Most of the New Year resolutions fail, because people try to fit in too many things onto their plate. Recent studies show that we have only so much willpower and trying to break many habits at once is not practical.
Focussing on not doing certain things for the coming year, tends to give a different perspective to most people. Following a different approach will increase the odds of working towards a fitter and leaner you.
As always the best bodies are made in the kitchen and if you can ingrain this, half your fitness goals will be overcome. Working with hard pressed executives, super Moms and Entrepreneurs has given me an insight on where each of you can begin-
Running on an Empty Stomach:
Restriction always leads to overeating. This is something I learnt the hard way, when I was working towards losing weight. Not eating can mess with your body’s ability to control your appetite. Going hungry for long hours, destroys your will power which can affect other areas of your life.
Since the brain feeds on fuel which in this case is glucose, restricting fuel to the brain will eventually make you pig out late in the evenings, which adds up to you sinking deeper into the sinkhole.
The easiest thing to do is to inculcate a healthy eating habit and spread your daily calorie intake into 5-6 small meals, which at any point should not be more than your fist size. This helps in regulating the metabolism to a large extent.
Binge Eating will cause damage beyond Sunday:
With people stretched for time during the weekday, it is natural to adopt the notion that the weekend is for fun and binge eating, once or twice is well deserved. Well you cannot be more wrong on this front.
Overindulgence in food, especially later in the evenings will block your body in regulating your food intake through the week.Therefore what I generally tell people who tend to let their hair down on the weekends is, to choose one cheat meal for the week and make it an early lunch if possible.
This gives you that much more time during the evening to burn the additional calories. It might be a small shift, but will make a huge difference in the long run when it comes to your weight management.
Drinking & Salty Snacks is the worst Combo:
Alcohol not only gives you empty calories, but also undermines your willpower. A Couple of beers with the boys/girls will put you back by hundreds of calories. Add to it the high sodium in the snacks, which will make you to eat them unconsciously.
If you can step back and note down the amount of Alcohol going down in a week along with the Salty snacks, I will challenge you that even a two hour run on the treadmill, will not negate the calorie intake. Therefore be smart and order a fresh salad without any salt.
Restrict your drinking to a couple of drinks and always make it a point to drink a large glass of water in-between two drinks, to negate the effect of Alcohol in the system.
Television is your best buddy:
Just like any other substance abuse, I consider watching too much of television a big impedance to one’s health. Alarm bells should be ringing, if you spend most of your evening time in front of the tube and eating while you watch TV.
Doing this is a double whammy- You ingest calories while burning none and sabotage your secret weight-loss weapon: sleep. Recent research shows that people tend to consume at least 20-30% more calories & are less active if eating in front of the tube.
It is imperative that you work towards breaking the habit and begin to have at least one meal away from the television to savour the food. Technology is so advanced; you can always watch it at another time. Focus on sleeping on time, instead of being awake late into the night.
Working towards being healthy is the number one goal with most people. Focussing on what people are doing wrong, will help you get a heads up before you chart your resolutions.
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