Life becomes dull if you are not healthy. It has become exhausting by doing everyday tasks. A healthy lifestyle helps us live life to the fullest, and keeping a healthy lifestyle sometimes gets intimidating.
It requires changes and commitments. The first step towards a healthy lifestyle is understanding your body and its needs.
Understanding all of this doesn’t make choosing nutritious foods any easier. Changing old eating habits is hard, but there are steps you can take to make the process more manageable. Check out these seven ways to watch what you eat, yet still, enjoy your food.
Each body is unique and thus requires a unique and personalized health and diet plan.
Here are 14 steps to create your personalized plan towards a content life.
1 Understand your body:
Each body on the planet matches one of the three scientifically known somatotypes. One must understand their body type before diving into a plan. So, what are the three types?
- Ectomorphs:
The ectomorph type is typically petite. They have a small bone frame structure. They are not able to gain weight as effortlessly as others.
- Mesomorphs:
The mesomorphs fall between the ectomorphs and endomorphs. They have a muscular bodies. As compared to the ectomorphs, weight gain is easier for them.
- Endomorph
- Endomorphs are the last category. They have a soft body. The fat in their body is higher than the recommended percentages owing to their low metabolisms.
These body types are not adamant. It may be possible that your body is a mixture of the three types. Which body type do you think you are? If it is not clear to you, many tools can help identify the body type.
2 Define your goal:
Throughout our lives, we set goals and targets to achieve greatness in life. They help us to remain motivated. They also facilitate us in achieving our outcomes. An undefined goal is as good as no goal.
For example, if you define your goal to gain weight, it might be possible to stop trying after gaining one or two pounds.
We need to make sure our goals are SMART. It is an acronym designed to help make our goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. We must follow the approach to ensure that we easily attain our goal in the period.
There are several techniques to stay focused on your goal. Experts recommend creating smaller goals to achieve the primary goal. It makes the process seem simple and gives a sense of achievement to the person.
3 Plan your Exercise:
Exercise is the key to life. It has a range of benefits, from regulating sleep to fending off deadly diseases. It is essential to choose an exercise corresponding to your body type. One should always opt for a balanced exercise plan. A balanced exercise plan includes a combination of moderate and intense workouts.
Cardio is the exercise for the heart and lungs. It increases stamina, so when you walk up a flight of stairs, you are not breathless.
It also helps to decrease body fat and reduce bad cholesterol. Unhealthy cholesterol is the primary cause of a heart attack. Any activity that increases your breathing and heart rate is part of the cardio exercise.
Another excellent type of exercise is the strength and resistance exercise. Strength exercises work the muscles of the whole body and strengthen the muscles, and enhance bone growth. If you want to work on your posture, strength, then exercises should be your priority.
It is necessary to mix the type of exercise. The easiest solution to combine cardio and strengthening exercise is to invest in a vertical climber machine.
It adds a challenge to the training. Try to find the best vertical climber machine that can provide many benefits, such as improving overall body strength. It reduces the risk of diabetes. It is excellent equipment for burning calories.
A beginner should start gradually without any pieces of equipment. After a month or so of exercising, you can start adding bits of equipment like dumbbells to your routine.
4 Pen it down:
It is beneficial to write down your plan. It bounds us to work out even when we don’t feel like it. It also helps us to track when to do which exercise. You can also put an alarm to remind you of the exercise time. It will help strengthen the exercise habit.
5 Prepare your diet:
Exercise is useless until combined with a diet. Like exercise, one cannot copy someone else’s diet plan. A healthy diet provides a body with all the nutrition. Everybody has a different calorie requirement.
For example, a person aiming to lose weight will reduce their calorie intake. On the contrary, a person seeking to gain weight will increase their calorie intake.
However, everyone must have a portion of fruits and vegetables, dairy, and protein in their diets.
6. Limit Empty Calories
One fairly easy way to eat more healthily is to put limits on the liquid calories you consume. Many drinks are filled with empty calories, even the ones that seem healthy. For instance, even juice and smoothies are loaded with calories. Sometimes they even end up containing extra sugar. Opting for fresh fruit itself is a more nutritious choice.
Of course, you’ll want to steer free of things like soda and many energy drinks that are also high in sugar. Water is your best choice. Adding fruit can improve the taste if you’re not keen on plain water. Unsweetened tea and coffee are fairly decent choices as well.
7. Add Fruits and Vegetables
Did you know that nine servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended on a daily basis? That may seem like a lot for those who have a hard time remembering to eat these good-for-you foods or who don’t like them. If this is true of you, start small.
Add a serving of fruit or vegetable to each meal. Soon, you may discover it gets easier to find items you enjoy. Fruits and vegetables are nutritious and pack tons of health benefits.
8. Opt for Natural Foods
Natural, or whole, foods are always a better choice than processed ones. They don’t contain the additives you’ll find in most processed items. Therefore, you’ll get more nutritional value for your investment. As noted, fresh veggies and fruits are great.
Lean meat, nuts, and whole grains are also safe bets. You don’t necessarily need to count calories if you’re choosing real food.
9. Eat More Fiber
Fiber-rich foods tend to fill you up quickly, so you may not be as tempted to pig out on them. They’re definitely useful when it comes to portion control. Fibrous foods also have health benefits such as helping to maintain regularity. Adding them to your diet doesn’t have to be difficult. Try ditching your white bread and choose a multi-grain one instead, and brown rice is just as yummy as the white variety.
10. Consider Your Portion Size
Speaking of portions, keeping them lower is better for your health. You’ll probably feel better, too. Limiting the amount you eat at one sitting can stabilize your sugar levels. Plus, you’ll feel less bloated when you don’t pig out.
A good strategy that can make things easier is to eat five smaller meals per day rather than three large ones. This approach could even offer the benefits of increased energy and weight loss. It may help to be mindful when eating, paying attention to your body so that you can stop when you’re full.
11. Make Some Substitutions
Swapping out high-fat, sugary, or salty foods for alternatives is another method to eat healthier without sacrificing taste. There are many products that are a substitute for some of the more notorious food ingredients.
For example, why not do some research into the best salt substitute for high blood pressure? If diabetes is a concern for you, there are a variety of options when it comes to healthier sweeteners.
Keep in mind, though, that not all substitutes are actually better for you. Some options merely offer empty calories or different types of substances you’re trying to avoid.
12. Plan Ahead
One awesome trick for watching what you eat and making good choices is to plan your meals ahead. This ensures you don’t grab unhealthy options like fast food when you’re in a hurry or away from home.
These impulse picks can sabotage your progress. Try meal planning and preparing on the weekend or packing healthy snacks so you’ll always have smart options on hand. Refer to these tips if you’re watching what you eat. You can make great strides in your health with just some simple research, planning, and changes.
13 Monitor your progress
The last but equally important step is to monitor your progress. After strictly following your plan, stop and evaluate your plan. Evaluate which areas of your plan can improve. Once identified, make necessary amendments so you can reach your goal proficiently.
14 The last verdict:
‘Health is wealth’ is more than just a saying. It is the truth of life. Without health, one cannot enjoy the gifts life has to offer. We should all strive towards a healthy life. Planning makes it easier to achieve our goals. With dedication, we can achieve our goals and live happy life.