1. What is a healthy lifestyle?
2. Why is it important?
3. How can you maintain a healthy living style?
4. What are the benefits of exercise?
5. What makes a healthy diet?
6. What are the benefits of healthy eating habits and healthy food choices?
7. How can stress affect your health?
8. What can you do to lower your stress levels?

6. Read the article and find answers to these questions.

· What is a healthy weight?

· Why is losing weight so hard?

· How can you change your lifestyle?

· How can you fit physical activity into your busy day?

HEALTHY EATING

A healthy weight is the natural weight you can reach through good eating, regular physical activity, managing stress, and not smoking. Reaching a specific weight is not as important as the lifestyle changes you make to become healthy.

Weight is only one component of health. Even if you carry some extra weight, by eat­ing the right food and getting plenty of physical activity, you’ll feel better, have more ener­gy, and reduce your risk of weight-related diseases¹. In fact, you may be healthier than a thin person who eats poorly and isn’t physically active.

While a diet may help you lose a few pounds quickly, following a strict diet long-term is unrealistic and requires extraordi­nary strength of will. Once you stop dieting and exercising, the weight comes back. Some people fall into an unhealthy cycle of losing and gaining weight, which may be worse for the body than just being over­weight.

It’s also difficult to overcome the obsta­cles to weight loss: lack of time for exer­cise, huge portions at restaurants, holi­days centered around food, and illness or injury².

Research shows that people who are most successful in improving their health have chosen a healthi­er lifestyle rather than³ targeted weight loss. A lifestyle of healthy eating and regular physical activity will improve your health and quality of life, no matter what you weigh.

First you’ll need to learn the skills to make lifelong changes and find the sup­port you need to create a healthy lifestyle that’s right for you. Look for balanced, realistic, and enjoyable ways to fit healthful changes into your life.

Making small changes, such as being aware of your portion sizes, eating more fruit and vegetables, and adding a few more steps to your daily routine, can improve your health.

To be successful in making lifestyle changes:

Don’t diet. Abandon⁴ the idea that you’ll go on a diet and quickly lose a certain amount of weight. This approach almost always fails. Instead, create a plan to eat healthier that works for you.

Think about your relationship with food. Do you overeat? If so, try to analyze why overeat. Are you bored, stressed, or sad? Do you rely on fast foods or conve­nience foods⁵ because you don’t know how or don’t like to cook? Do you use food as a reward?

Slowly change your eating habits. Rather than following a particular diet, develop a plan for a healthful eating that includes lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and lean⁶ protein such as chicken and fish. You could set a goal of eating at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. If you make small, reasonable changes, rather than depriving⁷ yourself of everything you love, you will be more suc­cessful.

Set small goals. Your goals should be specific and within your reach. A goal to simply work out more and eat bet­ter is too general. Instead, make a plan to be active 3 to 4 times a week. For example, start with a goal to walk for 15 minutes three times a week and then slowly increase it to 20 minutes 4 times a week. When you reach this goal and it has become routine, set a new one. But realize you may have setbacks⁸ now and then; it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

Try to make physical activity a regular part of your day, just like brushing your teeth or going to work. Schedule your activity in the morning if you tend to talk yourself out of it later in the day. Take the stairs instead of the ele­vator. Make a plan to ride your bike twice a week. Walking is an activity that most people can do safely and routinely with family members, friends, coworkers, or pets. If you don’t have time to take one 30-minute walk, break it up into three 10-minute walks.

If you want a more structured way to get exercise, consider joining a health club. Find an activity that you love and feel you can stick with, and then vary it with other activities so you don’t get bored. For exam­ple, 3 days a week, take a 30-minute walk with a friend and then work out in the gym together. On other days, take a water aero­bics class, ride a bike, or take the dog for a hike. Join a volleyball, or basketball league. The more you can find activities you like, the greater your chances for success.

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¹ disease – заболевание, болезнь

² injury – травма

³ rather than – а не; вместо того, чтобы; вместо

⁴ abandon – отказываться (от чего-л.)

⁵ convenience foods – полуфабрикаты или готовые продукты с минимальной обработкой перед употреблением

⁶ lean – постный, содержащий небольшое количество жира

⁷ deprive – лишать (чего-л.); deprive oneself – отказывать себе во всем

⁸ setback – отступление, возврат, повторение (чего-л.)

Look at the recommendations the author gives to people who want to lose weight. Then read the following guidelines published in a glossy magazine. Decide which of them you should / should not follow. Explain why.

1. Check the calorie and fat value of the food you eat.

2. Include at least 3 low calorie meals in your diet each day.

3. If you are not hungry in the morning, skip breakfast.

4. If you notice that you are gaining weight, immediately go on a strict diet or starve for a couple of days.

5. Take diet pills to decrease your appetite.

6. Go in for sports.