Stress-free ways to get healthier

When one embarks on a journey to get healthier it can be really overwhelming to figure out what to do and even more so how to do it. Use this list as a plug and play guide to help improve your quality of life without crumbling under the information mountain we call the internet.

As you attempt to get healthy though remember that consistent habits and prioritizing your mental and physical health will help you get the results you want. Succumbing to society’s ever changing and unscientific standards of beauty == health will get you absolutely no where. Now that you know what not to do, let’s find out what we should be doing.

THE MANTRA: Only do as much as you can and want to in the time that you have as frequently as you can.

1. Get your facts right: There is no universal definition of “healthy”. We should strive to get as healthy as we can within our social, economic, genetic, mental and physical limits while also not giving up trying because we have a mountain of challenges. Find a goal that is biologically possible and take as much time as you need to get there. No hurry at all. Every step you take is an achievement.
2. Do the bare minimum amount of exercise that you can: Health guidelines recommend around 30 minutes of light intensity exercise like walking 5 times a week or about 150 minutes in total. This is something that can be very mentally and physically demanding when you’re just starting out. We are trying to be better than we were so do just that. 1 > 0 right? Do 1 minute of standing/walking instead of moving from car to table to couch. Move up to 5 minutes of walking. Slowly add onto your volume as and when you are ready. Before you know it you will be talking about your cardio and strength splits(If you want to that is. If walking is your thing do just that no pressure or judgement here ❤ ).
3. Focus on adding to your diet as opposed to removing things: Adding protein, fiber, raw/boiled/sautéed/steamed veggies, fruits, nuts(not roasted in oil or butter) and/or seeds improves your diet dramatically. These foods keep you satiated while also feeding your body with nutrients that it needs to help you feel better. Apart from the high fat content options like nuts and their respective butters you don’t need to really need to worry about specific portion sizes because it’s pretty difficult to overeat them. Especially protein makes you feel full very fast. Just make sure your cooked protein and veggies uses as little oil/sauce as possible.
4. Measure out your refined oils and fats: Cooking your own food can be the best way to stay healthy while not being miserable. You can make food the way you’d like it and control exactly what is going in. When it comes to extra calories oils and fats used in cooking are one of the biggest culprits. This also includes condiments like sauces. An easy way to control this is to spend a few minutes researching how many calories your oils and condiments have and measure it out before you use them to cook or to eat with your food. Making sure you use quantities that come to around 100 calories per portion you intend on eating is a good way to keep your calories within maintenance range. Measuring out just the high calorie dense ingredients in our food makes us less likely to over eat while not overwhelming ourselves with measuring every bit of food that goes into our mouths.
5. Strength training: When it comes to efficiency strength training is the best type of workout to improve your body composition, mobility, joint health, bone density, hormonal balance, mental health and strength of course. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Fortunately this one thing is actually scientifically proven to be as good as it sounds. If you can workout less then 60 minutes in a week then doing strength training will give you the best results you can expect with less time spent working out. It also helps build muscle and improves your metabolism which means the on and off calorie variation in your diet will not affect your weight drastically. Ensure you do exercises that feel challenging in the 8–12 rep range so that you optimize for strength and muscle building. Also remember to progressively overload by moving to a more difficult variation or using more weight/thicker resistance band.
6. Split dessert: Balancing eating out while also staying healthy(even if you’re not trying to actively lose weight) is something everyone struggles with. Mentally trying to calculate how much you’ve eaten and being anxious about food can take over your life. While this method is not perfect it can reduce the amount of calories per meal whilst also allowing yourself to enjoy food. Desserts per portion can range between 200 and 1000 calories depending on method of preparation and what the restaurant thinks is a decent portion size. Splitting this desert with one or more people saves you and your friends from so much excess sugar and calories without depriving yourself of your favorite desert.
7. Adjust your meals around your eating out/high calorie meals: If you know that you are going to be eating out adjust the portion size of the meals before and after it. Eat only as much as you would like to based on how hungry you are. Don’t feel pressured to eat at a certain time or a certain amount just because it is a meal time. This applies for everyday really. If you wake up and are ravenous it is ok to have a little more breakfast. If by the time dinner time rolls around you’re only in the mood for half a sandwich then eat only that much. Social conditioning often makes it difficult for us to listen to our body but it is a useful skill to relearn. Setting these boundaries with family and friends could be difficult though and if it takes you time, you decide to not really set boundaries or find more sneaky ways to go about not eating too much food it is ok. We all live in society and need people around us. Do what you can with the least amount of stress.
8. Chose a mix of veggies, protein when you’re ordering food: Even if you’re ordering food or eating out it is possible to build a nutritious meal even if it may be higher in calories. Chose a mix of veggies and protein as the main portion of your meal and add on desert and deep fried food as sides limiting the portion sizes there. Also remember to focus on your food and the occasion and try not to overeat beyond what you want. It can sometime feel like we are stuck in a feeling of scarcity where we feel like this is the only “cheat” meal we will get or we will never come to this restaurant again. Stuffing yourself will only make you feel sick afterwards and your brain will associate that meal with that experience and guilt. It is better we enjoy the food we have in reasonable quantities and not regret it afterwards.
9. Chose between a drink, appetizers and/or dessert: Another easy way to reduce calories when you eat out is to chose one or two instead of all three when it comes to drinks, appetizers and dessert. These are foods that are less satiating while also having a large number of calories. You could also split these between a few people to ensure you enjoy your food without overeating. If you are out alone or with only one person you might be better off choosing one, sharing one and avoiding the third or any variation of above.
10. Take stock of your mental health and stress eating: Craving palatable foods, eating too less or too much can be a symptom of stress or an underlying mental health condition. If you feel like you aren’t able to say no to certain foods or go on binge-guilt-restrict cycles then you may have something else that is going on that is preventing you from being able to take care of yourself. There is absolutely no shame in asking for help from your friends, family or even a medical professional. If you are in circumstances where you are not able to help yourself or get help then don’t add another item to the list of things weighing you down by stressing about eating badly. It is ok to delay your health adventure or reduce the amount of effort you put into it temporarily while you navigate other things. Your present well being is paramount always. The important thing is to never give up. Take a break or do less than you used to but DON’T GIVE UP!
11. Don’t wallow when you fall off the wagon: Don’t allow yourself to feel bad for not being able to do what you used to or what you thought you could. Life changes and sometimes brings with it a lot of overwhelming situations which lead us to let go of established good habits. A skill that we can find useful not just for our health but life in general is to take a step back, observe and adapt. When you see yourself suddenly not doing the workouts you did or eating as healthy as you could focus on low hanging fruit. Can I go for a 10 minute walk today or can I do 10 minutes of stretching. Can I add some veggies to my meal or maybe an egg or two? Keeping yourself healthy is a lifelong struggle and sometimes we can’t plan for the bad times. Take a deep breath. Take some time to figure out what is realistic right now and go and give that a shot!

I’ll keep updating this list as I get more ideas so keep a look out for that!

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Love,

Medha(Your stuffed toy hoarding personal trainer)