese because they eat a lot of pasta, potatoes, bread and other starchy foods with very little roughage to help them eliminate waste. They are also sedentary and this causes them to gain weight. Pasta, potatoes and bread provide energy for exercise. When the person does not expend the energy, it metabolizes to sugar and fat. This is what then causes obesity and diabetes. Becoming a vegetarian will not help you become healthy without exercise either.

Summary

There is no way around exercise for remaining fit and healthy. The body has to move to improve the mood and health of the individual. Answer your wake-up call today. Get fit and healthy.

Jennifer Bell is from Health Training Guide. Check out her site to learn more about massage therapist training and other exciting health careers.

Photo by Gokhan Okur