Follow the Three Rules

Middle-Aged Couple Bicycling

It’s important that you follow the three most important rules of a healthy lifestyle:  diet, exercise and regular doctor’s visits.  You must keep regular doctor’s appointments because things are checked during your physical routines which may carry no signs of symptoms.  A healthy diet and regular exercise are extremely important.

Prevention is Key

Prevention is a key component when it comes to losing weight and staying healthy.  With the right lifestyle modifications, we can live a healthy life, that is pain free.  Avoiding illness to begin with is a lot easier than getting sick and attempting to reverse it.  Once we have become sick, we may not fully recover or our immune system may be down after that.

Avoid the Wrong Type of Exercise

Stay away from the wrong exercise and eat a diet full of fruits, vegetables and grains.  Avoid weightlifting and TV aerobics, but rather do true aerobic exercise mixed in with moderate exercise, such as walking or jogging.

Advantages of Bicycling

In some cases, bicycling is healthier for your heart than walking, although walking is an excellent exercise.  You can ride a bicycle almost anywhere.  Whether or not you take your bike through town or a through a scenic park, bicycling can be an enjoyable experience.  If you don’t want to leave home, you can bicycle in place with the use of a stationary bike.  You don’t have to lose time when you ride your bike.  You can utilize bike travel to get to work or the grocery store, thus killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.  Last, but not least, riding your bike reduces pollution and if you care about pollution and the goodness of the earth, this can be an excellent way to give back to the community.

Injury

Unfortunately, bicycling does involve some amount of injury, so be on the lookout and stay protected!  Bicycling has similar risks to traveling by automobile.  Fortunately, health institutions have rules that the benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks.

How Much is Enough

It depends on who you talk to, but some medical and fitness experts suggest that you get this type of physical activity for 20 minutes a time three days a week.  Others suggest you exercise for 30 to 45 minutes for five to six days a week.  My suggestion is that you fit in exercise when you can.  Set aside time each day to do something and if you can’t do it all at once, break it up throughout the day.  You can walk, jog or bicycle for just 15 to 20 minutes at a time three to four times a day and it will be just as effective if you set the time aside all at once.