Hello, winged traveler!

Here's a little story about Fitness in Feathers that I learned the hard way.. I hope it can help you always stay healthy without having to stray from the nest like I did for a while  :>

Waaaay on back in college I took a couple required general education courses that were so enriching that I would've embarked on a minor in these studies if I weren't so close to graduation. These were Sociology and Health/Nutrition.
Sociology is great because it provides a great deal of help in the way the world of people works together, and Health/Nutrition outlines a vast spectrum of information that helps us personally live to the best of our enjoyment and capability with these vessels we walk around in :>
Now way back then, I got really into the program, and started on a plan of eating a balanced day's worth of food, and using the gym for both muscle build and cardiovascular fitness (the health of your circulatory system thru aerobic exercise like jogging or stair-climbing).

The eating involves basically getting a good balance of the basic food groups in correct measure, 2 proteins, 3 dairy, 4 fruit/veggie, and 4 bread/grain servings each day. Also, fruit/veggie fiber is even more effective than grain fiber for the health of the intestinal tract :>    The aerobic part of fitness includes stretching to warm up, and then a steady activity that keeps your heart rate up near max for 30-40 minutes or so every two or three days (having a day off gives the body a chance to build on the messages you give it thru exercise).
Doing all these things are fairly essential for the best kind of health anyway, because of the way we live in mostly sedentary lifestyles these days. The trouble with that is, that while we can be healthy in our mind processes, the body is the support vehicle and it needs to be reminded that it is needed and alive with activity that not only uses it, but builds and maintains it. *warble* :>

So after about 4 or 5 years of that, I um... kinda slipped away from it. :/   I kept eating a balanced diet, but I faltered on the aerobics ..right around the time I went into a sedentary job too! :P   Also, even though my diet was balanced, I had not been conscious enough of actual content, and recently found out how important it is to stay alert of things like how much SALT is in the list of edibles, and keep enough fluids in daily intake as well. In other words, a balanced dinner that is heavily filled with sodium isn't as healthy as one without.

Soooooo... recently I've had to really concentrate on some firm goals and commitment to health again and hereafter, and now I
a) Try to read labels and limit my salt intake to less than 2,200mg per day
b) Work at getting about 8 glasses of fluids (mostly water) each day
c) Restarted the jogging every two to three days (what a great feeling after a run!)
d) Try to mentally meditate away some of the pointless stresses now and then :>
e) Limit caffeine to once a week or less (greatly helps in preventing headaches!) :>
f) Seek to get more potassium-rich foods to offset the effects of natural salt in foods

It seems to be working fairly well! *skreeegle!* :>