Running head: Personal Prescription

Final Draft

KIN 5 Fitness for Living

Personal Prescription

Octavio R. Arce

Mt. San Antonio College

Professor Tammy Knott-Silva

May 3, 2020
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In the United States of America, nearly half of the adult population lives a sedentary

lifestyle (Liguori & Carroll-Cobb, 2019, p. 66). A sedentary lifestyle contributes to both chronic

health problems and a shorter lifespan. However, people can adapt a healthy lifestyle through

proper nutrition, developing healthy habits, and engaging in physical fitness. Through self

evaluation, I will assess my current health and wellness. From the data I collect, I will list ways

in which I can improve or maintain my current health, discuss the importance of sustaining a

healthy lifestyle, and construct three goals to improve on my health and wellness.

I begin my self assessment by stating some facts about myself. I am a 35-year-old healthy

male who is 5 feet 6 inches in height. Using a smart scale at home, my current weight is 207.0

lbs, or 94.1 kg, and my Body Mass Index (BMI) is 33.7. My body fat percentage is 32%. Based

on my metrics, I am considered obese (Liguori & Carroll-Cobb, 2019, p. 250). My current diet is

subpar, meaning I do tend to eat out more and eat fewer nutritious foods. My daily calorie intake

is probably more than my recommended daily calorie intake should be. Before the Stay at Home

order went into effect due to the Corona Virus pandemic, I would go to the gym at least 3 times a

week and would workout for at least one hour, sometimes up to 3 hours. However, since the

quarantine, I have not been able to exercise at the same capacity nor frequency. I do work in an

occupation that involves in a lot of walking. Looking at my pedometer from my iWatch, I walk

around 10,000 steps per shift, and according to Liguori & Carroll-Cobb, is considered active

(2019, p. 73). Knowing that my health and wellness need improvement, I next looked at ways to

enhance my current state of a stagnant and sedentary lifestyle.

Looking at different ways to improve both my health and wellness, I concluded that both

my diet and physical fitness need improving. First, I researched healthy diets and came across

one that seems promising. The diet is called Intermittent Fasting (IF) and it involves eating
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healthy and nutritious meals during a certain window of time. There are three methods of doing

IF, which are 16/8, 24hr, and 5:2. The 16/8 IF is where you eat within an eight-hour window, and

fast for the remaining sixteen hours. The 24hr method is where a twenty-four fasting occurs

twice in non-consecutive days during a week. The final method, 5:2, is when for two days during

the week, you eat a maximum of 500 calories, and the rest of the week you eat withing your

recommended daily calorie intake. Of course, the meals must be healthy in nature, so substituting

take out with home cooked meals is a must. Also, using a food journal or calorie counter, such as

the app Lose It, will help me keep within my daily calories during my eating window. One might

ask, is fasting bad and thus counterintuitive? In a peer reviewed article called Intermittent

Fasting in Cardiovascular Disorders-An Overview, it was found that IF had many potential long-

term health benefits. Such benefits include fat loss, lowering blood pressure, lowering

inflammation, and reducing the onset of diabetes, and reducing cardiovascular risks, such as

atherosclerosis (Sokolowska, et al., 2019). Incorporating IF to my life and eating healthy meals

and staying within a recommended daily calorie count, I would be able to lose weight and

decrease several cardiovascular risk factors. Nevertheless, diet is only one part of the equation

for improving my health and fitness, and the other part is physical fitness.

Physical fitness involves different components and categorized into two different major

categories. Health-related fitness is the more valid of the two categories in improving health.

Health-related fitness involves cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular

endurance, flexibility, and body composition. From what I researched, High Intensity Interval

Training, or HIIT, seems to be the best way to improve on all the five components of health-

related fitness. Stretching for five to ten minutes prior to and post HIIT workouts will lower the

incidence of injury as well as increase flexibility. High Intensity Interval Training increases
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cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, and muscular endurance through a serious of

body weight exercises, with little rest between sets. According to an article titled Effect of High

Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on Weight, Body Mass Index and Body Fat Percentage for

Adults, HIIT increases calories burned after the workout, even up to 48 hours later. HIIT is a

“highly effective, time-efficient way to push the afterburning effect, ensuring long-lasting fat

loss” (Shehata & Mahmoud, 2018, pp. 125-130). Following a HIIT routine will have a

tremendous effect on body composition, decreasing BMI and body fat percentage. By adjusting

my diet and incorporating HIIT in my life, I will be able to improve my health and wellness and

lower my risks for several chronic health conditions.

Eating well and being physically fit “are linked to a longer life and a healthier life. People

who are active live on average several years longer than their sedentary counterparts, and they

have lower rates of many major diseases. Quality of life is also improved, with physical activity

associated with better mood, better sleep, and greater self-esteem” (Liguori & Carroll-Cobb,

2019, p. 65). Several benefits of physical fitness are better blood sugar and insulin levels, better

cardiorespiratory function, less risk of heart disease and stroke, lower resting heart rate and blood

pressure, lesser risk of cancer, lesser risk of type 2 diabetes, lesser risk of osteoporosis, better

body composition, and ultimately a better quality of life (Liguori & Carroll-Cobb, 2019, p. 65).

Seeing all the benefits of physical fitness, I will create 3 goals in which to adhere to in order to

be healthy and well.

My first goal will be to exercise at least 3 times a week, including in my workouts

stretching, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscular strength and endurance. I will stretch prior

to and post my workouts. I will do circuit training for the first 8 weeks, with increasing my

number of reps or the amount of weight every week to encourage progressive overload. I will
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workout for at least 30 minutes each workout session, followed by a cool down walk. My second

goal will be to decrease my calorie intake by 500 calories initially, and to use a calorie counter to

record my calories. Furthermore, I will substitute fast food meals with at home meals. I will do

this for two weeks and record my weight afterwards, so that if I need to modify my calorie

intake, I can do so for the following weeks. My third goal will be to weigh myself weekly, at the

same time during the day, so that I can see any improvement, and therefore make any

adjustments, if needed. I will track my weight by writing it down in a food journal as well as

record it in my smart scale app. My goal will be to lose 5 pounds in 4 weeks. My overall goal is

to lose 40 pounds in 8 months.

It was mentioned that nearly half of all adults in the US live a sedentary life, which I was

one of those people. By doing this paper, I was able to see my current state of health and

wellness, research ways I can improve my health and fitness, see the benefits of being physically

fit, and construct 3 realistic goals in which to improve my health and wellness. If I stay on track,

I will meet my overall goal of losing 40 pounds in 8 months and thus become healthier.
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Works Cited

Liguori, G., & Carroll-Cobb, S. Questions and Answers: A Guide to Fitness and Wellness

(Kindle Locations 3088-3092). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kindle Edition.

Malinowski, B., Zalewska, K., Węsierska, A., Sokołowska, M. M., Socha, M., Liczner, G.,

Pawlak-Osińska, K., & Wiciński, M. (2019). Intermittent Fasting in Cardiovascular

Disorders-An Overview. Nutrients, 11(3), 673. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11030673

Shehata, A., & MAHMOUD, I. (2018). Effect of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Onweight, Body Mass Index and Body Fat Percentage for Adults. Ovidius University

Annals, Series Physical Education & Sport/Science, Movement & Health, 18(2), 125–

130.