A dizzying variety of sample exercise and diet plans are available for the general public, from those published in cookbooks and exercise DVDs to those promoted by fitness professionals, dietitians, medical professionals and supplement companies. Each plan is different, and not all plans are effective or even healthy. Thus, it's important to investigate any sample plan fully before you dive in and take part.
Benefits
When you choose a safe and healthy fitness plan, your physical and mental health are likely to improve. According to Mayo Clinic, regular exercise improves people's moods, raises their energy levels and helps them sleep better as well as cuts the risk of diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer. A healthy diet has separate benefits, too. MyPyramid.gov states that eating balanced meals and plenty of fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of bone loss, heart disease, kidney stones and stroke. Finally, diet and exercise plans can help people stay toned and lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
Diets
It's important to be educated about what makes up a healthy diet before you choose an eating plan. Fad diet plans that focus on specific foods, such as grapefruit or even cookies, are almost always unbalanced and do not meet the body's nutritional needs. They may take off weight, but they're not safe and rarely keep the weight off over time. A healthy sample plan from any source should include a balanced mixture of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or nonfat dairy, nuts, fish and lean meats, as MyPyramid.gov recommends. It should also provide protein, carbohydrates and unsaturated fat every day.
Exercise
The general tip to keep in mind for exercise is that any physical activity is better than none at all. Even if a plan calls for only brief workouts, it's likely to be more helpful than doing nothing. However, it's also true that more exercise yields better results. ACEFitness.org notes that an effective sample plan should include flexibility activities, aerobics and strength training and should call for at least three or four 30-minute workouts each week.
Example
A healthy diet plan for a single day might recommend eating oatmeal and fresh fruit for breakfast, a lean meat deli wrap with veggies for lunch and tofu stir fry with brown rice for dinner. Other healthy meal choices could include vegetable stew, whole-grain pizza, whole-grain salads, veggie omelets or quiches and lean roast meat with healthy side dishes. A sample weekly workout plan could call for two 20-minute strength training sessions with core exercises and calisthenics as well as three 30-minute aerobic sessions of jogging or biking each week, accompanied by warm-ups and cool-downs with stretching.
Considerations
With the bevy of plan choices available in the fitness realm, it's not hard to find samples. Be wary, however, of plans that promise overnight results or excellent health without any work. As FTC.gov points out, a "no-work way" to better health does not exist, and it's always necessary to commit to making healthy choices every day to get in better shape and stay that way.
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