Change Your Lifestyle Through Nutrition and Exercise

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Relaxation is virtually impossible if your body isn't maintained properly. Nutrition and exercise are the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle, and so it is vital to achieve an equilibrium between the two.

Food is the fuel we put into our bodies in order to survive, and exercise creates the process that turns it into energy. In times past, the equation was relatively easy to achieve-the balance between energy input and output occurred naturally. We burnt up a lot of energy just keeping warm and doing a lot of physical work.

Today's society, with its increased automation and sedentary jobs, makes it more difficult to maintain any equilibrium. Western society offers us abundant food and warmth with minimum physical outlay, so it has become all the more important consciously to monitor the balance of our diets.

Being overweight or underweight can create serious health problems. Obesity can cause diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. Being underweight is no more desirable in terms of health. An underweight body can lack the energy and strength to carry out effectively its functions, leaving the individual tired and listless. Add bad habits such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption to either of these conditions and it often becomes very difficult for the body to cope.

Food management is important not just when it comes to checking weight, it can also improve your ability to relax and cope with stress. Food affects every organ of our bodies, including the heart, lungs and brain. The correct diet will encourage fitness and energy, nourish nerves, feed muscles, improve circulation and breathing, and support the immune system. It will promote a general feeling of positiveness and calm.

The eating process itself can create a feeling of wellbeing. What, and how, we eat says a lot about our emotional state-think of how a baby is calmed by the act of feeding, even if it is not hungry. We instinctively link eating to nurturing, comfort and security.

At one extreme, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are examples of how emotional distress can affect our relationship with food. Yet all of us skip meals or overeat when we are feeling under pressure. As the digestive system shuts down during periods of stress, this is particularly dangerous and can lead to stomach problems and 'executive' ulcers.

To guard against ill-health it is vital to be aware of your body's needs. Often this means re-educating your body in terms of nutrition and taste-it can take a while for a 'junked-out' palate to become accustomed to unprocessed foods. But information has never been more accessible. Nutritional education is now seen as a step in preventive medicine, and the general principles are easy to follow.

Every food has its own nutritional make-up and has a unique effect on the mechanics of your body. What each food does for you depends on its core attributes and composition, and it can either enhance or aggravate your sense of wellbeing.

Most experts agree that a well-balanced diet is crucial in preserving health and helping to reduce stress. Certain foods and drinks act as quite powerful stimulants to the body and so are a direct cause of stress. This stimulation may be pleasurable in the short term, but more harmful with prolonged consumption.