Remember how we referred to your body as a machine? Well, the time has come to improve the way that machine is working. This means physically. Your body is a well designed machine, actually. Each part of your body functions well because of the support that other parts play.

Your heart pumps oxygen rich blood to each cell in your body, delivering fuel to is so that it can perform its duty. Your lungs supply your heart with that necessary oxygen. Your brain keeps everything working, even those things that you don't think about doing like your heart beating and your lungs breathing.

Your job is to give your body what it needs to continue to perform correctly. While your diet is something for the next chapter, we need to address your body's ability to do what it needs to through being physically capable.

What some people don't realize is why their body has developed as it has. Well back in the time of the cave man, the body had to do what it needed to so that you could stay alive. It would store food in fat so that when there wasn't enough food available, these fat reserves could be used.

Your muscles are necessary for functioning but they have been built to be used, not to sit ideally. Your body is used to providing your muscles with the fuel that they need to work hard. If you don't work hard, your body can't maintain a healthy muscle mass.

What's Healthy?

As we mentioned early, to know what level of fitness your body is in, you need to take into consideration the vast number of measurements that we've already taken. Your weight, your blood pressure and your body mass index are good indications of your overall health.

Yet, it goes further than this, too. You should understand how well your body is working, too. Do you have any physical limitations? If you physically can't lift things for fear of hurting your back, this could be a potential problem that needs to be considered.

If you have problems with your legs, your neck, your arms or anything else, you should address these specific concerns. The best place to start is to work with your doctor to determine why you aren't physically fit in those areas. That way, you can improve your overall health and then improve upon your situation by knowing how to.