So what are some other things that you can do to take little steps every day towards a better lifestyle. These are usually things we think of as obvious. But how many do we actually implement in our own lives.
3. Getting some exercise in is not as hard as you think
Exercise alone is not going to solve your weight issues. But it will help. Exercise is also an important part of being healthy.
Most people think that exercise has to consume huge amounts of time. But research has shown that anything you do can burn calories. This includes things like housework. You would be surprised where you can burn calories.
Small short walks are a great way to start. Instead of driving to the corner shop, why not walk? Anything less than a kilometre from your house don't drive, walk. Then when you feel a bit more up to it make it any trip less than two kilometres. When taking kids to school, park the car a kilometre from the school and walk the kids down. Exercise for both you and your children as well as helping them to see the importance of exercise.
A dog can be a good way to encourage walking in the household. Dogs need walks every day. If you have room in your heart for a dog, there are many rescue shelters out there that can set up up with a lovely friendly dog and you can help to save a life. If you have a dog why not use them to help you. My dogs love walks and it helps them to be less destructive on my house!!
Ideally you want to exercise so you raise your heart rate. But any movement is good movement. Perhaps if you work in a building then when you have to go to another floor walk up the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Be creative. How many ways can you incorporate a few mins of walking into a day? Take up the challenge and think of new creative ways to get active.
Human beings are designed to move so getting movement into your day will help you feel better and happier. I combat my depression and other mental health issues with a work out. This works far better than any pill a doctor can give me. This is also far healthier. If you can lift your mood then you will want to be more motivated to lose weight. Its so easy to wallow in depression (I know this first hand). Exercise I find is such a great motivator and once you start it just becomes a necessary part of life.
4. Swap a meal here and there rather than a big sudden change
If you start a fad diet you will probably fail. Or you will get to where you want then go right back to your old habits and pack the weight back on. A friend of mine does this. She wonders why she is always having migraines and getting sick. She is not giving her body the nutrients it needs to fight off infection and the "diet" products she consumes contain little if any food but a huge amount of chemicals.
This friend would be far better off if she ate vegetables and fruit. But she doesn't like the taste.
Your far better off changing slowly over time than just jumping in feet first. Like making your portions smaller, for example buying a regular or small meal when you go to a fast food restaurant instead of a large, changing what you eat is something you should do over time.
Salad is a great way to change your taste buds over from processed foods to more natural foods. You have to remember that processed foods are high in things like salt and sugar to make them more palatable. Raw foods can therefore taste very different from processed foods. For me and my husband I make a chicken salad that is essentially a salad with a chicken steak cut up on top of it. I use balsamic vinegar for the dressing. So the meal is essentially salad vegetables and fruit and some protein to be filling.
Salads are very healthy but a lot of people make the mistake of loading them up with dressing and high calorie extras. I try to stick to lettuce, tomato and cucumber (which is what my husband likes in a salad) with just a little bit protein. I find this a great way to get some more veges and fruits into my husband who is very fussy with fresh food.
When I make my salad I will add in things like avocado, onion, carrot and other goodies. This method can be a good way to introduce new flavours to someone who is otherwise a bit fussy. Carrots can be quite sweet where as raw onion can be bitter.
You want to pick nice ripe fruit and veges as these will have more flavour. Most fruit and vege found in a supermarket is picked when its not ripe then force ripened before being shipped to a super market. This can make the fruit or veges not very tasty. This method is more about transporting the fruit and vege rather than taste and also because then the fruit and vege can be frozen and stored for off peak times when fresh fruit is unavailable. If you can get hold of fruit and vege grown fresh and picked fresh from the source then it tastes infinitely better than store brought. Or better yet, teach your kids about where food comes from and grow some in your backyard. In an apartment? Doesn't take much space to put a pot with a couple of tomato plants in.
If you start making small changes now you will be surprised how fast they build up into big changes. You will start feeling better and have more energy if you swap your french fries for salad. It might not seem as tasty but the feeling of being well is so worth while.
My next post will have more ideas for small changes.
Image sources
http://www.chichester-march.org.uk/assets/images/walking-silhouette-clip-art.jpg
http://www.loveyourpet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Whos-Walking-Who.jpg
http://www.shedyourweight.com/img/walking-exercise.jpg
http://abilityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/vegetables-fruit.jpg
http://kikichaos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/DSC01898.jpg
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