Gentle reader,
Here is a simple and very inexpensive plan to help you stay healthy.
Exercise
MONDAY - FRIDAY
Get *some* exercise and remain as active as possible during the day. Walk around a lot if your job allows that. Even if you are stuck at a desk (as I am), you can get up every once in a while to run small errands to keep somewhat active.
If you work in an office, go for a 1/2 hour walk at lunchtime. Head out to a local park, or just walk around if you are in a city. If you don't have time for a 1/2 hour walk at lunchtime, make time.
You are more important than you job. You are the one who may die from a heart attack or suffer illness if you don't exercise, not your co-workers. You are worth it - do it.
THE WEEKEND
Try to stay active, e.g. clean your house a little bit (sweeping and scrubbing are good exercise), play with your kids (if applicable), go to fun places that involve walking (e.g. museum, art gallery, park). There are other activities that are great exercise that are also fun. You know what I mean :)
Eating
For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner try to eat lots of fruits, vegetables and try to steer clear of fats and sweets. If you feel like a snack between meals, try to eat an apple or some other piece of fruit.
Remember, an occasional candy bar won't kill you and chocolate actually has some health benefits :)
The key is MODERATION.
General guide to eating healthy food:
Fruits and vegetables are best. It's a good idea to wash them before you eat them to remove chemicals that might be on them.
As for processed foods, try to eat the ones with the fewest ingredients.
Check labels and count ingredients. If you see a huge list of ingredients be leery, most of the
ingredients are probably additives and chemicals that you want to minimize.
Bread is usually good, particularly wheat bread. Again, check and count the ingredients in your bread. Bread really only needs to have flour, water and yeast.
What to Avoid
Don't diet, in the sense of depriving yourself of food.
Try to have a good diet (in the sense of good nutrition), but don't actually diet.
Dieting doesn't seem to work in the long run and makes you miserable.
Being miserable oftens makes people eat junk food in an uncontrolled way.
This becomes a vicious circle of misery and overeating.
The only ones to benefit from this are DIET COMPANIES.
If you can't seem to stick to the plan, it is possible that you are stressed, or have other issues that are causing you to overeat.
I overeat when I am stressed, and sometimes turn to candy as comfort food.
It feels good for a little while, but there are consequences later that I don't like.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Consider focussing on improving your state of mind.
Try a calming activity like yoga, or play music that you enjoy.
Paradoxically, exercise in itself can help you feel better mentally, which in turn
can help prevent you from overeating, in a positive feedback loop.
At the risk of repeating myself, if you get nothing else out of this article, here are 2 points to take away:
1) You can and should eat healthily WITHOUT DIETING.
2) You can and should EXERCISE A LITTLE EVERY DAY, and you don't need to join an expensive gym to do that.
That's it! I hope it helps someone. If it does, please post something. If not, please post and let me know what I can do to improve this.
And on to the quote of the day:
"Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow."
-Oscar Wilde
Until the next time, gentle reader, I remain,
Your friend,
Buford Twain
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