Living in a society where most highly paid jobs require you to sit on a desk and stare at a screen, you tend to forget that your body was not made to live like this. Your body not only needs physical activity and peace of mind to stay in shape, but also to lead a healthy, happy and stress-free life in general. 
Ever came across someone who doesn’t seem to be obsessed with fitness and yet maintains good health and shape?
Crash diets and skipping meals are not going to take you anywhere near achieving a significant change in your body, instead they will increase more cravings and make you cranky and fatigued all the time.
Adapting habits that promote balanced diet and good physical health are bound to keep you in shape without too much effort and for much longer.
Below are some habits you need to incorporate in your day to day life, that are not only easy to adapt but also show remarkable results:
Exercise
Engrossing yourself in regular physical activity is essential for good health. We are all aware how exercise can transform our body remarkably. The more physical activity you engage in, the more calories you burn.
Exercising reduces the risk of heart disease, enhances muscle strength and helps you lose those extra pounds of weight. Exercising for at least 30 minutes five days a week is the bare minimum you need to start with.
Include a range of activities to help you stay physically fit. Even walking or weight lifting regularly is a great way to enhance muscle power and burn fat.
If you don’t like to hit the gym, find a way to enjoy exercising. Motivate yourself to workout by coming up with creative ways like music and dance. Motivation can change a lazy, passive person into a new man, getting you up and pumping iron in no time. It can come from anyone and anywhere.
Motivate yourself for your significant other or by looking at photos of your ideal figure, or by thinking about all the people that bullied you. Think of anything you can to give you that extra boost to push yourself to work out.
Staying Active
People who stay fit never limit physical activity to the gym only and they do all they can to be active in their normal everyday activities.
A few ideas to get you started:
Walking whenever possible
Just a simple thing like walking can do wonders to your body. It not only helps you burn fat but it can also improve cholesterol levels, strengthen bones, control blood pressure, boost your mood and lower your risk for various diseases (like diabetes and heart disease).
You can be creative with incorporating walking in your day without disturbing your daily schedule by doing simple things like parking your car farther away from the office, shopping mall or when you visit a restaurant.
- Riding a bike on your way to work.
- Always skipping the elevator ride and taking the stairs.
- Doing all chores at home yourself.
- Making weekends active by enjoying sports like basketball, tennis or going hiking.
- Choosing vacation spots that entertain activities like hiking, kayaking, skiing, swimming along with relaxing.
- Avoiding sitting as much as you can.
Healthy Snacks
Food choices change as we grow up. Make healthy choices and you can protect your body from several life-threatening diseases. Make sure you are consuming enough proteins and vitamins.
Little snacks that you consume between regular meals make a great difference to your weight. The kind of snacks you choose can alter the course of your health. Everyone feels hungry in the middle of a work day and it doesn’t have to mean you reach for a bag of chips at once.
Nutritious snacks can prevent you from gaining excess weight. Make it a habit to always go for snacks that are high-protein, low-sugar and high-fiber such as apricots, baby cucumbers, frozen yogurt with fruits and watermelons.
Sure fruits contain sugar but they give you energy and promote physical fitness. Fruits and vegetables can help you prevent overeating because they make you feel full sooner. Aim for green leafy vegetables for maximum nutrition.
Regularly eating nuts as snacks can also boost weight loss and improve levels of good cholesterol. Nut consumption also reduce appetite and make you feel full early. This means that people eating them will naturally consume less throughout the day. Public health guidelines propose eating 28 grams of nuts on most days of the week.
Sleep well
They say that a good laugh and a long sleep can cure anything. We often overlook the long-term effects that insufficient sleep can ultimately have on our time and productivity. Having a good night’s sleep can prevent many diseases like protecting your heart, reducing stress, improving memory and may even help you lose weight as well as decreasing the risk of diabetes.
Sleep deprivation could mean growing stress. When you sleep less, your body gets vulnerable to illness as it affects body’s natural immunity.
Research shows that people who sleep less than 7 hours a day are more likely to be overweight or obese. Lack of sleep affects the balance of hunger hormones in your body. The hormones ghrelin and leptin regulate appetite and these hormones get disrupted if you don’t get enough sleep. To maintain or lose weight, getting enough sleep is an absolute necessity.
Hydration
Your body is three quarters water and influences all body systems. You might never realize the amazing capabilities of drinking enough water until you actually make it a habit.
Drinking enough water can improve memory, increase life expectancy, reduce stress, aid digestion and also reduce the risk of cancer.
It is essential to prevent dehydration during long workouts. Your body loses approximately 4 cups of water during workout, leaving you feel dizzy, sluggish and completely wiped out after a few minutes only. So drink plenty of water to increase your workout threshold and prevent post-exercise fatigue and exhaustion.
About Author:
Amanda Bentley has 5 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry and currently works as a Content writer at Qavashop, an online store for all the “coffee aficionados” located in the GCC. Apart from providing its customers with quality coffee machines and consumables, it also provides them with skilled, knowledgeable advice on how to make their own restaurant quality espresso at home.