How to Live an Active Lifestyle

To live an active lifestyle is to be constantly on the move. This involves scheduling workouts and holding a positive attitude towards your exercise endeavors. It also includes finding ways to be more active in your daily life, whether that is through your hobbies, your career choices or the way you spend your free time.

Physical activity refers to any action that requires your body to move. This includes exercise, which often targets specific muscle groups in a controlled setting, as well as general activities such as walking, cleaning your home and being active as you run errands around town.

Why Become Active?

There are many benefits to physical activity, including benefits for your mental health, physical health and weight loss efforts.

Regular activity can:

• Improve blood circulation
• Promote a healthy heart
• Reduce risk of stroke
• Help with stress and anxiety management
• Prevent depression

Following your medical weight loss program, you can combine regular exercise with other types of physical activity to push yourself to be more active. Doing so will often help with long-term weight management.

Developing an Active Lifestyle

The American Heart Association recommends that every adult engage in 30 minutes of activity at least five days a week. When you are ready to start exercising, use these guidelines as a starting point and consider the ways you can become more active in day-to-day tasks.

Starting with Exercise

Find an intensity level that is ideal for your needs and make a schedule to keep yourself active. In most situations, the best place to start is with a low or moderate intensity activity, such as:

• Walking
• Hiking
• Swimming
• Biking

Making Time for Activity

It is not always easy to find time for another task in an already packed schedule. Consider ways you can incorporate more activity into your current schedule. Make the choice to be more active in every situation you enter. This will increase your level of incidental activity.

This includes activities like:

• Standing instead of sitting
• Walking or biking instead of driving
• Using the stairs instead of the elevator

Make Activities Fun

To live an active lifestyle is to incorporate activity into every aspect of your life, and this includes your hobbies and spare time. Consider ways that you can spend time with friends and family members while being active.

Consider activities like:

• Bowling
• Spending time at the park
• Hiking trails
• Joining sports leagues
• Gardening

Anyone can develop an active lifestyle. In every moment, consider the ways that you can choose to be more active. Staying on your feet, finding activities you enjoy and taking the initiative to move more often can help you maintain a healthy weight.