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2017 Wellness Expo
Lincoln Daily News Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Here are ten tips to beginning an
exercise program and creating a
healthy lifestyle.
1. Establish your goals in writing and share
with your support group. Set reasonable short-
term goals and your dream long-term goals.
n
For example, a short-term goal may be to
increase exercise time to 15 minutes every day
and reduce screen/inactive time by 30 minutes a
day.
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A long term goal may be to lose 30 pounds or
run a 10K race.
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Sharing your goals with those who support you
allows them to do just that: support you!
2. Know your calorie count.
n
Between the ages of 19 and 30, the average
sedentary adult male needs 2,400 calories and the
average adult female needs 2,000 calories.
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If you are younger or older than this group your
caloric requirement is less.
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As activity level increases, your caloric
requirements will also increase.
3. Log your food intake and be honest.
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Make sure you include everything that you eat.
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There are plenty of smart phone apps to assist
with food logging, but pen and paper work just as
well.
4. Eat regularly.
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When we eat large amounts at infrequent
intervals, our bodies prefer to try and store any
excess calories as fat.
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Infrequent meals can also lead to a slower
metabolic rate; the rate at which our bodies use
calories.
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By eating smaller more frequent meals, we
can improve our metabolic rate and decrease our
body’s tendency to store calories.
5. Use behavior modification.
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Behavior modification involves using a system
of rewards and punishment to reinforce positive
activities and reduce or eliminate negative ones.
Our objective is to replace our poor activity,
exercise, and eating habits with healthier ones.
6. Provide cues.
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If your goal is to exercise before work in the
morning, place your workout clothes and shoes
right next to the bed so that you have to move
them or put them on to get out of bed. Put your
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