Gym & Health

Clean out your kitchen. Get rid of most of the overly processed, pre-made foods, and food with anything "artificial". Don't throw out everything or you won't be able to cook, but get rid of the things you know are flat-out bad (such as that box of trans fat filled chips).

• Be sure to check the ingredients on any of the boxes of foods you have in your cabinets.
• Toss all trans fats. If an ingredient is "partially hydrogenated oil" this is another name for trans fats, and is worse for you than saturated fats which are the main cause of heart attacks and strokes.^[1]You will want to eventually, if not immediately, throw out all foods you have with this ingredient listed on the package.
• You can work on replacing the not-so-good ingredients in your pantry along the way.

Shop healthier! Buy your groceries at natural food stores or from the "healthy foods" section of your closest market. Buy fruits and vegetables, herbal teas, organic meats (if you can).^{[citation needed]} Look at the labels of the things you buy so that you know what your food contains.

• When in a supermarket, shop on the outer aisles most; this is where most of the healthier, unprocessed foods tend to be located (fruits, vegetables, bulk nuts/grains, etc.).
• It's always a good thing to be able to pronounce everything you are putting in your body, but just because something is listed by its chemical name, doesn't mean it's bad for you.

Cook for yourself. Look for healthy recipes you can make. Cooking homemade meals is usually healthier than take-out.

• Try new foods. Did you find a recipe for something you never heard of before? Make it and eat it. This will spice up your menu of healthy foods and you won't get bored.
  

Eliminate trans fats altogether and learn to include healthier substitutes.When using oil for cooking, use only oils with a high smoke point, such as coconut oil, real butter, or lard.^{[citation needed]} Limit polyunsaturated fats (PUFA's), such as those contained in vegetable oils and margarine.^{[citation needed]} Reserve low smoke point oils, such as olive or canola oil for salads.^{[citation needed]}

• Take in a ratio of approximately 3 to 1 in Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids.^{[citation needed]} Olive oil is 10 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids, which means that it has the propensity to be a promoter of inflammation in your body.^{[citation needed]} This inflammation occurs due to the lack of filled in hydrogen bond locations in polyunsaturated fat chains.^{[citation needed]}
• "Unsaturated" refers to the fact that the molecules contain less than the maximum amount of hydrogen.^{[citation needed]} These open bonds fill in with other available atoms (free radicals) and reduce your body's ability to properly metabolize the fats.^{[citation needed]} Olive oil, served at room temperature, is acceptable because it is less likely to go rancid under lower temperature conditions.^{[citation needed]}

Eat low glycemic index fruits and lots of fibrous, leafy, veggies.^{[citation needed]}The body loves maintained blood sugar levels. You will be less hungry this way.

Watch out for starches (all breads, pastas, rices, potatoes).^{[citation needed]}Starches are not ideal for our digestive systems.^{[citation needed]} Our adaptation is to put them in a position to be burned off as quickly as possible.^{[citation needed]} You are flooding your body with glucose, which is toxic in frequent high amounts.^{[citation needed]}Some people like to "carb-up" before working out in order to replenish the glycogen stores in their muscles. Consider other carbohydrate options, such as low glycemic index fruits and vegetables.

Drink plenty of water. A good rule of thumb is to drink 30/35ml of water for every kilogram you weigh.^{[citation needed]} This is what some "experts" say,^{[citation needed]}however, if you are really a "health nut," you will eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day, and you will find you don't need to drink very much water at all, because you are getting it in your foods! Remember, apples are 90% or more water.^{[citation needed]}

Exercise regularly. Try different activities until you find some that you can enjoy. You don't have to be cheerful about it all the time, but you don't want to detest it or you won't do it. Some healthy exercises that will not get you injured are table tennis, yoga, and swimming. Too much cardio is bad for you,^{[citation needed]} so don't feel like you need to run a marathon (or even a 5k) to be heart healthy.

• Stop sitting so much; get up and move around more. Stand when you talk, watch TV, play at the computer; you'll get used to it with time.

Study up on the latest health findings and how you can apply them to your life, but try not to get caught up in the latest fads. Also, double check everything, there are some websites that sound very authoritative but push bunk such as all your health problems will disappear if you just take my liver or colon cleanser formula etc.