Claiming a Life of Simplicity: Actions on Health

For me, healthy living has become more than just the "right" way, but a necessity. Daily life-stress factors and poor health are major triggers for my CFS. A healthy diet, moderate exercise, and good sleep (see that last post) are essential for me if I ever hope to achieve some sense of normalcy in my life. That said, we all need to get better at living healthier more simply lives.

I've come to realize that healthy living requires three key elements: Time, exercise & good nutrition.

Time is the biggest problem for most people. But, if you truly want to claim a life of simplicity, you need to really look at your priorities and reshape your schedule to give more time to the important stuff, like your health.

Exercise: For me exercise is a challenge because too much can be worse for me than too little. Everything I read suggests that we should all (at the very least) walk 30 minutes a day. Eventually, some additional cardio and/or anaerobic exercise are important too.

Nutrition: Keli and I are currently using 3 sources to help us with our nutrition.

• The Harvard School of Public Health Food Pyramid is great. We first found this pyramid in Keli's cooking light magazine. It focuses on whole grains, vegetables and exercise.
  
• Cooking Light Magazine. One of the biggest problems I have with eating better is the "bleh" factor. The recipes in this magazine are great.
• Weight Watchers Points. Their points system is an excellent way to use the info in the Harvard Pyramid to deal with portion control.
  

OK, admittedly this doesn't look "simple." The shift to having an exercise routine and eating better can be a challenge, but the results are about rejecting the over-indulgent, fast-food eating, fad-dieting insanity that is anything but simple. In the end, this is really simple: exercise & eat balanced, portion-controlled meals.

Anyway, that's all for now.