Are You At Your Optimum Level Of Health Quiz

ARE YOU AT YOUR OPTIMUM LEVEL OF HEALTH QUIZ

By Jeanie Blanton

1. Am I at the best level of health and fitness that I want to be?
2. What can I do to reach the level of health and fitness I want to achieve?
3. Am I at the weight I need to be to achieve a healthy lifestyle?
4. Do I have the right attitude to deal with any problems that come with achieving my healthy lifestyle?
5. Do I have family and friends that are willing to help me achieve my healthy lifestyle?
6. Am I eating enough of the healthy foods that are needed to obtain my healthy lifestyle?
7. Am I taking exercise seriously as a tool to help me achieve and maintain my healthy life style?

Start keeping a journal and write this entire question list down. Make sure to answer each question as you ask them. This will help you to see if you are doing all you can to live a healthy life, and if you’re not, start making a list, and write all the steps you are going to take to improve your lifestyle.  Take your list of things you need to improve it, and tape it to your fridge. Use this list as a visual aid to help you throughout the day.  I keep a journal and update it daily; I think a journal is one of the most important tools you can have to achieve you goals.

Think of these three things that you will be focusing in your goals to achieve your new lifestyle—Diet, Nutrition and Exercise-The Big Three- These are the things that will help you reach your healthy lifestyle goals.  Set your goals daily. Write them down and keep them where you can see them.

Do you need more vegetables in your diet?

If you are overweight and need to lose a few pounds or a lot of pounds, think veggies!

Veggies have the magical power to keep you appetite satisfied, and to give you the nutrition you need to attain your new healthy lifestyle.

Here is a list of the good veggies for you to choose from; the more the better.

Bok Choy

Broccoli

Collard Greens

Dark Green Leafy Lettuce

Kale

Mustard Greens

Spinach

Romaine Lettuce

Turnip Greens and roots

Water Cress

Acorn Squash

Butternut Squash

Carrots

Hubbard Squash

Pumpkin

Sweet potatoes

Corn

Green Peas

Lima Beans, green

Potatoes

Other Vegetables

Artichokes

Asparagus

Bean Sprouts

Beets

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Eggplant

Green Beans

Green or Red Peppers

Iceberg Lettuce

Mushrooms

Okra

Onions

Parsnips

Tomatoes

Tomato Juice

Vegetable Juice

Wax Beans

Zucchini

Always choose a variety of these vegetables out of each group daily.

Make a salad with a lot of different veggies in it, and learn to make your own salad dressings.  With homemade dressings, you won’t be getting all those extra ingredients that we find in our ready-made dressings.  You will know what you are putting in your body. If you do buy the commercial dressings, read the labels carefully, and make sure you know what you are getting in each bottle.  If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, more than likely you don’t want to eat it. This is one of my mottos about any pre-packaged foods.  Always take the time to read the labels on the foods you buy.

Have you cut back on sweets and replaced them with healthy snacks?

There are so many healthy snacks on the market today that you will have a large variety to choose from when you start on your healthy eating plan.

Look for the low calorie packs that have just enough in them for one serving.

Another way to get your good snacks is to make them yourself.  Buy organic carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and any other kind of veggie you like and cut them into bite size servings.  Put just enough of these veggies and etc in a bag or bowl for your daily snack requirement.  Don’t give up snacks; just make sure each snack you have fits into your daily plan.

Have you set aside a time each day when you devote it entirely to exercise?

Now this is a biggy!  This is a very important part of your plan, and setting aside a time each day to exercise should be a part of your daily goals to achieve your healthy lifestyle.

Make sure it is a time of day that you aren’t going to be in a hurry; take the time you need to get in each exercise you have planned for the day.  This exercise should be a time of enjoyment as well as part of your plan. Here’s a list of some of the exercises you can put in your plan:

Walking

Hiking

Gardening

Dancing

Golf

Bicycling

Weight Training

I like walking and make it a rule to walk daily.  I call it my walk with God as I make sure to use the walk to survey God’s wonderful and beautiful things of nature God has given us.  As I walk, I also do light calisthenics.  I have developed this walking exercise in full, and I will be putting it in another article for you to enjoy.  However, make up your own routine, and do it faithfully everyday.

I also like gardening; Look around your yard and see if you can find a spot to grow some good veggies.  It doesn’t take a lot of space.  You can also grow in pots and planters if you don’t have a yard.  Something so satisfying and amazing happens when you put your hands into a pot of potting soil and get ready to plant those plants or seeds that you have planned for you garden.  Look forward to the time you can spend outdoors with nature and your plants.  Later on, when your garden has started growing, make a place to sit and have a cup of tea and just enjoy everything around you.  Plant some flowers in your garden, and soon you will have an array of butterflies to enjoy also.  Take some time to listen to the sounds of nature all around you; the birds singing, the breeze blowing through the trees and if you have large oak trees like I do, listen to the leaves falling gently to the ground on an early Spring morning.

So, are you ready to start your new lifestyle plan for your Amazing Health?

If so, keep tuned for more good articles on the Big Three:  Diet, Nutrition and Exercise!

Coming soon—How to keep a positive attitude and how to include your family and friends in your goals for achieving my healthy lifestyle.