We all want a healthy life but are we all consistent in following the rules?
No.
Even though we all know what we have to do for a better us, we procrastinate or find a way around to skip and completely abandon the much needed baby steps.
After all, we are humans and we tend to get lazy or lost in the sea of desire.
Here are the five simple commandments or rules to keep in mind to live a happy and healthy life.
1. Stop gawking at unhealthy food pics on the internet
In this free digital world, you can’t find a single person that doesn’t look at food pictures on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or blogs.
The reason might either to look up a recipe or simply ogling the stunning shots the bloggers deliver. Both breathtaking and tempting!
What you see is what you become.
The more you are going to look at unhealthy foods, the more you are tempted to taste or cook them yourself.
Do this exercise, continue browsing Pinterest or Instagram as you would daily and observe. If you look at cupcakes pics then you want to eat cupcakes or roasted vegetables?
The answer is Cupcakes! Yes, but that contributes 0% to your New Year’s resolution!
Solution: Tweak the habit. Subscribe or follow healthy food bloggers, groups or boards. Healthy foods are not boring, they are colorful . That said nobody is stopping you from eating a cheesecake once a while! Make sure everything is balanced. That’s why it’s called balanced diet.
2. Consume less salt and refined sugar in day-to-day life
Less salt
Do you know salt makes the body store more water? Although that plays a big part in menstrual cycle, consuming larger quantity brings more harm than good. Most of the body’s weight is composed of water and that water is stored due to salt.
Sugar
When is the last time you enjoyed a fruit without added sugar or the whole fruit itself? It’s nice to drink juices but is it really juice or diluted sugar water with some 3% pulp?
3.Drinking enough water
Not less not more, just enough of what our individual body needs.
Drink 2 liters of water everyday is what you have been hearing for decades. But how justifiable is it?
Have you thought of water percentage in milk, watermelon, soups or even Sambar? Every liquid or semi-liquid food has water. You cannot rule it out just because it is yellow in colour.
You don’t necessarily have to drink 2 L of water separately because you already got some of it covered in your daily food intake.
If dehydration is a problem then so is over-hydration.
By drinking lot of water, you are making your body push out needed minerals and vitamins. Such is the case with green tea. Over do it and you will lose adequate calcium in your body.
4. Cooking for yourself
Cooking is an art.
An art that anybody can acquire by practice. Now you might ask me, whats the point? Why do I have to sweat an hour to only get a pot full of half-burnt meal when I can easily get it for a few bucks.
True.
Do you always know what goes in it? What was the condition of that when it was made? You haven’t learned your lesson from the must hyped and now infamous certain noodle brand?
There are so many recipes you can whip up at home without much hassle and they taste great too. Learn from other’s mistake and stop yourself from falling into a pit. Do you think all the bloggers out there are making food just for the sake of it?
They learnt their lessons and is now wants to prevent other’s food mistakes.
5. Exercising as much as possible
Do you look at your old pics and sigh? Sigh because the women in it doesn’t look anything like the one that stands in-front of the mirror today?
Our metabolic rate decreases with age. Our digestive system slows down.
Don’t accelerate those processes early on. Any exercise is an exercise. Walking inside a room or on terrace is exercising too. Do not let excuses get on your way. Sweating out with a cardio(or other) actually helps your skin to flush out the toxins from your body.
Remember, it’s not just about getting into that skinny jeans, it’s the realisation and satisfaction of having a sound mind, body and soul.
6. Substituting wheat flour for White flour(Or Maida)
Perhaps this is most easiest of the things you can do towards having an healthy life. It’s pretty easy for the Indian Cooking. More and more bloggers and people alike are leaning towards the idea. Even a simple banana cake or bread made with wheat flour tastes just as amazing!
These are the simple 6 commandments you can follow to lead a fuller and blissful life.
Want to start working out? Read my complete guide to working out for Indian women here.
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