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Want to keep in shape?! Having difficulty? It is of great significance to make lifestyle changes that can be kept throughout the year. These simple tips can help you:

 

Exercise

The aim is to exercise for at least 20 minutes per day. Walk, jog, run, sit up, jumping jacks, stretches and much more can be done to fill in the 20 minutes of exercise. This is the minimal amount of exercise needed daily to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You can exercise from home, or you can go out to the park or even hit the gym. Exercise can be defined as any physical effort used to help improve health and fitness.

Did you know that the faster running or high bursting energy exercises are a form of anaerobic exercise. This means that the body is not using as much oxygen as it should due to the need for fast energy production in a short space of time. This causes lactic acid to build up and can cause burning muscles. By stretching the muscles and continuing with a slower exercise routine, lactic acid build up can be reduced. It can be said that aerobic exercises burn fat. These are exercises such as walking, swimming and stretching. They are not high energy exercises and allow oxygen to be used in the process to produce energy for muscles. Less lactic acid is therefore produced.

 

Diet

The diet is much more complicated. You should be aware of the dangers of certain items you consume. This can be in any form such as; liquid or solid. The aim should be to include the following changes:

  • Increase water

Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water per day unless specified otherwise by your doctor or dietitian for health reasons. Check labels to ensure that the water you are drinking has no added salt since this promotes high blood pressure risk and is not good for those who have high blood pressure. Water should not have calories, carbohydrates or added sugars.

  • Reduce carbonated beverages

These are high carbohydrate, sugary drinks that are dangerous to your body. Some can degrade your bones and cause osteoporosis, degrade your teeth, increase obesity and diabetes risk. The aim is to reduce consumption of these beverages. You should not be consuming them on a daily basis.

  • Increase fruits

You must find some time during the day to get in your daily fruit. It’s as simple as slicing up some bananas in your cereal, or snacking on slices of watermelon. We have lots of local affordable fruits in the market. Boiling corn with little salt, but more seasoning such as bandania and pimento can be done. Even slicing up some rough skin lemons and putting them in your water bottle can help to get in your vitamins and minerals. Keeping your body healthy as well as helping with weight control can be achieved this way.

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  • Increase vegetables

Do you consume vegetables with every meal? About 1 cup of vegetables should be consumed with every meal. This can help to reduce diseases and provides fiber, antioxidants, minerals and fat burning properties.

  • Decrease sweets

High sugary snacks can add to your weight and reduce your health status. This can put you at risk for obesity, diabetes and gastrointestinal problems such as colon cancer. Try to limit these snacks such as lollipops, ice cream, snow cone, syrups, cotton candy and white chocolate.

  • More frequent, small meals

Studies have found significance in weight reduction when looking at frequent, small meals. You should be consuming 3 meals per day including; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. What can be done is to include snacks between these meals; Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack. These should be small meals and can help boost metabolism depending on your snack choices. Ensure that snacking is healthy for example snack on nuts, fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate, granola cereal and yogurt. Skipping meals should be avoided. This actually increases the risk for obesity and other diseases such as acid reflux.

Candida Khan, RD
Candida Khan, RD

By: Candida Khan

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