Combining Home Gyms With A Well-Balanced Diet

Saturday, September 14th

Combining Home Gyms with a Well-Balanced Diet

Making a commitment to eating right and exercising is an important part of staying healthy and living a long and productive life.

According to data provided by the Mayo Clinic, the combination of diet and exercise alone is the leading factor in losing and maintaining weight loss. Fad diets, or three-month exercise "bursts," are not enough to obtain a healthy physique and attitude.

Eating healthy can be a challenge. Add a commitment to work out for at least 30 minutes, five times a week, and it can sound impossible. But with the right motivation, combining exercise with a well-balanced diet is easy.

First let's talk about eating healthy.

Fad diets may be all the rage, but they certainly are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off for the long haul. Studies have shown that people who engage in extreme dieting are more likely to resort to binge eating because they feel deprived. Eating a healthy diet is all about moderation, not deprivation. Eating plenty of protein-based foods such as lean meats and tofu, as well as fruits and vegetables, is the best way to get your body healthy from the inside out. And it's OK to enjoy dessert every once in awhile - just don't make it a daily habit.

Another health benefit that is overlooked is the value of drinking enough water daily. Water, combined with other decaffeinated and non-carbonated drinks, can help you to feel fuller longer, decreasing the urge to snack on unhealthy food.

It also is best to eat several small meals a day rather than three large ones. Providing your body with healthy foods several times a day helps to fuel your metabolism, which burns calories even when your body is at rest.

Now that we've discussed diet, let's talk about how combining home gyms with a well-balanced diet can help with your health goals.

For most people, exercising is an important component to staying healthy. But with our busy lives, it can be hard to make it to a health club to work out five times a week. That is where home gyms come in handy, making it easier to squeeze in a workout.

One of the biggest benefits of owning a home gym is the convenience of being able to work out whenever it fits into your schedule, rather than being at the mercy of the local health club's operating hours. Eliminating the drive time to get to and from a gym allows you to get a more efficient workout as well. The average commute to a gym is 15 minutes one way. The time spent commuting back and forth to a facility could have been used to complete a comprehensive workout at home.

Choosing the right kind of home-based exercise program is an important factor in losing weight and keeping it off. If your space is limited, there are a number of collapsible home gyms which will help to provide a great workout. Products such as the Freeform Hideaway Home Gym, Bowflex and Total Gym are designed to provide intense workouts without taking up space. Once a user is finished exercising, they simply fold up the device and store it under a bed or in a closet. Those who have a lot more room with which to work may want to consider purchasing an all-in-one gym, as well as a piece or two of cardio equipment.

Keep in mind that the best way to keep from hitting an exercise plateau is to mix it up each time you work out. If you repeat the same moves with the same intensity each time, your body quickly will become accustomed to it and stop responding. A variety of exercise also is important. Make sure to fit in cardio, weight training and yoga or Pilates into your routine every week to ensure the best results for the long term.