Eat well. Exercise regularly.
Have more birthdays.
The F2H Fit Challenge is a Farmington and Farmington Hills cities-wide initiative to help all of us achieve better health, and encourage a culture of healthy lifestyles in our community. This web site is dedicated to providing information, tools and support for health, wellness and fitness programs. Registering here is free, and will help us communicate and deliver these initiatives to people who live and work in our community. Michigan was recently ranked the 5th most obese state in the country, with 1 in 3 people overweight. Our goal is to change that. We're starting with the 185,000 people who live or work in Farmington or Farmington Hills. Join us as our 2 cities work together to lose 500,000 lbs and log 1,000,000 miles!
START TODAY! Create Your Free Personal Health Journal. Join One or More Groups, or Start Your Own With Friends, Family, Neighbors or Co-workers. Challenge Each Other to Live a Healthier Lifestyle. Have More Birthdays!
Register on this web site and create a Free Personal Health Journal to help you track and be successful in leading a healthier lifestyle. It's free thanks to generous donations from the organizations at the bottom of this page, and an easy first step toward a healthier future. The Personal Health Journal is a tool for you to record and track the important aspects of your health, diet and exercise, and to encourage friends, family or co-workers to join the website and participate with you in group challenges. Create your own groups, and even sub-groups with co-workers, friends, family or department vs. department within any organization. Challenge each other to lose weight or inches, log miles, or any other healthy activity. The F2H Fit Challenge web portal will help you capture the information, and track progress toward your personal and group goals. Form and join as many groups as you like.
Please share this with friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. Even small lifestyle changes can have a big impact on our health. Choose water. Choose stairs when you can! Choose fruit and veggies. Choose a daily activity. It is really your choice to Choose Health! Together we can have an impact on our personal health and the overall health of everyone who lives or works in Farmington and Farmington Hills by supporting each other.
Are You Really at a Healthy Weight?
It's hard to believe, but 1 in 3 Michigan residents are overweight. Where do you stand? The first step is to calculate your Body Mass Index or BMI. This is a number calculated from your weight and height at a given age. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people, and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. Start here to find out how you measure up, and your safe BMI range (requires Adobe Flash, no iPhones or iPads - so sorry):
Starting a Fitness Program for Life
by Stew Smith
If you are a true beginner to exercise or have not exercised in decades, starting a health and fitness program is a daunting task. During your quest for longevity, try not to change too much in your life too quickly. Many people, in their search for health make broad resolutions that require several different life style changes. Quitting smoking, starting an exercise program, and dieting all in the same week can be extremely challenging. Tackling any ONE of the above is challenging enough. If you have any of the above vices or others, you may want to try one step at a time rather than trying "cold turkey - and all at once!" Here is a plan that will get you started on the right track for the long term.
Month 1 - Month 4:
Start exercising and drinking water NOW! You may find that you do not have to alter your diet at all as long as you are burning calories by exercise. By drinking anywhere from two quarts to a gallon of water a day and cutting back on soft drinks, you can lose up to 25-50 pounds this year! The type of exercise you need to start doing is walking, biking, some basic calisthenics, and /or swimming for 20-30 minutes 4-5 times a week.
Month 5 - Month 8:
Now you can pick up the physical fitness training a bit by lifting weights or starting a more rigorous calisthenics program. Exercises like pushups, pull-ups, crunches, and squats mixed with more walking or occasional running can boost your fitness level to new heights. If your fitness program is not working for you at this time, you need to take a look at your diet and what you are consuming daily. If you are not losing weight by walking 4-5 times a week and drinking nearly a gallon of water a day, you need to consume fewer calories. This does not mean starve yourself - it simply means eating foods with fewer calories. More nutrients like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats cooked by methods other than frying would be a good start to changing your diet.
Month 9 - Month 12:
By this time, you should feel great about your physical progress and have more energy than you have had in years. Running, biking and swimming several times a week should be habit by now and feel refreshing and stress relieving after each workout. If you have not quit smoking cigarettes by now or at least tapered off, it is time to start trying a little more aggressively. Usually, however, if you have maintained a fitness program this long, quitting smoking has already occurred. But if you have not quit, now is the time to try either the "cold turkey" method or some type of patch method.
So in summary - start exercising now! Do not change your diet too much but with the addition of water and decrease of sugar calories. Try to taper the smoking when you get into the groove of the exercising regularly - do not try all three at once!
Stew Smith is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a former Navy SEAL, and author of several fitness and self defense books such as The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness, and Maximum Fitness. As a military fitness trainer, Stew has trained hundreds of students for Navy SEAL, Special Forces, Air Force PJ, Ranger Training, and other physical law enforcement professions.