What is Fitkix?

Fitkix is a lifestlye of healthy living and healthy eating. With all of the lifestyle induced illnesses in the world today it is important that we start promoting a healthier way of life. It's not something that is difficult to do, although many people dismiss it because they think it takes a lot of time and effort to be healthy. All you have to do is move, lift, stretch, relax and eat in moderation.

Moving can be as simple as parking the car at the end of the parking a walking from there to the store or if the store is a couple of blocks away, leave the car at home and take time to enjoy the fresh air on the way there. This could also count towards some of that relaxation that we just talked about.

Lifting could mean lifting weights or it could also mean carrying those groceries home that you just walked to the store to buy. Our bones need weight bearing activity to keep them strong and our muscles need some resistance to keep them toned and strong.

Stretching could come from the ever popular yoga or from bending and reaching while cleaning the house or doing the yard work.

Relaxation could come from meditation or simply from doing something that you like to do.

Eating moderately does not mean that you have to give up the foods you love. It just means that you eat them less frequently making them a treat when you do have them. Your meals need to come from the main food groups, mainly grains and cereals, fruits and vegetables, dairy sources, meats and alternative protein sources, healthy fats and oils, water, and the other food group which entails the many snack foods we love so much. It's the other food group that we reserve for treats once in a while.

Changing a lifestyle might take a bit of planning. Many of the changes in lifestyle are really changes in behaviour. Some people can adapt to change much more quickly than others but it is not impossible if you are not one of those who adapt quickly. It just takes some time.

Taking the steps to a healthy lifestyle can be done by changing thing at a time. You do not have start a cardio program, strength program, eating program and relaxation program all on the same day. It is probably best to decide which area of you lifestyle could use the most improvement or maybe you might want to concentrate on the area that is easiest to change.

Once you have decided which area to focus on, you need to set goals. I recommend the SMART system of goal setting. A goal should be:1)Specific
2)Measureable
3)Action-oriented
4)Realistic
5)Timed

Once the goal is established, an action plan needs to be designed. This is a plan on you can go about attaining the goal you have set for yourself.

Here is an example. Johnny Couchpotato has decided that he needs to get into better shape. The most exercise that he gets is walking from the parking lot at work to his office on the second floor and that is without taking the stairs. He decides that he needs to to start walking to help with weight control and cardiovascular fitness. Johnny lives about a half a mile away from work. Johnny decides that he would like to walk 5 miles per day which is a lot for him. He knows that he will not be able to start his 5 miles a day right now because he is not in shape. Also he usually works until 5PM and he needs an hour for dinner. He also watches the news at 6PM. His favorite show "24" is on at 9PM but he watches Jeopardy, Access Hollywood, and a couple of sit coms while he is waiting for his favorite show. What can he do?

He has decided on the change that he wants to execute but he needs to set goals. He wants to walk 5 miles per day which is a realistic goal. He needs to decide what time frame he wants to achieve this goal. He has decided that in 5 weeks, he wants to be able to walk 5 miles in a day. This is a long term goal. He decides that he can break this down into shorter goals or short term goals. In week one, he will walk one mile. For each additional week he will walk one more mile until he reaches week 5 where he will be walking 5 miles per day. This goal is doable.

How does he plan to acheive this? In week one, he has decided to walk to in the morning and to walk home in the evening. This will be his first mile. During week two, he has decided that it might be nice to walk home for lunch and back. He has an hour so travel time will be 15 minutes leaving him with another 45 minutes to eat. Week 3 is a little more difficult. He needs to find time to do more walking. He has decided that he can miss Jeopardy for a 15 minute walk after the news thus accomplishing his third daily mile. One week 4 he will extend his walk to 30 minutes for a total of 4 miles per day. In the last week, he had to decide whether to miss part of the news after dinner to walk or to get up earlier to walk. There is a Starbucks that is one half mile past where Johnny works. Before he started his program, he often drove there on the way to work to buy a tall mild coffee. He misses this so now he maybe he can walk there before work, if he leaves a few minutes early, and get his coffee and walk back to work in time for 9AM.

Mission accomplished! In 5 weeks Johnny has figured out where and how he can fit the time in to accomplish his goal and reward himself in the end with his morning Starbucks!

This is just the beginning! More to follow soon!

Enjoy your walk