6 habits that will help you get fit and lose weight

Holistic health guru Mickey Mehta shares 6 easy-to-do fitness tips. Follow these and stay healthy :)

Constant travel for work coupled with never ending long and tiring commutes to the office, work pressure, unhealthy diets high in saturated fats, sugar, food with high sodium content and a sedentary lifestyle, all combined together pose serious health challenges like obesity. It can also play host to complications like hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and more.

In the long run, if this kind of lifestyle is not altered these will turn into life threatening and life shortening disorders!

But, the good news is that despite these challenges, one can maintain one’s weight and achieve a healthy and fit body by adhering to a sensible eating pattern with a variety of natural, wholesome foods and most of all by staying active, physically and mentally.

The keys for attaining good health and a fit body are quite simple. All of you have to do is take care of good nutrition, physical activity, sufficient sleep and rest, meditation and conscious breathing.  

Diet and nutrition: The best insurance for healthy eating is maintaining a diet that has a balance of fruits, vegetables, salads, millets, whole grains, nuts, pulses, sprouts, seeds, low fat milk, soy milk, tofu etc.

These foods have detoxifying, healing and regenerative properties and are rich in antioxidants and elements needed to keep you nourished.

Exercise: Any physical activity like walks, swimming, yoga, gym workouts etc helps to keep one energised, well oxygenated and improves strength, stamina, flexibility, immunity and metabolism.

Listed below are a few recommendations that can be followed without the encumbrance of equipments as well as time. These can be easily done in your room or outside if you are travelling.

1. Avoid snacking on junk foods: Instead, make sure you eat a wholesome breakfast before hitting the road and carry a fruit that can be munched on in between. Choose steamed foods like idlis or toasted sandwiches and stay away from all fried foods, aerated drinks, milk shakes, fruit juices, desserts and any kind of sweets.

2. Keep dry fruits handy: These are nutritious and will keep hunger at bay. A few almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, dates and figs are ideal.

3. Do neck rotations, shoulder shrugs, arm rotations etc. while you are travelling. These can be done when you take a break from driving, between meetings and even in an air craft. These exercises work wonders especially for long flights as they keep your blood flowing even when you’re sitting in one place for a long time. While sitting at a traffic signal or in the plane extend your legs, keep your toes pointed and rotate your ankles-clockwise and anti-clockwise. Shoulder rotations are also recommended to ease away the muscle tension.

4. A brisk walk daily is an effective way to do some cardio without hitting the gym and can be an invigorating experience as walking is an exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime. Take a brisk walk everyday and you are sure to be on the way to better health and vitality.

Walking also helps you enjoy the freshness of nature with the added benefit of relaxing your mind and simultaneously getting rid of stress. Here’s a quick tip: whenever possible, use the stairs instead of elevators.

5. Simple exercises like leg kicks, squats, lunges, chair dips, push ups, ab crunches and a few yoga stretches like suryanamaskar, bhujangasan, dhanurasan, sethubandhasan and naukasan are possible to do in your room.

These help to boost flexibility as well as stamina and strengthens the core and back muscles. Pranayam or breathing exercises like chanting of ‘Om’, kapalbhati and anulom-vilom should be done at regular intervals throughout your week. These revitalise your body and alleviate stress and tension after a long day.

6. Drink plenty of water to keep yourself well hydrated. This can include water, herbal/green teas/coconut water (depending on their availability).

Health, wellness and fitness certainly do not require extreme or rigid measures all they need is proper planning, consistency and regularity. These are the key factors for a healthy mind and a well toned body.

Follow the above mentioned simple strategies to reinforce complete and total wellness and enjoy a healthy and stress free life.

Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee / Reuters

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