Now is a great time to put all excuses aside and start an exercise program that will help you feel, look, and live better!  Before you begin, you should start with an assessment that shows where your health and fitness level stands.  More importantly, you should be aware of what risk factors may prevent you from performing certain exercises and what habits you should break in order to make your fitness program effective.  Doctors and nationally certified personal trainers can help you perform detailed fitness assessments-and they will discuss the results with you in a way that relates to your goals.  They can help you design programs that are safe and effective-in addition to giving you the motivation and accountability that many of us need! 

You can perform smaller assessments on your own time by using some health calculators that are provided by many trusted health-based websites on the internet.  If you have any questions about your results, make sure you ask a doctor or other health professional so you understand what the results mean for you. 

Department of Health and Human Services

National Heart Lung Blood Institute Obesity Education Initiative

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/index.htm

  • Calculate your Body Mass Index
  • Body Mass Index Education & Information
  • Portion Distortion Information
  • Menu Planners
  • We Can! Program

Health Status Internet Assessments

http://www.healthstatus.com/

  • Health Calculators
  • Newsletters & Tips
  • Online Videos
  • Free Membership
  • Medical Directory
  • Health News & Articles

Discovery Health

Interactive Tools Center

http://health.discovery.com/tools/center/center.html

  • Interesting Tools & Quizzes
  • Videos & Podcasts
  • Physician Ratings
  • Health News & Forums

University of Maryland Medical Systems

UMMS Health Calculators

http://www.healthcalculators.org/

  • Organized List of Helpful Calculators
  • Health, Fitness, and Medical Calculators

Revolution Health

Calculators

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/calculators

  • Weight Management, Health Risk, and Nutrition Calculators
  • Trackers and Symptom Checkers

In addition to these tools, there are many physical fitness assessments that you can do to help you discover your starting point and measure your progress throughout your program. 

  1. Walk a mile.  See how long it takes you to walk a mile, and use this time to measure yourself throughout your program to see if you are getting faster.
  2. How many push-ups can you do in 1 minute?  After a few weeks of strength training, try this one again and see if you are getting stronger.
  3. Measure your waistline.  Sometimes the scale isn’t the best measure of weight loss, because muscle weighs more than fat.  So measure your waistline right at the level of your navel to see if you are losing inches!
  4. Count your pulse.  Measuring your heart rate is an extremely important assessment of how hard your body is working.  You should measure your heart rate before you exercise and immediately after you exercise.  Check to see how fast your heart rate comes back down to your pre-exercise count.  The faster it comes down-the more conditioned your heart is!
  5. Are you flexible?  Yes, flexibility is just as important as strength and cardiovascular endurance.  Tight muscles can lead to aches and pains-and they can prevent you from moving in your full range of motion!  Take a seat on the floor with your legs out in front of you and place a tape measure in between your legs.  Reach forward and see how far you can move your hands up tape measure.  After a few weeks of daily stretching, try it again and see how far you get!

Take a look at some other health tools you may find helpful!

Nutrition

My Fats Calculator and Guide

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3046074

Interactive Food Pyramid Guide

http://www.mypyramid.gov/

Portion Distortion Quiz and Information

http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/

Recommended Health Screenings

American Diabetes Association

Diabetes Risk Test

http://www.diabetes.org/risk-test.jsp

HealthierUs.gov Program

List of Recommended Health Screenings

http://www.healthierus.gov/prevention.html

We can all take advantage of the wealth of information and tools that can help us get healthy and stay healthy.  But these tools are only as good as you make them, and it is up to you to stay motivated and stick with your program.  The best way to do that is to consider your healthy eating plan and fitness program as a part of your everyday lifestyle-and not something that you do every so often.  If you need help figuring out how to make your health a daily priority, contact me at ealight@gmail.com for some tips on incorporating healthy living into your life!