Healthy Body Tips

There are simple and effective steps that can be taken towards being a healthier person, simple common sense and a whole lot of will power are needed for any fitness programme or diet, but here are 5 simple steps that can help you on your way:

1. Keep a journal
2. Always ask yourself am I really hungry?
3. You have to eat to lose weight
4. Include your favourite foods in your diet
5. Get plenty of exercise

1. Keep a journal

Get into the habit of keeping a journal or diary and always carry it with you and it can be useful in many ways. If you’re having a particularly bad day then use it to jot down your feelings and thoughts, get them out.

Everything you eat during the day, no matter what it is or how small write it down. Don’t cheat be totally honest if you nibbled on a biscuit then put it down, it all adds up and you’ll be surprised at how many calories you consume in a day.

By keeping a daily account of everything you eat or drink it forces us to become more aware of what we eat, it is also an excellent guide for making any changes to our diet because it’s all right there in front of us.

2. Always ask yourself am I really hungry?

It is surprising how many of us actually eat just for the sake of eating not because we are actually hungry. Maybe we walk past the bowl of fruit on the counter top and see the shiny red apple and pick it up and start eating it, but ask yourself do you actually need to eat the apple, are you hungry or did you just do it out of habit, its there in front of you so you take it.

Many of us will find we do this often, just because its 12 o clock it doesn’t automatically mean that it has to be lunch time. Always stop and ask yourself am I really hungry, do I need to eat? The answer is simple if you are not hungry then don’t eat out of habit, go and do something more productive like take a walk.

3. You have to eat to lose weight

It might sound silly but you do actually have to eat in order to lose weight, the more meals you skip doesn’t mean the more weight you will lose. When a person skips a lot of meals then have a tendency to go snacking at quick foods and these foods are generally the ones that are bad for us, crisps, biscuits etc.

Plus if you skip meals intentionally when you do eat you will have a tendency to eat more than you would normally. You can diet on three healthy meals a day with a healthy snack and still lose weight. A healthy meal should consist of fruit, vegetables, protein and a little fat.

4. Include your favourite foods in your diet

Most diets fail after a couple of weeks or so because we place too much restriction on the foods we allow ourselves on our diet. We all know that if we can’t have something then we want it even more and the same goes with dieting.

If we cut out all the foods we love we will only crave those more and this leads to straying from the diet. So it is wise to include your favourite foods in moderation of course, this doesn’t mean if your favourite food is pizza that you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight, a little common sense is needed.

5. Get plenty of exercise

Anyone can exercise it doesn’t mean you have to take up a strenuous aerobics routine or go jogging for 15 miles a day, there is no reason for anyone not to exercise a little. There are many forms of getting exercise we all do some without even realising it, housewives do it everyday in the form of pushing the vacuum cleaner around the house, bending to fill the washing machine with clothes, reaching to put them out to dry on an outside line.

These are all forms of exercise which we do day in and day out. Everyday just try adding 5 more minutes to your routine, do an extra little job around the house, walk at a slightly brisker pace when walking to your local supermarket. For short journeys leave the car at home and take a slow steady walk, all these little things add up and before you know it you’ll be feeling fitter and healthier.

Watching Those Calories

Calories play a crucial role in any diet, for to lose weight we must burn more calories than we take in when we eat, to lose just one pound in weight you must burn off 3,500 calories more than you take in. Therefore it is simply a matter of cutting down on the calories consumed and exercising a little more each day.

How the body burns calories

Simple basic functions such as sleeping, breathing, digesting food and even just sitting all use energy but these activities alone are not enough to lose weight of course, but any physical activity added to our normal daily routine helps to burn off calories.

Watch What You Eat

Once you have dieted and have reached the weight ideal for your height then obviously you want to maintain that weight, the easiest way to do that is by controlling the portions of food that you eat.

It is thought that many of us underestimate greatly portion sizes and the amount of calories they hold. So what actually is the recommended portion size, below are guides to actual serving or portion sizes:

Dieting For Diabetics

Following a healthy lifestyle along with daily physical activity and medication can help to maintain the diabetic’s blood glucose level within the target range. The three key points are, what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat, following simple guidelines can prevent health problems due to diabetes.

The key to successfully maintaining diabetes is to eat small meals on a regular basis such as breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and an evening snack.

Your diabetes Doctor can give you guidance and suggestions for a healthy eating plan, but generally by following simple guidelines you can design your own which should include the following

Dieting Advice

Dieting is a huge undertaking for any individual and can be very confusing for people who simply just want to lose weight or eat more healthily, here we have gathered a list of diet tips to help you on your way:

• Choose brown rice, wholemeal bread and whole-wheat pasta, as these are higher in fibre than the “white” varieties and will help fill you up.

• Plan your meals ahead and make sure you leave enough calories for your evening meal and take into consideration any snacks you might have during the day. The main reason people on diets do not lose weight is due to eating more calories during the day than you burn off.

Healthy Eating For Children

Just about everyone you talk to will say at some time in their lives they have been on a diet, many adults worry to some extent about their weight but now it seems that increasingly children are worried about their weight too.

More so it’s becoming increasingly popular to be thin, teenage girls often fall into the category of worrying sometimes to the point of obsession about the weight. But is it good for children to actually go on a diet, the majority of children do not need to diet and they shouldn’t.

Diet & Your Body

We all know that to lose weight we have to cut down on the amount of calories we take in and burn more off than we consume, but how low can we take our calorie intake, does it mean the lower we take it the more weight we lose? Surprisingly the answer is no, even more surprisingly is rather than the fact of helping us lose more weight it restricts us.

If we severely restrict the amount of calories we take in then it prevents our bodies from burning unwanted stores of fat and this simply means that weight loss slows down or we don’t lose any weight.

Exercise While You Diet To Get Fit

It is important to follow a healthy eating plan as excessive body weight can lead to many problems, one of them being heart disease. Along with sensible eating we should exercise, those needing to lose weight should do so a little at a time and slowly increase daily physical activity.

Guidelines for a physical activity programme

• Consult a Doctor before attempting a physical activity programme, especially if you are obese or have any major health problems such as diabetes or problems with your heart.

• Don’t rush, build up your exercise routine slowly to let your body get used to the new regime.

Dieting When You’re Pregnant

Your diet whilst pregnant not only affects the mother but also the baby’s growth, we have all heard the term “eating for two” but is there any truth to this saying?. You will need additional nutrients while you are pregnant to keep both yourself and your baby healthy but this isn’t a sign to eat twice as much and whatever you like.

You only need to have about an extra 300 calories per day and it is important that you eat the right diet and are eating foods which give you vitamins, minerals and protein as these help in the development of your unborn child.

Dieting & The Internet

Another popular way to manage your diet is online using your home computer and your web browser, usually you will be asked to sign up for an account online, some of them are free to join while others charge a small fee or give a free trial.

What are the benefits?

Usually this type of club will offer a custom plan based on a series of questions and answers, the plan will then guide you as to how many calories you should be having per day, the average weight for a person of your height and build and you will be given the option of tracking your weight, your daily exercise routine and plan the goals you wish to achieve.