Ideas for a Healthy Lifestyle

By Laura Sindin 2º ESO

Wake up at 7 in the morning, swallow your breakfast and literally run to catch the bus to the school. Well, it looks like it’s a lot of stress just to start the first part of the morning; you have to go to class, possibly do one or two exams and you are just out of school. Get home and do your homework. You’re done.

The first thing that comes to your mind is: “Now you’re done, let’s lay on the sofa and watch TV for the rest of the afternoon…” Well, think about it: the food that you have eaten throughout the day had carbohydrates that, if not used, may carry out their function of “storing energy”. You don’t want that, do you?

The best thing you can do is to exercise. I go to the swimming pool every day that I have little homework or I already have done it. If you don’t like swimming, you can try to play games that increase your physical activity, such as playing basketball with your friends, football with your siblings… If you don’t have a yard or siblings, I recommend two videogames you can play: Wii-fit and Dance Dance Revolution. The reason why I recommend these games is because you start to play and have fun and in ten minutes you are sweating due to the physical activity you are doing. Going outside may be a good idea too. Plan ahead when and where you are going and the equipment that you need. Another good idea is to go to a dance class, 30 minutes of dancing, which is included in the cardiovascular-aerobic type of exercise, burns 100 calories depending on the intensity and the effort that you’re doing. Or, you could try some new sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer, American football, etc. Another activity that burns lots of energy is playing instruments: Guitar and Bass-150 kcal/hour, Piano-200 kcal/hour, Drums- 300/hour and Singing (internal muscles in movement)-350 kcal/hour.

I think these are lots of ideas to start a healthy lifestyle.  I can only give you one tip: once you start, focus. You are exercising to feel better, not to impress someone, so train as much as you want but listen to your body. It knows when it has to stop to reduce the risk of injury. Another essential part is to eat a balanced diet; you need some time to think about what’s on your plate and consider if it’s healthy enough.

Apart from physical activity you may want to do something more relaxing after you've worked out. The perfect activity is to lay in your bed and read an interesting book. Obviously, not everyone likes the same type of books, so I encourage you to go to a bookstore and buy novels about any topic until you find the theme that calls your attention. Ok, so now you’ll be thinking: “But books are so expensive, I don’t have that much money…” and now is when I say: “Well, you could go to your local library on your bike and borrow all the books you want”. The perfect activity!

I recommend visiting the following webpage: http://kidshealth.org/teen/ where you will find tests on how to find your sport and much more info about your body, your mind and your friends.