What Is the Best Weight Loss and Fitness Program? The Answer Is Simple!

So many people are looking for the best weight loss and fitness program. There are hundreds of them out there, each one saying it is the best. How can a person possibly decide? Surprisingly, the solution to this dilemma is very simple. Let me explain...

Weight loss and fitness are the natural results of a healthy lifestyle. If you live right, you will eat right and your weight will automatically gravitate to the natural weight for your body type --- and that usually means losing weight. If you live right, you will get the right amount and type of exercise and you will automatically become fit. This is why it is so easy to solve the problem of determining the best weight loss and fitness program. If you can discover a healthy lifestyle and live it, you are in business; this is all that is required. As I have already said, it is really very simple.

I can see some eyebrows being raised already. Of course you are thinking: just what is this "healthy lifestyle?" I feel that it is really an "environmental problem." When you try to raise a garden or care for some animals, what you really try to do is create the optimum environment for the organisms to live in. This is all that is required in order for them to experience maximum health. Why not treat your own body the same way? It is the organism that keeps you alive! Surely it is more important than your vegetable garden or your pet cat. If the way you care for your garden or pet makes sense, it should also be a sensible way to care for yourself. So, you have to determine this optimum "personal" environment --- and then you have to live it. Notice that there are two parts to this assignment: first you have to do some research and, second, you have to apply what we learn. The second part of the problem might be the more difficult one. The implication is that willpower might be involved.

Well, what does this ideal personal environment consist of? In a word, it includes anything that you come in contact with or that can influence your health. The most important factors are what you eat and the activity (exercise) you get. Of course other factors are involved, like getting exposure to sunlight and fresh air, drinking pure water, etc. However, by far, your diet and exercise are at the top of the list. Amazingly, in spite of the volumes of information available on diet and exercise nowadays, it is very simple to focus on the best alternative for a healthy diet and a sensible well-balanced exercise program.

At the risk of oversimplifying, what it boils down to is adopting a more or less "natural" eating and exercise plan. Eating naturally centers around eating the foods that our Paleolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago. Our bodies haven't changed since then and, if we would like to enjoy optimum health, we should eat what they ate. Don't worry; you don't have to live like a caveman! There are a number of books available describing this diet and numerous recipe books available describing extremely tasty meals that can be prepared according to "Paleo Diet" guidelines. If you are overweight, this system of eating will force your weight to normalize and it will stay that way. It is not really a diet; it is a lifestyle. And remember, a healthy lifestyle is what we are looking for.

Exercising naturally centers around getting a balance of cardiovascular and strength exercise. You probably already know that cardio exercise is an activity that you perform for an extended time period --- like walking, running, or riding a bike. When exercising to increase your strength, you can use your own body weight as resistance or you can use weights. It is important that your strength exercise program be well-balanced; it should exercise all the major muscle groups in your body. You are guaranteed that this will happen if your strength exercise program includes what I call the five "natural" movements. Yes, five exercises are all it takes to exercise just about every muscle in your body! Examples of these movements are pushing or pulling something. Using weights, it is possible to come up with a large number of simple well-balanced exercise routines that are based on the five natural movements.

The closer you stick to this health-promoting lifestyle, the greater the benefits you will receive. So, aim for a natural diet and adopt an exercise program based on sensible cardio and the five natural strength movements. You will find that your weight will normalize and that you will attain a level of health and fitness that you might not have thought was within your reach. This lifestyle is truly the best weight loss and fitness program that exists.