A busy life can often stand in the way of a healthy diet. It can be easy to grab a store-bought sandwich on a working lunch or to order takeout once you finally arrive home after a hectic day. Sadly, all those small choices can negatively impact your health.
If you are tired of making excuses for your bad diet and inactivity, ensure you read the following smart ways to upgrade your lifestyle.
A Fast Yet Effective Diet
If you’re looking for a weight loss plan that suits your lifestyle, the 5:2 diet could be an ideal choice. It allows you to eat normally for five days of the week while reducing your calorie intake for two days.
Intermittent fasting can ultimately help you to:
- Lose weight and belly fat
- Reduce your insulin resistance (decrease type 2 diabetes risk)
- Lower oxidative stress in the body
- Lower blood pressure and cholesterol
For example, women are recommended to consume 500-600 calories, while men should consume 600-700 calories. It also doesn’t need to feel difficult during the fasting days, either, as there are effective meal plans to complement the 5:2 diet.
Start a Lifestyle Journal
Keep tight control of your diet and exercise plan by starting a lifestyle journal. Make a note of every food you eat or exercise you undertake, so you can identify what does or doesn’t work.
For instance, if you successfully lose weight one week but maintain the next, you can go back to week one to identify where you went right and can consequently discover where you went wrong.
Book Regular Health Examinations
Many people fail to book regular health examinations, as they believe they are only necessary for elderly or sick people. However, routine exams can help to identify any potential health issues so that you can make the appropriate changes to your lifestyle.
For example, a medical exam could find you have high cholesterol, so you would need to reduce your consumption of fatty foods and salt.
Start Walking More
If you hate exercise or find the gym doesn’t naturally fit into your lifestyle, you’ll be happy to know there are other ways to embrace an active lifestyle. For example, almost everyone can slot 30 minutes of walking into their daily routine, as you could go for a stroll on your lunch break or jump off the bus or train a stop or two earlier.
Find ways to get your body moving and walk at different speeds to get your heart pumping. Before long, you might want to run down the street.
Meditate
In addition to caring for your physical health, you also must care for your mental health. If you feel constantly tense or stressed, or are experiencing a low mood, meditation is an effective way to block out every thought and experience mental clarity.
To meditate, you will need to:
- Sit or lie in a comfortable position
- Close your eyes
- Breathe naturally
- Focus on inhaling and exhaling but don’t attempt to control your breathing
Meditation has also been found to help people increase their focus, creativity and social life. For this reason, you should try to incorporate meditation into your morning routine, which will help your day get off to a positive start.
