5 Ways To Reach And Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle

Diets aren't the way to go when it comes to losing weight. That’s because they create temporary eating patterns and, therefore, temporary results. Most dieters gain back any lost weight when they go back to their old eating habits.

Weight loss is most likely to be successful when people change their habits, replacing old, unhealthy ones with new, healthy behaviors. Here are 5 ways to make that happen:

Exercise

Regular physical activity burns calories and builds muscle — both of which help you look and feel good and keep weight off. Walking on the treadmill, cycling a 5km on a bike, and doing other things that increase your daily level of activity can all make a difference. If you want to burn more calories, increase the intensity of your workout and add some strength exercises to build muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even when you aren’t exercising.

Reduce screen time

It’s common knowledge that people get less exercise these days. A lot of this is down to an increase in time spent watching TV, social networking, and playing video games. Limit your screen time to less than 2 hours a day. If you’re meeting with friends, you’re getting more exercise than if you’re Face booking or tweeting them!

Watch out for portion distortion

Portion sizes are bigger than they used to be, and these extra calories contribute to obesity. Another key factor in weight gain is that more people drink sugary beverages, such as Pepsi, lemonade, juice drinks, and sports drinks. So choose smaller portions (or share restaurant portions) and go for water instead of a carbonated drink.

Eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day

Fruit and Veg are about more than just vitamins and minerals. They’re also packed with fiber, which means they will make you feel full, and when you fill up on fruits and veggies, you’re less likely to overeat when it comes to high-calorie foods like chips or biscuits.

Don’t skip breakfast

Breakfast kick-starts your metabolism into burning calories from the word "go”, and gives you energy to do more during the day. People who skip breakfast often feel so hungry that they eat more later on. So they get more calories than they would have if they ate breakfast. In fact, people who skip breakfast tend to have higher BMI’s than people who eat breakfast.

For more information on Managing your Weight, BMI or any other queries, simply CLICK HERE to contact Holly Crouch, our Fitness Manager.