10 steps to get fit today

by Aloka Mehta Gambhir

weightloss

Health, weight loss and fitness go hand in hand with your lifestyle. If you want to lose weight, put on more muscle, look good in a bikini, feel stronger, fitter, and ultimately healthier, a lifestyle change is in order.

Read on for tips on how you can change your lifestyle into a much healthier one, simply by following these nine simple steps.

Change basic food habits –

Even on a regular day when you are eating lunch or dinner at home or at the office, change the composition of your meal. So where you ate 3 chapati’s and a little bit of sabzi, make it 1 chapati and compensate with lots and lots of your favourite green sabzis. Don’t carry potato-based veggies, but carrots, French beans, cauliflower, the leafier the better.

Know what to order when you go out –

Skip the breadbasket and go straight to the soup, salad and appetizer. There isn’t a real need to order a sugary drink or dessert if you are eating a sumptuous filling meal is there? Read this for more tips while eating out.

Know what to drink when you’re partying it up –

Avoid cocktails. Red wine is the best as it has the lowest sugar content but if you like your vodka, then order it with soda and just a touch of sprite or your regular mixer. The main idea is to minimize the intake of sugar since you are going to get enough of it anyway with the alcohol.

Get sufficient rest 

Rest and relaxation and general time out for your self is as important as getting exercise and eating right when it comes to good health and wellbeing.  Make a conscious effort to take a vacation or leave work early, as unless you get enough rest, all of your other efforts will be in vain.

Know your enemy  – Stress.

This could be the reason that your efforts at weight loss are coming to naught, or why your stomach bulge is refusing to go, or why you always feel exhausted and low on energy. Stress can undo most of you efforts towards a sustainable healthy lifestyle and it is important tomanage stress well.

Know your enemy – Compulsive eating

If you have the habit of snacking incessantly on anything in sight its important to know that it may  be because of more reasons than food alone. Try and get to the bottom of why you feel the need to snack even though you may not be hungry, and then try and find a solution.

Add flexibility to your workouts –

Don’t stick to your age-old habit of running everyday. Mix up yourworkouts and add strength training and weights. This is absolutely necessary if you want to become leaner, fitter, and stronger. Be flexible and open-minded when it comes to new workouts and be ready to change it when required. Here are some workouts to get you going.

Add flexibility to your diet –

Any diet that is stringent and tells you that you have to eat a particular meal at a given time is likely to fail because of its inflexibility. Instead eat when you are hungry, eat till you are full, don’t overeat, and eat smart. Make sure that on the whole your food composes of plenty of fruits and vegetables, proteins, good fats and whole grains, and don’t forget to savour your food.

Form good habits –

Being active is something you have to incorporate into your life in a big way if being healthy is the objective So whether it is taking up a new sport or a dance class, going for a walk after dinner with your spouse instead of a drive where you stop at the neighbourhood juice stall, or making hikes part of your weekend activity, being active should be ingrained into your life.

Don’t be afraid to kick it up a notch – 

Don’t get stuck to light cardio forever. Walk and jog, if you must, but sprint, skip and cycle fast as well. This stimulates the human growth hormones, and helps you burn fat. Increased heart rate is an effective way to get fit. So get off that treadmill, and replace that 30 minute slow walking with just a 10 minute burst of sprints.

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Read more in Health Me Up

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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