Benefits of Weight Loss
For many Americans, setting weight loss goals are the key motivational reason for getting into the gym and beginning the pledge to begin a fitness program, or to join a health club. So why is maintaining a healthy body weight so important? Studies provide evidence that exercise has medicinal benefits for individuals of all ages. According to data compiled by FitnessEducation.com , Ralph Paffenbarger, MD was a researcher who used a sample of 17,000 Harvard graduates who burned about 300 calories a day (the equivalent of walking briskly for 45 minutes) to study the benefits of exercise. The study concluded that these men reduced their death rates from all causes by 28% and lived an average of more than two years longer than their sedentary classmates.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USFDA, some reasons to begin a weight loss program include the fact that overweight people have an increased risk of high blood pressure, hearth disease, and other illnesses. Losing weight reduces these and many more health risks.
Some tips toward healthy weight loss in Tucson include: Eating less fat and sugar, exercise for at least 30 minutes per day (brisk walks, etc.)… the idea is to burn more calories than you are consuming, eat a wide variety of foods (vitamins and minerals from many sources lead to better nutrition and overall health), be wary of fad diets: weight loss and fitness aren’t fads – to keep the weight off, one needs to understand fitness and nutrition as a lifestyle… not a fad.
So how can you find out if you are overweight? Some people just “know”, but others would be surprised to find themselves in the overweight category. The Department of Health and Human Service’s National Institutes of Health has an easy-to-use calculator on their website, http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. All one has to do is enter in their weight and height to determine their BMI, or body mass index. This index can be used as an accurate measurement to determine one’s obesity level (but not fitness level). With this information, one can set weight loss goals for when they go to the health club of his/her choice.
Even if you aren’t overweight, as Americans why should we continually take a Western, fix-it-after-it’s-broken, approach to our health? Why not begin to maintain a healthy weight, and a healthy lifestyle today? The easiest way to set healthy fitness goals is to stay active, but for those who may need the motivation, health clubs often times will provide the incentive that is needed to achieve personal goals. Memberships to health clubs make it so much easier to access clean, safe, expensive, fitness equipment than it would be to set up home gyms. With the flexibility of a Gym Fusion membership, you have access to a number of Tucson gyms or Phoenix gyms to achieve your weight loss goals.