A first step is to check if your weight is healthy, a good way to do this is to establish your Body Mass Indicator (BMI), quite a few healthy living websites carry a calculator, or, your Doctor can do it. A healthy Body Mass Indicator lies in the range from 18.5 to 24.9, you can be unhealthily underweight as well as overweight.
An important ingredient for healthy living is healthy eating; a car will not run properly if you put poor quality fuel in it. A good healthy diet consists of an emphasis on fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains and fat free or low fat milk. It will include lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts. It will also be low in saturated fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugar. You need to find one that best suits you and your taste.
Fruits – do not concentrate on, e.g. apples, bananas or oranges, also include some ‘exotic’ fruit like mango, pineapple or kiwi. When the fresh fruit is not in season, try canned, but, beware the packing fluid does not contain sugars or syrups. By far the best canned fruit is packed in its own juice or water.
Cooking vegetables for healthy living is best by lightly grilling them, steamed or griddled in a frying pan, you can ring the changes by using some herbs like parsley or rosemary to vary the taste. It is also a good habit to plan your meals for the week, this way you can vary the ingredients and it makes shopping and food rotation easier.
‘Comfort’ food does not really belong in a healthy diet, however, we all like our treat, but, taking comfort food in moderation is the key. Try to consume them less often – once a week or once a month and take half the portion you would normally take. You can also try a lower calorie version of the product you like if that is available.
Regular physical activity is extremely important for healthy living, any activity burns off calories, if we don’t burn them the body stores the potential energy as fat. Basically, there are two types of physical exercise, – moderate intensity and vigorous intensity. If while performing physical activity your breathing and heart rate becomes higher, but you can still hold a conversation, you are performing moderate intensity. If your heart rate increases substantially and you are breathing too hard and fast to hold a conversation, you are performing vigorous intensity exercise.
If you are looking to maintain your weight (you have a good body mass indication) you should work your way up to 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, but, you must appreciate that this period of time will vary from person to person, you may need to more, or less, than the 150 minutes to maintain your weight. To lose weight and to keep it lost you will need to perform a lot of physical activity even with a dietary change, this is because the body has to burn the energy it has stored (fat).
Moderate activity can be classified as
Walking briskly – one kilometre in 9 minutes.
Light garden work.
Light snow clearance.
Playing with the children.
Bike riding at a casual pace.
Vigorous activity falls into the following groups
Jogging and running.
Swimming repeated laps.
Skating (briskly).
Cross country skiing.
Virtually all competitive team sport (Football, basketball).
Skipping.
If you are forty two years old or more, good advice is that you consult your Doctor before embarking on any form of physical activity if you are starting that from scratch. If you have any form of cardiac condition consulting your Doctor beforehand is a must.