Admittedly, Pandemic has taught us to value our life irrespective of the highs and lows that exist. Several centuries ago, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and other major ailments were not a frequent cause of concern. It was because very few people suffered from life-threatening diseases as they were involved in hard labor-work and other physically exerting activities. Most of those activities included farming, masonry, or excavation. It was an effortless job by then to stay fit. Their minds and body worked in co-ordination to burn calories. So, staying in shape was never their lookout.
In contrast, if you talk about today’s lifestyle, we aren’t living a healthy life. According to ourworldindata.org, the average life expectancy has dropped to 72 years; whereas, back then in the 1800s and 1900s people lived more than 85 to 90 years without any health issues. So, what do you think, how can you stay fit when you are living a sedentary lifestyle?
The answer to your query lies in the question itself; just get rid of “sedentary lifestyle”. Pull up your socks and trick your mind into staying fit. Let’s check out how you can do it in five simple ways.
Start with Sauntering and Easy Workout
It is easy to make up your mind to go for some strolling post-meals. Many of us do not have time to hit the gym; and hence, tricking your mind to go for a walk after lunch in your office premises is an easy job. It is not necessary to keep walking for long hours. But you can go for a walk whenever possible.
Avoid elevators and use a staircase instead. Park your car far away from your home, so that you can walk that extra mile. Similarly, when at the office, park your vehicle at a distant location, and trick yourself that you have to walk to get to the car. Once you reach home, relax, have some coffee and read some books. Do not jump to have your dinner immediately, spare some time to do things for yourself, in-short enjoy your “me time”.
While enjoying your “me time” move your body and lift some weights. Standing workouts and yoga are the best way to stay fit. If you are a beginner then watch some easy workout videos and follow them. Just sparing twenty to thirty minutes of your day for a workout can help your body in boosting your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
Stick to Home-cooked Food
As per my experience, it is never safe to go on diet for a prolonged period. Dieticians and healthcare consultants can help in drafting a diet-chart as per your health-issues. But you should never follow any diet blindly just by referring to some random videos or articles. If you have severe weight issues then you must consult a doctor.
Staying fit is an art. It takes tremendous patience and perseverance to reach the desired goal. Also, whatever efforts you take, you must maintain consistency. First and foremost, always feed on home-cooked food. It is the best practice to maintain a healthy weight. Your mind tricks you to get packaged foods and feed on refined products. But, instead, you trick your mind into eating only home-made meals. The best part of home-cooked food is that you know what is going into your body. There are no artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, or any other unwanted ingredient.
Your brain gives you signals when hungry, so have fruits, and munch on home-made snacks. Avoid sugary drinks, refined eatables, and canned foods. When you stick to home-made food, you can control your portion size as well. Packaged goods have a bliss-point that intrigues your brain into consuming more food; for instance, chips, chocolates, pastries, etc. Whereas, when you have your meals prepared on your own, you won’t have any hidden product to trick your gut for more intake.
Drink Water at Regular Intervals
Drinking water is one of the best solutions to curb your hunger pangs. Most of the time you are actually just thirsty but you assume that you are hungry. With this assumption, you go on munching the extra snacks. Therefore, many dieticians and doctors suggest, you must drink at least one full glass of water every two hours. It helps in keeping your metabolic rate high and also flushes out the toxins.
Water also helps in reducing the uric acids and other harmful acids from your body. Another benefit of drinking water is that it keeps your kidneys free of stones and uric crystals. It is one of the best tricks to control your weight. Also, you must consume water half an hour before you have your meals. It will make you feel fuller and you’ll lose the charge of consuming an extra portion.
Once you make it a habit, you will easily adapt to it and your body will automatically ask for more water intake. The more water you’ll drink, the more you’ll burn the calories. Also, this may increase your frequent visits to the loo, but that would be a hundred times better than visiting a doctor. Don’t you agree?
Keep a Track of your Weight-loss
Believe me, it is very easy to lose motivation when weight-loss programs don’t work. But consistency is the key as mentioned before. When I was on a weight-loss spree, my dietician had warned me about stagnation in the weight-loss journey. In true words, when your body loses a considerable amount of weight, it goes through a plateau stage. Wherein, you stop losing weight even after heavy workouts and dieting. But you should keep following your workout routine and diet plan, you’ll lose weight gradually.
It is definitely demotivating and disappointing when you go through that phase. So, in order to trick your body and mind to continue with the weight-loss regime, you must keep an eye on what you eat. Do not let yourself get encumbered with negative emotions. Practice meditation and keep positive thoughts flowing in your mind.
I used to convince myself by saying, “this is just a phase, it will pass away”. Do not give up at any point. Just focus on healthy eating and regular workouts. Another most motivating factor to me was ‘The Secret Book’ by Rhonda Byrne. There were these lines “Universe is always listening”, so I kept telling myself that “I am losing weight and getting back in shape”. Trust me these words actually do wonders to your body.
Reward Yourself, But Do Not Cheat!
Yes, you read it right! Many of us might have come across this statement that you can cheat once in a blue moon. But it is advisable not to cheat on your diet plan. Cheating takes you three days back in your successful weight-loss routine. Some even gain weight twice the times what they have lost. And trust me, when you see a rise on the weighing scale, it is disheartening. So, what do you think you should be doing when you come up with little cravings?
Simple, just take one bite and move away. You only need to satisfy your taste buds and trick your mind by saying that it is delicious but I have taken immense efforts in previous weeks to get in shape, so no more cheating. And this trick always works! You must start recalling all your memories where you have worked hard to shed those extra pounds. Thereafter, your brain will automatically stop you from falling for the cravings.
Also, it is essential to maintain a balance between a happy mind and a healthy body. So, you can reward yourself with some juices, smoothies, and energy bars but avoid junk food. Controlling your mind is the toughest part when getting back in shape. So, some occasional rewards are fine but no cheating.
Conclusion: Eventually, it is all about controlling your mind. You just got to be strict with yourself and focus on staying fit. Mind you, once you start getting back in shape, you will be motivated automatically.
