Healthy Living Style

Being Thinner Adds Quality to Life

Being obese or overweight can make life miserable. Imagine having to move around with so much extra baggage your entire life. Apart from the exposure to various diseased conditions, you have to face a lot of physical discomfort. Being overweight affects your immobility a great deal. A thin person is more mobile and free from the limitations imposed by excess weight. People blessed with a strong metabolic system are lucky not to put on excess weight. They are naturally aware of their weight and the factors that lead to weight increase. It is important for people with weight gaining tendencies to develop that awareness.

Developing Awareness

People who are naturally thin might appear not to worry about their weight. You may not even find them discussing weight issues, nor do they appear overly concerned. They have faith in their system to maintain the weight for them. But the fact is that they are instinctively aware of what is required of them. So, people with weight problems should develop that awareness about what they should do to keep their weight under control.

Another interesting fact to note about people who are thin is that they generally have a positive attitude. They do not react to criticism like an overweight person might. An insensitive comment about your weight can have you feeling low. A positive response from you could have you thinking in the right direction to work out a solution.

Eat only when you are hungry. That is the key to maintaining your weight. Eating just for the sake of it or when you are stressed is a habit you could well do without. The right attitude is – “eat to live”, and not “live to eat”. You need to be aware of what you are doing. If your body demands something to eat when you are under stress, do not deny it its share of food. However, you need to be aware of keeping your intake under control. The importance of eating slightly less than full can never be overstated. If you develop this good habit, you will never overeat.

An individual, who knows when to stop eating at the right time, will only help his or her cause. If you look at the eating habits and pattern of overweight people, you will find that a majority of them does not know when to stop. Discipline in eating is what every person needs to inculcate. And, discipline comes through developing awareness. You need to be disciplined not only in how much you eat, but also in what you eat.

Keeping your weight under control will add to the quality of your life. So, be aware of your eating habits and pattern, and never give-in to eating binges when you are partying.

Losing Weight By:

Eating Healthy

If losing weight is your sole motive, then I would suggest you do a rethink. All you need is a slight shift of thinking from trying to become thin to becoming fit. Getting thinner may make you look better, but getting fitter makes you look and feel better. I keep telling people, who come to me for advice, to enjoy a better quality of life than just looking thin.

I have been approached by people with a short-term goal to lose that extra flab. They do not have any goals beyond that. Such people tend to gain weight once they achieve their weight loss target. Getting off the diet they had forced on them is a big relief. This is followed by an eating binge, as if to make up for lost time. All this results in their getting back to where they had begun.

Weight management is not a fad; it is an attitude. If crash dieting is your goal, it is better not to start it in the first place. It would save you a lot of inconvenience and expense. I have found that in a majority of cases crash dieters tend to put on weight again. The reason why they gain weight is shortsightedness of their goal. They never follow it up with a second plan, which should be to maintain the achieved weight target for life. Fad diets are never going to help with long-term targets in mind. Eating healthy is a way out for people looking to lose weight and staying that way.

The Healthy Diet

If you are serious about losing your weight the healthy way, I would suggest you take a well-balanced and healthy diet. It is a far cry from the fad diets made available on the Internet. A healthy diet ensures gradual weight loss, while supporting all the systems in the body. Well-balanced foods provide all the essential nutrients that the body requires for optimum functioning.

Making fruits and vegetables an integral part of your well-balanced and healthy eating plan is a wise decision. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, dairy products, and beans are healthy options. You stand to not only lose weight, but also benefit from essential vitamins, minerals and proteins. Diets that comprise of a generous dose of fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of cancer and other serious ailments. Their high-fiber content ensures efficient elimination of waste material, thus reducing the risk of toxin formation.

Most people who approach me normally confuse low calorie intake with eating less. I need to tell them that they can have their volumes yet keep the calorie count down. You can opt for low calorie fruits and vegetables. The water and fiber content are voluminous, which make you eat less, while providing lower calories and sufficient nutrition. What makes most fruits and vegetables an integral part of any diet plan is that they are low in fat and calories, and high in nutrition.

Keeping the Calories Down

You can start the day with a low calorie breakfast. Cut down on an egg and replace it with fruits or vegetables. Similarly, you can reduce your cheese intake, substituting it with a voluminous and low calorie vegetable dish. Your meats and cheese can be replaced by filling substitutes such as tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, beans, cucumbers, or lettuce.

You may replace your cereals with fruits like peaches, bananas, and papaya. That way you cut down on calories, while upping the nutrition value of your breakfast.

You can also have a low calorie but nutritious dinner. I have suggested the dinner menu to many and have received positive feedback in return. All you need to do is replace the rice with vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, or onions. It is important to view the ingredients that go into preparing your dinner. The predominant ingredients should consist of fruits, vegetables, and cereals. You may reduce the portions of meat and cheese, and replace them by whole grains, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, or asparagus. This combination will give you the nutrients your body needs, cut down on calories, and provide you the volume too. Try replacing your full-size platter with a small-size plate. It makes a difference.

Most people love in-between snacks. They are normally asked to stop snacking altogether when on a diet. Believe me, for many it is tough keeping away from snacks. However, I have a plan for people who find it difficult to stay away from these fillers. The mantra here is to count your calories. In-between snacks are the real culprits when it comes to calories. Replacing your high calorie snacks with low calorie ones is the ideal option. Healthy eating plans do include room for snacks. I would suggest a snack not exceeding 100 calories. The following chart will help you prepare a sub-hundred calorie snack.

Ingredients

Calories

1 cup steamed green beans

44

1 cup grapes

100

1 cup blueberries

83

1 cup carrots

45

1 cup bell peppers

30

1 cup broccoli

30

1 medium-size banana

105

1 medium-size apple

72

What you need to remember here is that fruits and vegetables are required to be used as replacements and not as add-ons. They do have calories, though low. Thus, fruits and vegetables, in addition to your normal diet, only add to the calories and your weight.

Getting into Shape by Means of Exercise

When you talk about weight loss, the first thing that comes to mind is dieting. We cannot deny the role of diet in weight management, but the role that exercise plays is equally important. There is a marked difference between getting thinner and getting fitter. A healthy diet in combination with an exercise regimen builds health, while getting rid of flab.

Many people equate exercise to lifting weights, which can be discouraging for them. It is not necessary to follow a tough exercise schedule, or even lift weights. A mild to moderate exercise plan will suffice in minimizing muscle-loss during the weight loss program. It is important not to lose muscle tissue along with fat. This is where physical exercise comes in handy when you are on a weight loss plan.

Your exercise regimen should include cardiovascular fitness, flexibility routines, and muscle strengthening exercises. All exercises should begin and end with warming up and cooling down routines. Stretching exercises can follow your warming up routine to prevent muscles from getting sore or injured. Aerobics, that includes running, jogging, brisk walking, cycling, and swimming, is known for strengthening the cardiovascular system, besides helping people lose weight. If you are not keen on working with weights, then calisthenics can help strengthening different muscle groups in the body.

Besides the above benefits, exercise helps in developing greater bone density. People who start early have stronger bones and greater bone density than those who do not exercise at all. Your metabolism also improves and that helps you lose weight. Studies have shown that the metabolism rate improves when you exercise at fifty percent of your maximum capacity. So, exercise that increases body heat and allows for perspiration improves metabolism that continues to burn calories even after the exercise is over.

Some people come to me saying that exercise has made a lot of difference to their appetite. They are eating more than before and worry that they may put on more weight. But, this is not the case. The calories that they continue to burn out-paces the increased calorie intake.

Types of Exercise

Exercises can be classified into three types.

• Flexibility

• Resistance

• Aerobic

Flexibility: These exercises are great for stretching the muscles and removing tension from them. Stiff muscles are prone to injury, and are likely to cause balance problems too. The greatest problem areas are the back muscles and the hamstring. Stiff back muscles lead to back pain and can lead to poor support to the spine. Stretching has always been an important part of warming up. A warming up session should never begin with stretching exercises. When you stretch cold muscles, there is likelihood of their getting injured. So, the best way is to warm up your body and then perform muscle stretching. Thereafter, you can take up other physical exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, weight training, or participating in outdoor sports. After your activity is over, you should again do stretching exercises as part of cooling down.

Resistance: Resistance exercises comprise of lifting weight, pulling, or pushing against something. These exercises are meant to strengthen the muscles. You can join a gym, as they are normally fitted with resistance building equipment. People neither having the time nor the inclination to join a gym can perform these exercises at home. Household chores like scrubbing the floor and gardening are a good way of providing resistance to your muscles. If you use the lift to reach your home or office, try using the staircase. It could do wonders to your leg muscles and cardiovascular system. I am not asking you to climb up 20 floors. You may climb as far as you can comfortably, and then us the lift for the rest of the way up.

Aerobic: Aerobic means “with oxygen” in its literal sense. A typical aerobic exercise schedule will comprise of moderate levels of activity for an extended period with the idea to increase the heart rate. For this reason, a sprint will not qualify as an aerobic exercise, whereas jogging a long distance will. The benefits of aerobics are plenty. You could strengthen the muscles involved in the respiratory process and improve the efficiency of the lungs. The heart gets stronger and the capacity to pump improves. It has a marked improvement in blood pressure.

Beginning Your Exercise Program

You should not decide to follow an exercise plan on an impulse. It will help to use discretion and consult your doctor before starting an exercise routine. The minimum you could do is have your blood pressure and pulse checked and get a nod from the doctor for the type of exercise you intend taking up.

Before embarking on your routine, you should have a plan in place. Record your weight and take other related measurements. Plan to start slowly and then gradually increase your pace over a few weeks. If you straightaway put a particular set of muscles under strain, you could injure them. You can gradually increase your sessions on a weekly basis. Look for signs of progress after a month of regular exercise. Reviewing your progress on a monthly basis will give you enough time to work out and achieve perceptible progress.

Exercising alone can be quite demotivating. You can soon be put off your routine. To keep yourself firmly on track, get an exercising buddy who is equally firm on losing weight. That way the both of you can keep egging on one another, when spirits flag.

Your Exercise Program

When you do not know what to do, start walking. Walking is a wonderful exercise, where you neither require training and expertise nor equipment. A pair of comfortable walking shoes is all you need. Many people approach me complaining that they do not lose weight despite doing their errands on foot. Leisure walking for a couple of kilometers does not really help. You need to do brisk walking everyday in order to lose weight. Here is a walking program for people who want to lose weight but cannot do any other form of exercise owing to their age or physical condition.

Whenever you begin a physical routine, always remember to start slowly and build up pace over a few weeks. Any new set of muscles that comes into play needs to be gradually introduced to that routine. If you straightaway put your muscles through the grind, they will become sore or even injured.

So, if you have been inactive for long take a 10 minutes walk, twice a day. Initially walk at a leisurely pace for a week, upping the pace in the second week. The second week should see you covering farther distance. A 15 minutes walk taken briskly will suffice. Swing your arms exaggeratedly as you walk. Feeling refreshed and not tired after the walk is an indication that your cardiovascular system is getting better. Gradually, you can start walking uphill or cover gentle slopes. As you feel stronger you can walk up steeper slopes to burn calories better.

You should have a goal to do brisk walking for 30 minutes everyday. Make it a point to reach this stage gradually over several weeks or even months. Remember that you are not competing with anyone. Your goal is to lead a healthy life, as you lose weight and strengthen your endurance.

After you achieve noticeable improvement and better fitness by walking, your next option could be swimming. Here too your approach will be gradual, as a new set of muscles will come into play when you swim. Overweight people stand to benefit from swimming. You could burn a lot of calories in the swimming pool. To begin with, a twice-a-week 15-minute gentle swim will be good for you. It is important to condition your body to the rigors of swimming. Gradually, you can increase the distance and time. Optimally, 30 minutes of swimming in a day is good enough to keep you fit and slim.

If you do not have a swimming pool in the vicinity, or do not enjoy the sport, give cycling or jogging a try. If the weather does not permit outdoor activity, a cycle-machine or treadmill will help you achieve your goal. Your approach to cycling or jogging remains the same as in the case of walking and swimming. Start your routine slowly. Initially, spend less time cycling or jogging. A 10-minute session of gentle cycling or jogging is a good beginning. This can be gradually increased to 15, 20 and then 30 minutes a day. While jogging, make sure that you are wearing a comfortable pair of jogging shoes that cushion the impact your feet make with the ground.

Warming Up And Stretching Exercises

As has been mentioned above, all physical activity needs to be preceded by warming up and stretching exercises. So, make sure that you perform the following exercises before starting your walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling routines.

Swinging Your Torso: Stand with your feet apart. Raise both your arms at the sides at shoulder level and parallel to the ground. Gently twist your torso to the left as you swing your arms. Twist as far as you can. Now, twist your torso to the right. Do this routine 10 times. Your movements should be smooth. Avoid using force.

Shoulder Rotation: Stand with your feet apart. Make a circular motion with your left arm. Lift your left arm in front of you, above your head, and behind you, as you rotate it further to complete one full circle. Do it five times. Repeat the action with your right arm. Now rotate your left arm in the reverse direction by swinging your arm backward. Do it five times. Repeat the motion with your right arm. Shoulder rotations are good for your ball and socket joint of the shoulders.

Shoulder circling: Stand with your feet apart and arms by the sides. Without moving your arms push your shoulders to the front, up, pull them backwards, and bring them down to starting point in one circulatory motion. Do it five times. Now circle your shoulders in the reverse direction five times. This exercise stretches and relaxes the muscles joining the shoulders to the neck, the shoulder blades, and the upper chest.

Neck Rotation and Movement: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Gently turn your head to the left to look over the left shoulder. Then, turn it to the right to look over the right shoulder. Repeat the movement five times in each direction. Next, gently bow your head until the chin rests against the chest. Lift your head up and take it as far back as you can without using any force. Repeat this movement five times. Now, rotate your neck in one direction by drawing a big imaginary ‘O’ with your chin. Repeat the exercise in the reverse direction.

Toe Touching: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Gently bend forward and try to touch your toes, as you keep your legs straight. Do not use force while attempting to touch your toes. Raise your torso up as you bring your arms up and above your head. Repeat the exercise five times.

Side Stretches: Stand with your feet wide apart and your hands by your sides. Bend your torso sideways to the left as you slide your left hand along the left leg as far as you can go. Return to the starting position before bending to the right to repeat the exercise. Do it five times.

Cross Arm Stretches: Stand with your feet wide apart. Keeping your legs straight, bend your torso forward as you try to touch your left foot with your right hand. Raise your torso a bit and bend forward again as you now try to touch your right foot with your left hand. Do this exercise 10 times.

Hips Rotation: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your hands on the hips. Gently push out your hips to the left and rotate in the clockwise direction five times, while keeping your feet and head steady. Now, rotate your hips five times in the counter-clockwise direction.

After doing the above routines, you can begin your main exercise. Remember to recognize your limitations and not force yourself to do more than you can.

Adopting a Healthy Attitude

Fad diets and weight loss pills are being pushed around as effective weight loss alternatives. These are being promoted as a simple means to lose weight without going through the grind of exercise. People starved of time and lacking will, find popping the pill an easier alternative. America alone is spending over $30 million per annum on weight loss diets, products and services, despite which they are an overweight population.

You may ask where people are going wrong. If you have already experienced such quick fixes, you may have lost weight only to regain it after some time. If you want to lose weight permanently, it is important to develop a healthy attitude.

If you are only interested in losing weight, you may not lose it permanently. The weight loss process cannot be considered a temporary phase. If that were your attitude to the whole routine, you would just as quickly regain your lost weight. It has been observed that people revert to their old eating habits once their weight loss targets are achieved. Such shortsighted goals do not serve any purpose. Once you achieve your weight loss target it is important that you switchover to your second plan i.e. weight management. From that point onwards, you should be aiming at maintaining your weight. You can only achieve that by adopting a healthy attitude. If you are firm about your long-term goal, you will find the necessary motivation to eat healthy and maintain a regular exercise routine.

If you are keen on having a healthy life, it might necessitate a change in your lifestyle. People carrying extra flab certainly have a faulty lifestyle. They need to identify the causes and make amends accordingly. It does not mean that you have to make drastic changes in your lifestyle, though certain cases may warrant this drastic step. You need to be open to new ways of doing things, while discarding some of your old ways. Some of the areas that may need amends are:

• Your schedule: You might have to make major changes in your daily schedule. You are required to utilize your time more productively. You may have to put in some extra time to prepare a healthy diet, as you do away with your old unhealthy eating habits. You could even squeeze in time for exercise before leaving for work. If you are a homemaker, you could easily take time off television soap operas and invest it in a healthy exercise routine. Working people can opt for a walk around the neighborhood park before settling before the television in the evening.

• Time Management: What you do with your spare time might need some modifications. Are you spending a lot of time watching television? Is Internet surfing demanding too much of your time when home? Time management will work wonders with the way you are spending time. You might be surprised by the amount of time you are unnecessarily devoting to the television or the computer. This time can be productively used to better your health through exercise and other physical activity. You can even utilize this opportunity to spend some quality time with your family.

• Pantry Management: If you are keen on developing a healthy attitude, your pantry and refrigerator will have to be rid of unhealthy foods. If they are present in the house, you are going to eat them anyway. So, make sure that you purchase only those foods that will contribute to your and your family’s health.

Another big challenge that you may face while switching over to a healthy lifestyle is how you have been coping with your emotional hurts or stressful situations in the past. Many people go on an eating binge when they confront an emotionally heavy situation or when under stress. Eating provides them the solace and support that they are seeking to deal with such emotional problems. If you are overweight because of such behavior, it can be quite a challenge to change yourself. You will have to address this issue and try to seek solace elsewhere and not in your food. If you cannot work it out yourself, you may have to consult a counselor.

Do not seek quick results. Weight loss is something you should be looking to achieve through a healthy lifestyle comprising of healthy foods and exercise. If that is your goal, there will be no stopping you. If your goals are unrealistic, you are likely to fail. Setting tough goals will only put you off your healthy program when you do not achieve them. It is so easy to get discouraged, if a person does not achieve the set weight loss target. So, the key is to set achievable goals. What is achievable for your friend might not be achievable for you. Weight loss depends on various factors including genetics, eating habits, exercise routines, and metabolism. So, you should be setting goals depending on these factors. Make them realistic so that you continue to achieve them and feel motivated to continue.

If you have the right attitude, you will be game. It is not necessary to maintain your exercise schedule all the time. Extra work at office, or being caught in a traffic jam can often throw you off your schedule. Anticipate these problems and be prepared. Keep a pair of walking or jogging shoes in your car. If you do not have enough time for a full workout, a 10-minute walk in the neighborhood park would suffice.

If for compelling reasons you cannot adhere to your schedule, there is no point in feeling low. Adopting a healthy attitude will see you through this phase of non-activity. In such situations, I always tell myself that mine is a long-term program and I will be back the moment I find the time.