I do receive more calls from women, who intend to get healthy and lead a stress free life off late and the last call I had this week was from a young working mother with an extremely stressful life who believed that Indian women in general are predisposed to putting on weight and had this question “can we as women be healthy”. Even though I did not agree with her, I did make her realise that it is a difficult task for any person to lose weight if they do not get into an exercise regime sooner rather than later.
These questions made me to think as to how many women might have this mindset and do not even make an attempt to get fit. I deeply believe that all women deserve a stress free and healthy lifestyle. Due to multitasking, somewhere down the line, they tend to ignore the fact that they also need to take care of themselves in midst of juggling a full time career, raising kids, hormonal imbalances and running a full fledged house . This got me thinking and hence I am trying to write a Blog specifically for the Women who intends to be healthy. Over the years I have figured out that there is no one size fits all plan but something which I feel, most of the women folks can do irrespective of their daily activities. To begin with try focusing on
Watch what you eat: It is critical and important that what you eat is what you will eventually become and it is no less true with women. Since most of the women are also in charge of the kitchen, it is imperative that they make sure that the food is healthy and fresh. Make it a point that most of the meals include fresh vegetables and fruits. It is also important to start your day with a hearty breakfast and ensure that you eat something within 2 hours of waking up. Ideally if you wake up by 6Am then ensure that you have breakfast or at least some wheat bread and coffee to kick-start your metabolism within 8Am. What this does is that it will make sure that your system does not run empty and go into a panic mode. Another important factor is to eat small meals, every 2-3 hours rather than 3 big meals a day. For working women professionals, you need to be creative and fit in some fruits, nuts or even some all grain biscuits at the workplace. By eating every 2-3 hours small quantity(not more than your fist size) you will ensure your metabolism is always high and you end up burning more calories. Last but not the least is to ensure that you have your last meal of the day at least 2-3 hours before you sleep and this meal has to be the smallest in comparison to all other meals.
Stay well hydrated: Ensure that at the very least, you drink 2-3 Its of water every day. This will remove all the toxins from your body and also make the glow on your face more prominent. The thumb rule for any women is to keep sipping water from the bottle or their sipper every half an hour. It is always better for the working folks to walk up to the cooler and in the process move around. This I have realised will make sure that the office Air- con does not dehydrate you.
Keep walking: The secret in managing weight is in not staying grounded in one place for more time. The idea is to keep walking every 60 to 90 minutes. I generally take a break every 60 minutes when I am working and now stand & work for almost 40-50% of my time at work. I always come back to my desk with more vigour and energy. The key point here is to fit in a healthy walking habit within the kind of work each one of you is doing. Try and make it to about Ten thousand steps a day. It’s not as difficult as it sounds as one can manage this in about 60-80 minutes of brisk walking. If you space this within a 8-10 hour work day, it then becomes very doable.
Have a regular sleep pattern: Sleeping for 7-8 hours is essential for women and this, irrespective of the kind of lifestyle one leads. Ensure that at the very least, 7 hours of good sleep is logged in after hitting the snooze button. The body also burns calories while in the sleep mode and do make sure that all the smart phones and ipads are kept well away from the bed. Recent research has proved that women need more sleep than men.
These are some of the simple things any women can do irrespective of whether she has time to hit the gym or wear her running shoes. By incorporating these small habits in their everyday life, I do not see any reason what more can stop women from being healthy.
The idea behind this article is to ensure that every woman can manage their health with simple changes in their daily activities, be it in office or home; one does not need sophisticated gyms to become healthy.I do hope that this article has made all the women readers realize that being healthy is in the mind and nothing should, stop you from leading an active healthy lifestyle irrespective of the environment or the circumstances you are in. For all the guys reading, share this with the women in your life who matters the most to you. It is equally important for them to be healthy as much as it is to you. Ultimately it is not whether you are driving the biggest car or staying in the biggest house that matters. What really matters is how healthy and content you are in your life. At the end of the day, It’s all about feeling good about yourself from within.
Would love to hear how this article has impacted you and especially from the women readers in terms of what is stopping them to work on small changes which will make them healthy and eventually the family. Would love to hear from some of you on my Face Book Page or on my email coach@satishrao.in