It’s easy to shun the healthy lifestyle for junk food and the sedentary life when you look at fitness fanatics. The routine of excessively long days at the gym and a restricted diet seems like a whole lot of hard work. And what’s the point of looking good if you no longer enjoy your day-to-day routine? Doing a 9 to 5 shift at work is tiring enough without having to think about hitting the gym for a few hours at the end of the day. It’s just not worth all the hassle, surely?
Perhaps you’re approaching a “healthy lifestyle” in the wrong way. If you turn the goal of healthiness into a chore then you’re obviously not going to be able to stick to a new routine. If you take up a form of physical activity that you hate then you’ll go back to your old habits in a week. If you starve yourself of the food you need then you’ll end up bouncing back by binging to compensate. It’s time to find a way of becoming healthy easily. Here are some tips on getting fit without being too “into it”.
The 10k goal is a good place to start.
Exercise can be a little boring and directionless if you don’t set yourself goals. Finding some sort of focus can help to keep you on track and turn it into a challenge. Aiming for 10,000 steps a day is a good place to start; that’s the recommended healthy daily target. Get some good wireless headphones, put on your favorite playlist, and head out on a run; it could be a productive way of taking a break during lunch at your work. Of course, you need to get into the right mindset. You could head over to sites such as Running Shoes Guru for appropriate footwear. That doesn’t mean you’re becoming one of “those” fanatics who’s a little too into running; it’s about supporting your body, at the end of the day. If you want to make running a little easier for yourself then you should think about your gear.
You also don’t need to think about the physical side of things too much when it comes to nailing that step count. If you have a favorite park or errands to run in town then you could opt to travel from place to place on foot rather than by car. The exercise you’ll get will be a happy bonus of simply walking around and fitting the ordinary parts of your routine into your day. It’s a way to turn exercise into something doubly productive. The point is that simply walking from A to B is better than being sedentary and driving everywhere. Many of us spend too much of our time sitting still. Just focus on keeping physically active on a daily basis; that’s the key to staying fit. You don’t have to run on the treadmill for hours. You just need to get your body moving for 20-30 minutes every day, at least.
Eating less isn’t always healthier.
When it comes to eating the right kind of diet for your new fitness regime, you need to remember that less isn’t always more. Most of the “crash” diets you see out there which promise to help you get slimmer quickly don’t suggest very healthy ways of doing so. You shouldn’t be striving to get slimmer but simply to attaining a healthy weight. Starving your body of the vitamins and nutrients it needs is very unhealthy, so simply restricting your diet to “fruits and vegetables” isn’t going to cut it. You need to focus on cutting the junk out of your diet, of course, but you should be replacing those bad foods with good foods that you need to keep your body healthy.
At the end of the day, it’s all about getting sustenance from your diet; don’t starve yourself for the sake of losing pounds. That’s not the way to “get fit”, no matter how many dietary guides claim that’s the way to do it. Don’t skip breakfast, and don’t cut out calories relentlessly. Focus on maintaining a consistent calorie-intake in a diet which gives you all the nutrients and vitamins you need. Remember, consistency is the goal. Your weight shouldn’t fluctuate. You should find a dietary schedule which you can stick to permanently and keep a constant healthy weight. You need to practice moderation too, obviously; too much of any type of food is bad for you. You need balance in your diet. That means you’re allowed the occasional treat but only if you’re eating the right kind of food the rest of the time.
Interval exercise works best.
The best way to exercise is in short and quick spurts. We’ve all seen the runner in the park who looks exhausted and has been reduced to little more than a half-jog-half-walk. You’re not doing much to burn calories and give your body a proper workout if you’re barely moving physically. It’s much healthier to squeeze in a short exercise session in which you really work yourself rather than spending a few hours marginally working out your body. You could do just as much for your body through a few 30-second sprints every day as a 30-minute light jog. The point is that you can squeeze a lot of productive physical activity into your day even if you don’t have much time available for exercise; in fact, it’s better to push yourself harder for a shorter space of time.
You don’t need to leave the house.
If you use the excuse that you hate exercising in the gym surrounded by other people who seem “better” than you or that you’re self-conscious about jogging in your local park then perhaps you could start exercising at home. You don’t have to leave the house to get physically moving. You could buy a yoga mat and some weights to get yourself started. You just need to watch some YouTube tutorials and find the determination to stick with some new fitness regime.
