Diet. Exercise. Sleep.

(Image from Top 10 Cutest Bunnies You'll See Today)

What is the secret to staying fit? Surprise, surprise. Diet and exercise! And sleep! But how does one go about achieving all three?

Some years ago, my father had quintuple bypass surgery. It was a wake up call to everyone to eat healthier. The foods we ate changed, but portion sizes didn't. We also didn't REALLY exercise. We didn't really know HOW to exercise.

I have a family history of heart disease. My grandmother has had a couple of strokes. My grandfather had as well, and passed away because of one. My mother had a mild stroke, and two stints. My grandmother does not look fat, but that cholesterol build-up is somewhere on the inside, in her arteries...

In February of this year, I set out on a quest to get fit and develop a health plan for my parents. In the process, I've learned a few things I'd love to share with you. Below are some basics. I'll follow up in subsequent posts with details of what foods and methods I've found to work for me, including excerpts from things I've written to my workout buddies during my ongoing journey of health and well-being.

DIET

I've found that the easiest way for me to determine how many calories to consume in a day is to use the automatic calorie wizard on myfitnesspal.com. When I first started to track calories, it was difficult. I thought obsessively about food and portion sizes. I learned to find low-calorie, yet filling foods. Slowly, my body got used to ingesting the suggested number of calories and the calories I "earned" from working out. Then I was able to find healthier, low-calorie foods. More details later.

EXERCISE

Remember these three things: cardio, strength, and flexibility.

You will need all three throughout your life to be fit -- yes, even if you are a female above 50 years young, you need to develop a strong core to have better balance and not be prone to falling.

A couple of years ago, I chickened out to try Insanity. I knew it was what I needed to get fit, but I had heard about too much impact on the joints and many injuries, so I purchased P90X instead. I somehow could not stick to P90X past 5 weeks. Fast forward to this year, I took many precautions to protect joints, and I "earned" my Insanity T-shirt from completing the program. Now I'm on my second week of my second round of Insanity, getting geared up for kayaking the Grand Canyon soon. Not only can I do chin-ups (something I was never able to do before), but I can do 5 in a row (granted, with a jump up in the beginning, and half-bent arms).

SLEEP

If you have a full-time job, developing a daily plan for diet and exercise along with getting enough sleep is very difficult. Maximize the calorie-burning potential of your workouts by interval training or max interval training. Basically, (warm-up and stretch for flexibility and injury prevention,) do short bursts of intense and varied exercises to get your heart rate up (to safe levels with a heart rate monitor), with short rest periods (and drink a LOT of water and eat enough protein to replenish your body and reduce soreness). Plan your meals a week ahead, perhaps during the weekend, with lots of filling raw veggies in individual to-go containers or plastic zip-bags.

I'm one of those people who, without exercising, is mostly sedentary in her work. So at night, I still have a lot of energy left and have trouble sleeping. Working out hard seems to actually help regulate my sleep schedule. On days that I work out, at night I fall asleep very quickly, sleep deeply, sleep continuously for a longer period of time, and wake up feeling refreshed the next day.

DISCLAIMER

The above info is a combination of my own experience and research. I am currently not a "fitness professional" nor dietician. There are many different ways to track calories and burn calories, and each individual's circumstances are different. Research what you need to tailor your own plan for health and well-being.